# Foolproof Method for Cycling ADA Aquasoil Amazonia?



## CookieCrumbs

I just ordered ADA Aquasoil Amazonia normal type because I hear it does amazing things for a planted tank.
But when I started reading about the cycling process, I noticed the info starts to gets a bit sparse and I'm not sure if there is a better/foolproof way?

*My Tank*:I'll be adding the ADA Aquasoil into a new tank, it will be a low tech setup, and its about 29gallons. Here's a thread with more of my tank specifics if needed
I do understand there's a large ammonia spike in the beginning and that cycling is mandatory. I also intending on doing a submerged cycle unless suggested todo otherwise.

*Questions*: 
*1.) Is the presence of plants required or recommended for this initial cycle? I know livestock is not suggested so i'll get that later on *
A: Yes, plants are required. This will help prevent the ammonia from getting too out of hand, as well as reduce the surface area of soil available to leach ammonia and particulates.

*2.) When is the best time for plants to be added?*
A: See above

*3.) Should the pump, and filters be left on during the whole cycling process? And should a carbon filter be used or any specific filtration? I was intending on using just 2x sump sponges as filters*
A: Yes pump & filter should be left on, and carbon may or may not be used during the first month

*4.) How frequent should water changes be throughout the whole process and what % of water should be changed? And are we talking tapwater or RO/specially treated water?*
A: For the first week, every day. For the second week, every other day. Three times during the third week, and two times during the fourth week. After the first month once a week is sufficient.

*5.) With initial fishless cycling should I be adding nutrients or anything to the water? Also is anything needed under the Aquasoil for added plant or bacteria growth? 
I noticed on ADA's website there are lots of powders going under the substrate, but I'm wondering if these are required or optional? Especially for a low tech tank, I just want a healthy plant mass.*
A: No nutrients required for the cycling process, can dose potassium or traces after a few weeks as needed. ADA powders are beneficial for the jump start, but not mandatory.

*6.) And finally how much later should I add my shrimp/fish?*
A: You can add fish/shrimp once you read 0 for ammonia and nitrite and are able to control nitrates below 30ppm through water changes


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## mageikman32

CookieCrumbs said:


> I just ordered ADA Aquasoil Amazonia normal type because I hear it does amazing things for a planted tank.
> But when I started reading about the cycling process, I noticed the info starts to gets a bit sparse and I'm not sure if there is a better/foolproof way?
> 
> *My Tank*:I'll be adding the ADA Aquasoil into a new tank, it will be a low tech setup, and its about 29gallons. Here's a thread with more of my tank specifics if needed
> I do understand there's a large ammonia spike in the beginning and that cycling is mandatory. I also intending on doing a submerged cycle unless suggested todo otherwise.
> 
> *Questions*:
> *1.)* Is the presence of plants required or recommended for this initial cycle? I know livestock is not suggested so i'll get that later on
> 
> *2.)* When is the best time for plants to be added?
> 
> *3.)* Should the pump, and filters be left on during the whole cycling process? And should a carbon filter be used or any specific filtration? I was intending on using just 2x sump sponges as filters
> 
> *4.) *How frequent should water changes be throughout the whole process and what % of water should be changed? And are we talking tapwater or RO/specially treated water?
> 
> *5.)* With initial fishless cycling should I be adding nutrients or anything to the water? Also is anything needed under the Aquasoil for added plant or bacteria growth?
> I noticed on ADA's website there are lots of powders going under the substrate, but I'm wondering if these are required or optional? Especially for a low tech tank, I just want a healthy plant mass.
> 
> *6.)* And finally how much later should I add my shrimp/fish?


Lots of great questions as someone who has used ADA Amazonia soil I can share a little info.. 
1. You can put plants in right away won't hurt any.. I suggest putting them in before water tho.. Easier to put into soil without them floating back up. 

2. I always leave my pumps on 24/7 even during the cycle phase.. If you are adding plants I would not use carbon as that tends to suck out all the nutrients in the water... Some people will tell you can some tell you yes you can... My personal experience I did not have good results with using carbon in my Planted tanks.. Non planted tanks sure no problem use carbon. 

3. Well you already know you will get a huge ammonia spike by using this soil it took about almost 6 weeks before my ammonia went down..

4. During my cycle I did not dose any ferts since ADA soil is so rich in nutrients there really is no need to dose during cycling.. But you can it won't hurt... You do not need all those extra powders for your tank I have amazing plant growth on my tank with just ADA soil.. 

