# ADA aquasoil with high pH, KH water



## micheljq (Oct 24, 2012)

Following that post, my tap is pH 7,6 and want to use one ADA soil eventually to have a pH lower than 7.

Michel.


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## coldmantis (Aug 17, 2010)

The thing with buffering Soil is that the more water you changes you do with tap/well water the more harder it has to work to buffer the ph down. If you do lets say 20-30% once a month then it should last over a year if not more. If you used R/O water then it will last about 2-3 years, If you are doing %50 water changes a week with tap/well than forget it.


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## dkraft12 (Sep 26, 2016)

coldmantis said:


> The thing with buffering Soil is that the more water you changes you do with tap/well water the more harder it has to work to buffer the ph down. If you do lets say 20-30% once a month then it should last over a year if not more. If you used R/O water then it will last about 2-3 years, If you are doing %50 water changes a week with tap/well than forget it.


Thank you, this is helpful.


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## JTDillon (Mar 11, 2017)

Have you had any luck finding the substrate? Interestingly enough...ADA website has a video under their substrate system section and it tells you to do 50% water change everyday for two weeks after your intial set up. then 25% every 2 days until a month. then once a week..


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## GrampsGrunge (Jun 18, 2012)

Is there a way to tap into your well water before it goes through the softener?

Ion exchange softeners remove the general hardness in exchange for Sodium carbonate hardness, which is a horrible nutrient for planted tanks. In that sodium is not used much at all by the plants, while the Calcium and Magnesium general hardness ions that have been stripped out, are actually beneficial to your plants. In limited amounts of course, and with CO2 injection.

Relying on ADA Aquasoil to further soften your "softened' water is an expensive solution and will still not put back the needed Ca and Mg. You're better off getting a small RO unit and tapping out your well water before it gets to the softener, to use as a reconstitute of GH and KH for the RO water.


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## micheljq (Oct 24, 2012)

RO unit is not cheap either and a lot of time/work.

Ca/Mg, KH, can be added easily if needed. It's true those kind of substrates are meant to be used with co2 enrichment, although some use them without co2 enrichment, and have success. I might try it.

Michel.


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## dkraft12 (Sep 26, 2016)

I have found ADA amazonia for sale as a pre-order on Aqua Forest Aquarium, they have been out of stock for a long time and i guess they're planning on getting some in. haven't sprung for it yet because i'm still skeptical about the water situation. Since i live in an apartment, the softening unit is shared and therefore i do not have access to it. I also don't really have the means to install and RO unit, nor am i ready to take that on yet. It just adds too much complexity to the hobby than i have capacity for at the moment and messing with the plumbing in my apartment worries me a bit. I'm sure i'll do it someday. I've been looking into keeping Caridina shrimp lately and if i get that itch bad enough i'll have no choice but to try the active substrate.


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