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John ines ericaceous

Andy Thurston

Andy Thurston

Member
Joined
16 Apr 2013
Messages
2,805
Hi folks has anybody used john ines ericaceous compost in a tank?
Ive heard its similar to john ines number 3 but without any added lime

Im starting a 90l npt and was thinking about using this as substrate
Im not sure of its makeup and wondered if anybody knew if its the same as no3 without the lime, or not
 
this is what it says on the bag a traditional mix of loam peat and grit
i dont see why it can't be used be used there is no mention of any
fertiliser on the bag 😎
 
the thing i read it off doesn't have anything about flowers of sulphur super phosphate that is strange ???

 
i would leave them out to be honest and just add something that would supply some
iron to it
 
Big clown said:
Tds must come from the flowers of sulphate thats in it. would this reduce with time or will tds stay high for ever? How long did you trail it for tom?
How much does the lime in ji3 affect ph?
Click to expand...

I only did a test run of a day or two, no idea how long it'll take to deplete. JI3 will put pH around 7.5 in my experience, and add an extra 100-200 TDS to whatever is already in your water. Obviously will vary depending on how much you use. If you're after something that won't effect your water much then the blue bag 'Original Aquasoil' on ebay is just loam and grit.
 
Not sure what tds are in tap. it is ph7.5 and in my small tank it climbs to ph8 overnight. I have to use 50% ro water in that to get a stable ph 7.5 so i suspect tds are fairly high
I dont mind using ro water in there cos its only a 20l water change
If you can get plain loam and grit, i'll use that and add peat to buffer ph
 
The genuine pond aqua soil contains all 3 loam peat and grit so I would opt for this to keep things how you want them. I have used this previously and am about to use it again. My ph was always around 6 to 6.5 in my low tech. Never had problems with tds either directly from the soil
 
if i have to use a soil or loam in my tanks i use j Arthur bowers aquatic compost its
designed for pounds i have never had any problems when using this
 
biffster said:
if i have to use a soil or loam in my tanks i use j Arthur bowers aquatic compost its
designed for pounds i have never had any problems when using this
Click to expand...

Again though I think the original poster Is looking for a lime free soil and the arthur bowers aquatic compost contains lime too which will up gh etc
 
i myself have not found a problem with high ph when using it
i find it stabilises my ph around 6.8
 
Hi all,
Again though I think the original poster Is looking for a lime free soil and the arthur bowers aquatic compost contains lime too which will up gh etc
Click to expand...
The "Flowers of Sulphur" is an allotrope of elemental sulphur S (S8), it isn't particularly soluble but will be converted to sulphuric acid (H2SO4) over time in the substrate, lowering pH.

The "superphosphate" is mono-calcium phosphate Ca(H2PO4)2.H20 it is soluble, and it is slightly acidic, so will raise TDS and dGH, but lower pH. It doesn't add any dKH, and any reservoir of carbonates (coral gravel - H+ ion acceptors) will go into solution and may be totally depleted if the addition of acids (H+ ion donors) is high enough.

At lower pH values other elements may like iron (Fe++) will become plant available.

cheers Darrel
 
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