Any other questions just let me know.. I'm using ADA soil on my 75g 










Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk


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## Axelrodi202

Good on you for clearing up your questions before jumping in! The tank's first month essentially makes or breaks it in terms of stability and algae issues. 

1. Yes, plants are required. This will help prevent the ammonia from getting too out of hand, as well as reduce the surface area of soil available to leach ammonia and particulates. The ammonia content is to help plants (particularly roots) establish themselves in a new tank. If you look at ADA tanks you will notice they are packed with plants from the start - none of this silly sparse planting and waiting for things to 'fill in' business that is so commonly seen. Heavy planting from the start is the most important thing you can do to ensure your tank's success. By heavy I mean very little bare substrate should be visible. 

2. Lay down your Aquasoil (ideally with power sand or lava rock pebbles and bacterial additives below). Add just enough water to go up to the top of the substrate, and then plant all your plants.

3. Yes, a filter hosting beneficial bacteria helps speed up the cycle. Carbon is used for the first month. 

4. For the first week, every day. For the second week, every other day. Three times during the third week, and two times during the fourth week. After the first month once a week is sufficient. Tap vs RO will depend on your goals. I believe the water in your area is very hard. AS buffers the water for a while, lowering hardness and KH, but this buffering capacity becomes depleted after time. This depletion is especially fast with hard water. Are you looking to keep soft water or hard water plants or fish?

5. No need to add nutrients specifically for the cycling process. After a week or two you may need to start dosing potassium or traces, though ramp this up slowly and only after new growth is seen. In a low tech tank you may even wait longer before needing to do so. In #2 I alluded to a base layer of volcanic rock. This provides surface area for a healthy microbial population (essential to tank stability). One of the powders (bacter 100) directly supplies these, and is highly helpful. The others simply provide additional food for the bacteria or provide favorable environmental conditions. You can use them if you wish, but I had good results even without these. 

6. Following this regime I managed to cycle my tank within 3 weeks. 

See this link for more details on proper Aquasoil usage and new tank husbandry. It is a long read but worth every bit. You will learn more in an hour of reading this than a week of browsing random forum threads.


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## CookieCrumbs

Appreciate the advice guys! I did actually have some lava rock I was considering layering under the substrate and I will look into the powders as well.
I also went ahead and ordered all my plants so I can plant as soon as the soil arrives, I'm pretty excited to get this thing going!

Just 1 more question:
*A.)* So I finally decided on the plants/fish I'll be housing and they'll be requiring a pH=6.5-7.5 so im going to keep it about 7ish which is neutral.
As Axelrodi202 mentioned previously the substrate is capable of buffering but I'd like to know *does the AHA Aquasoil only buffer to a certain degree or does it just continue on?*
I think I read somewhere when it "buffers" it makes the water more acidic? But im not entirely sure how it all works exactly.

I'll try and update this post as things progress...


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## Axelrodi202

What flora and fauna are you interested in? For the vast majority of livestock, GH and KH are much more important to pay attention to than pH.

Aquasoil buffers all 3. It binds calcium & magnesium ions, which lowers GH. It has organic acids that neutralize carbonates (KH) and lower pH to some degree (around the mid-6 range). How much of an effect you see will depend on the source water. For example I use RO/DI water remineralized to 3 dGH, 0 dKH. My GH was not really affected. However, I found that half a year later the pH settles around neutral because I dose KHCO3 (potassium bicarbonate). However the KH remains at a stable 3 degrees even almost a year later. Many shrimp keepers who do not add any KH at all find Aquasoil can continue buffering down to the mid-6 range pH for several years.


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## Dman911

1 thing to add with aquasoil is until the buffering capacity is exhausted it is futile to try raise KH and GH and the aquasoil will buffer it out. Just my experience

You can add fish once you read 0 for ammonia and nitrite and are able to control nitrates below 30ppm through water changes.

Dan


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## havemore1001

I have a 45G fluvial bow. My aquarium is cycled. I have few plants, but as a newbie didn't realise it would be important to add substrate. Can I add Aquasoil to my established tank (like freezing soil and then adding up, so that doesn't make the water murkier)
Thanks


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## Dman911

havemore1001 said:


> I have a 45G fluvial bow. My aquarium is cycled. I have few plants, but as a newbie didn't realise it would be important to add substrate. Can I add Aquasoil to my established tank (like freezing soil and then adding up, so that doesn't make the water murkier)
> Thanks


Not if you have fish or inverts in there. The amount of ammonia ADA soils add would be a nightmare but if only plants sure no problem, just make sure you follow the water change regiment.

Dan


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## CookieCrumbs

Axelrodi202 said:


> What flora and fauna are you interested in? For the vast majority of livestock, GH and KH are much more important to pay attention to than pH.
> 
> Aquasoil buffers all 3. It binds calcium & magnesium ions, which lowers GH. It has organic acids that neutralize carbonates (KH) and lower pH to some degree (around the mid-6 range). How much of an effect you see will depend on the source water. For example I use RO/DI water remineralized to 3 dGH, 0 dKH. My GH was not really affected. However, I found that half a year later the pH settles around neutral because I dose KHCO3 (potassium bicarbonate). However the KH remains at a stable 3 degrees even almost a year later. Many shrimp keepers who do not add any KH at all find Aquasoil can continue buffering down to the mid-6 range pH for several years.


Apologies for the delay, planting a tank is hard work haha I started it and have been doing 50% water changes daily, on the 3rd day now. 
As for plants I have: Dwarf hairgrass, Anubias nana petite, Alternathera reineckii mini, crypt wendtii bronze, balansae, and some java moss. (also some zebra stone and driftwood)
Planned fish n shrimp: Celestial pearl danios, forktail blue eye, some other danios or rasboras, amano and cherry shrimp

From my reading this far it seems the shrimp need a GH above 6, plants like a KH 4-8, and the celestial pearl danios are liking KH 6-12 or 90-268ppm ... I'm finding it hard to get good GH info on a lot of them but im still searching

After the initial week of setup is it still 50% wc or do I reduce the amount changed? I ended up making a 1/3 tapwater 2/3 RO mix to give me a pH 7.1, KH 3, GH 5, or I can use a 50/50 mix that gives me pH 7.4, KH 5, GH 8
I haven't tested the water parameters in the tank yet as I was still getting all those hairgrass plugs in there... but I'm finally done planting so I'll check them today


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## Alf2Frankie

Maybe too late but you can research the dry start method, this will establish bacteria before you even flood the tank, therefore less of an ammonia spike or non at all.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


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## Axelrodi202

CookieCrumbs said:


> Apologies for the delay, planting a tank is hard work haha I started it and have been doing 50% water changes daily, on the 3rd day now.


Very good that you are keeping up with the maintenance over obsessively surfing forums. If only more people would do this I think people would have less problems...



> As for plants I have: Dwarf hairgrass, Anubias nana petite, Alternathera reineckii mini, crypt wendtii bronze, balansae, and some java moss. (also some zebra stone and driftwood)
> Planned fish n shrimp: Celestial pearl danios, forktail blue eye, some other danios or rasboras, amano and cherry shrimp
> 
> From my reading this far it seems the shrimp need a GH above 6, plants like a KH 4-8, and the celestial pearl danios are liking KH 6-12 or 90-268ppm ... I'm finding it hard to get good GH info on a lot of them but im still searching


None of these are particularly demanding for soft water, but I doubt they would appreciate the hardness from your straight tap water. An exception are the CPDs, as I have heard some reports of them breeding in quite hard water, but it seems that the original collection locale has water 7-8 dGH. See this link:

http://www.celestialpearldanio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3


Shrimp do not need that much hardness. I have amanos thriving in 3 dGH and 3dKH, and cherry shrimp breeding in 3 dGH and 0 dKH. Granted the cherries breed very slowly, but that probably has more to do with my neglecting their tank...

Also keep in mind the zebra stone will very likely raise your hardness.



> After the initial week of setup is it still 50% wc or do I reduce the amount changed?


I would lean towards changing 50%, as the tank is still new and prone to instability. 



> I ended up making a 1/3 tapwater 2/3 RO mix to give me a pH 7.1, KH 3, GH 5, or I can use a 50/50 mix that gives me pH 7.4, KH 5, GH 8
> I haven't tested the water parameters in the tank yet as I was still getting all those hairgrass plugs in there... but I'm finally done planting so I'll check them today


Given your stone's likely ability to raise hardness I would go with the first option. And as you mention it's a good idea to actually test values within the tank, though these may be skewed by the fresh buffering capacity of the Aquasoil.


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## CookieCrumbs

Alf2Frankie said:


> Maybe too late but you can research the dry start method, this will establish bacteria before you even flood the tank, therefore less of an ammonia spike or non at all


I would be interested in learning more about this method. Between this and all the new soil versions coming out seems the start up process is getting progressively easier.


Axelrodi202 said:


> None of these are particularly demanding for soft water, but I doubt they would appreciate the hardness from your straight tap water. An exception are the CPDs, as I have heard some reports of them breeding in quite hard water, but it seems that the original collection locale has water 7-8 dGH. See this link:
> 
> http://www.celestialpearldanio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3
> 
> 
> 
> I ended up making a 1/3 tapwater 2/3 RO mix to give me a pH 7.1, KH 3, GH 5, or I can use a 50/50 mix that gives me pH 7.4, KH 5, GH 8
> I haven't tested the water parameters in the tank yet as I was still getting all those hairgrass plugs in there... but I'm finally done planting so I'll check them today
> 
> 
> 
> Given your stone's likely ability to raise hardness I would go with the first option. And as you mention it's a good idea to actually test values within the tank, though these may be skewed by the fresh buffering capacity of the Aquasoil.
Click to expand...

So I have a few results this far after 3 days of the 1/3 tap rest RO mix my pH=6.4 KH=1 GH=2 and ammonia at 1

I'm aiming at a pH=7 KH/GH~4-8 so I switched to the 50/50 mix for days 4-7

This morning was the 7th day of daily wc and my new readings were pH=6.6 KH=2 GH=3 ammonia ~0.75 so it is increasing but I'm curious to see the result after a few days with no water change. Not sure if I can raise the KH/GH much more as I do see the buffering effects of the soil are very present as Dman911 suggested.


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## Salvoman

First time posting. Thanks for all the info. I know this is an older thread but I too am starting a 55G planted using ADA Amazonia with Powersand. I've received contradictory advice about planting during the fishless cycle which seems to be clarified here. 

However, I also purchased Seachem Prime & Stability thinking this would be need in the "fishless" cycling process. The question is, do I need these? If so when in the process would they be added?

Thanks,
Sam


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## JusticeBeaver

Salvoman said:


> First time posting. Thanks for all the info. I know this is an older thread but I too am starting a 55G planted using ADA Amazonia with Powersand. I've received contradictory advice about planting during the fishless cycle which seems to be clarified here.
> 
> However, I also purchased Seachem Prime & Stability thinking this would be need in the "fishless" cycling process. The question is, do I need these? If so when in the process would they be added?
> 
> Thanks,
> Sam


You would add them at the start to get your nitrogen cycle started as soon as possible. You don't necessarily need them but it does help if you have a good source of nitrifying bacteria (from another cycled tank would be best). I planted the second day after I set up the tank and I think that was a bit of a mistake, even though I dropped the water level to plant them in there was a still a ton of debris which eventually settled on the plants so all old growth was covered. Also the ammonia was through the roof (8 ppm) which I think caused die back (further adding more ammonia to the system) and I think stunted the start of my cycle. Most of the old leaves on my crypts died back but all their roots seem fine as new growth is starting and my monte carlo is starting to carpet but it was not as smooth as I would have hoped.


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## jsarrow

Plant dense as you can afford right from the start; don't have your lights on for more then 4-6 hours a day for the first week, do 50% water changes every other day the first week as well and then dial back to 50% once a week, no fish for the first month and there ya go. Worked for the last 6 tanks I set up over the years with Aquasoil. Be patient.


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## Salvoman

Thanks for your advice guys. My LFS does not recommend planting until you create some stability in the tank. He's a planted tank store so he has quite a bit of experience. Then I found this online:

ADA Soil cycling

Every ADA tutorial online would tell you the same thing: plant from the very beginning.

To me, this seems risky and here’s why:

New plants in a newly set-up aquarium need time to accommodate – they don’t use much light, CO2 or nutrients for the first week or two.
ADA Amazonia soil leaks Ammonia (NH3) for the first 1-2 weeks to help speed up the growth of the nitrifying bacterias in your filter, soil etc. Read more on the Nitrogen Cycle here: The Nitrogen Cycle - The Free Freshwater and Saltwater Aquarium Encyclopedia Anyone Can Edit - The Aquarium Wiki
Algae pores feed on the Ammonia to become mature, visible algae
Planting from the scratch means you need to also turn on the lights from the scratch, but since plants are not accommodated to your environment yet, won’t use that much light anyway so all the Ammonia leaked from the soil will likely help your Algae pores evolve more than you want to.
To me, changing 50% water every 2 days for the 1st week, then twice a week for the second week and so on, it’s a waste of water.

So instead of planting from the beginning, I chose to start with the ADA Soil Cycling.

On the 15.02.2014 I started the aquarium with the ADA soil and filter running. To help kick-start it, i added Seachem Stability to feed on the NH3 

While I don’t have a dedicated Ammonia test, i’m using the Seachem Ammonia Alert which seems to be working.

Observations: I did change 50% of the water every week (tap water treated with Seachem Prime) since the beginning, mostly to get rid of the tannins leaking from my driftwood. Initially the Ammonia Alert was greenish (over 0.02ppm), however i was expecting the spike to be much more visible on the test.

After 2 weeks, the Ammonia Alert it’s on yellow, which means is under 0.02ppm so I assume the cycle is complete.

Advice: if you have a test kit for NH3 (Ammonia), NO2 (Nitrite) it may be a very good idea to use it.

What do you think?


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## houseofcards

ADA which is the maker of aquasoil instructs you to plant from day 1, before the tank is even filled with water. Do you think your LFS knows more than them? Stability for plants? What does that even mean? 

Thing your not realizing is that the plants are helping purify the water by utilizing he ammonia as well. The way you get around the lighting/algae issues is you only run your lights around 3-4 hours from the start or do a short burst of strong light 1-2 hrs with the rest of the cycle dim.

Plants contain plenty of bacteria, etc so you don't need any of that snake oil in a bottle type of stuff, that you already have through the plants. 

So between the plants, water changes and shorter light cycle your tank get's mature much quicker and by the time you add fish (like 4-weeks) you have a nice lush tank that is purifying the water for the fish. The way you doing it your going to have to put plants in later, which will disturb the substrate and release ammonia. If you start to rearrange the plants (which many do) it will be even worse and you'll risk fish or have to wait that much longer.


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## Maryland Guppy

Salvoman said:


> To me, this seems risky and here’s why:
> 
> New plants in a newly set-up aquarium need time to accommodate – they don’t use much light, CO2 or nutrients for the first week or two.
> 
> ADA Amazonia soil leaks Ammonia (NH3) for the first 1-2 weeks to help speed up the growth of the nitrifying bacterias in your filter, soil etc.
> 
> Algae pores feed on the Ammonia to become mature, visible algae
> 
> Planting from the scratch means you need to also turn on the lights from the scratch, but since plants are not accommodated to your environment yet, won’t use that much light anyway so all the Ammonia leaked from the soil will likely help your Algae pores evolve more than you want to.
> 
> To me, changing 50% water every 2 days for the 1st week, then twice a week for the second week and so on, it’s a waste of water.
> 
> What do you think?


New tank with new plants I dump enough EI macro to have 20ppm NO3.
Enough EI micro to have .15Fe.
The NO3 prohibits GBA & PO4 prohibits GSA algae.
CO2 to at least a 1.0pH drop and 6.5 hour light cycle.

Leaching of NH3 is no different than capped soil I use.
ADA reduces pH enough that NH3 is NH4.
About the same as dosing urea for plants.
Planting heavy is key, some easy quick growing plants are used by many at first.

Algae and plants feed on the same compounds as long as an excess of ammonia is managed.

The water changes reduce the ammonia over the first two weeks as to not "burn" plants.
Excessive ammonia will turn plants to mush.
1.5 to 2.0ppm of ammonia is most likely safe to not damage plants.

I plant heavy, like I pull from two farm tanks and am searching for bare substrate to add more.
Usually cannot detect the ammonia spike either making WC's very small.

The only acclimation I have found that takes time is emersed to submerged growth.
Already submerged plants show growth within 2-3 days and usually lots of roots reaching for/in substrate.


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## Salvoman

Of course I don't believe my LFS knows more than ADA. Being a newbie I'm getting a tremendous amount of conflicting information. I called Eheim on an unrelated issue and he's telling me i need to add additional ammonia to the tank during the cycling process as well as Seachem stability and to NOT do water changes.

Also the process here says to do water changes:

"For the first week, every day. For the second week, every other day. Three times during the third week, and two times during the fourth week. After the first month once a week is sufficient."

But doesn't say what percentage.

My brain is on overload...


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## houseofcards

Salvoman said:


> ..I called Eheim on an unrelated issue and he's telling me i need to add additional ammonia to the tank during the cycling process as well as Seachem stability and to NOT do water changes.


Ok, take a deep breadth it's not that complicated. The guy at Eheim I don't know who you talked with but that is completely ridiculous. Did he know you were using Aquasoil and did he know what it was? There would be no reason even if your not using AS to not do water changes.

I have setup countless tanks using AS as have some other members here. Go by their advise. Many times people don't know the answer to something at a LFS or company and they don't want to say "I don't know" so they make stuff up. All you need to do is:

Setup your tank
Plant
Don't disturb the AS when you fill or do things in the tank.
Do daily water changes 1st week, 2nd week every 2nd day and then move to one per week. Change about 50%. Get the plants growing and in about a month you should be ready for fish after checking that there's no ammonia, etc.
Run a short light cycle 4 hours during this time.

Here is a good tutorial from ADA themselves:

ADA Tank Setup

Use the outline as a general guide. They might show products, etc that you can do without like any other company would.


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## Salvoman

Thank you. I will follow their instructions implicitly. Thank you all for your advice, I'll let you know how it goes...


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## Salvoman

Hey guys-

Started cycling my tank following ADA's instructions beginning on Saturday night. On Sunday I did a 90% water change instead of 50% to remove some dirt when my Python backed up, disturbing the substrate. What is concerning me most is before and after the first water change, I noticed a white film on the top of the tank on the opposite side of the spray bar. I feel like i'm getting great flow and surface agitation from my Eheim 2217. I think it's more than enough filtration for my 55G. So what can it be?


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## Carson Albright

It's excess nutrients, try to get more surface agitation if you can, but it won't hurt anything. The film will go away once your plants get more established and your nutrients are balanced out. Let the tank settle, the water will clear eventually. As long as there is no fish in your tank there is no need to worry about the cycling process, it'll just take time.


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## Furgan

I find it all very confusing, as I read about someone planting with Ada from day one and the plants having issues. 

So I contacted a distributor of Ada who I purchased the soil from and they said that you plant after 0 ammonia and which could be 3 weeks and each week to do a 50-60% water change.


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## houseofcards

Furgan said:


> I find it all very confusing, as I read about someone planting with Ada from day one and the plants having issues.
> 
> So I contacted a distributor of Ada who I purchased the soil from and they said that you plant after 0 ammonia and which could be 3 weeks and each week to do a 50-60% water change.


Well the distributor is giving the wrong information which counters ADA themselves. There's no reason to wait to plant is counter to the whole process. The plants love the ammonia and they start to purify the water. Water change schedules are well-documented by ADA in which you do every day 1st week, every other 2nd week, every 3rd day 3rd week and once a week starting 4th week. 

Doesn't mean you can't wait, but why delay everything.


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## Jeff5614

Furgan said:


> I find it all very confusing, as I read about someone planting with Ada from day one and the plants having issues.
> 
> So I contacted a distributor of Ada who I purchased the soil from and they said that you plant after 0 ammonia and which could be 3 weeks and each week to do a 50-60% water change.


This is counter to every ADA video I've watched and I think I've watched them all. They set the complete tank up on day one. Soil goes in, hardscape, plants and then water all on the same day. Everything HouseofCards has said has been spot on. The plants love the ammonia and the regular, frequent water changes during the first few weeks keep it from rising to a level that can harm them.


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## underH20garden

houseofcards said:


> Ok, take a deep breadth it's not that complicated. The guy at Eheim I don't know who you talked with but that is completely ridiculous. Did he know you were using Aquasoil and did he know what it was? There would be no reason even if your not using AS to not do water changes.
> 
> I have setup countless tanks using AS as have some other members here. Go by their advise. Many times people don't know the answer to something at a LFS or company and they don't want to say "I don't know" so they make stuff up. All you need to do is:
> 
> Setup your tank
> Plant
> Don't disturb the AS when you fill or do things in the tank.
> Do daily water changes 1st week, 2nd week every 2nd day and then move to one per week. Change about 50%. Get the plants growing and in about a month you should be ready for fish after checking that there's no ammonia, etc.
> Run a short light cycle 4 hours during this time.
> 
> Here is a good tutorial from ADA themselves:
> 
> ADA Tank Setup
> 
> Use the outline as a general guide. They might show products, etc that you can do without like any other company would.


read the whole tread thanks for the info. I also was a bit confused about the planting & startup with AS . this helped out a lot.  
i will fallow ADA guide as there tanks are amazing!

I never thought of the plants to carry healthy good bacteria but now as I think about it more it does make since. so what your saying is that I will not need any of the bottled or powered stuff to help kick start it. just AS and plants? 

sorry I know this is an older thread just doing my research before i get going...


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## MoldyMayo

underH20garden said:


> read the whole tread thanks for the info. I also was a bit confused about the planting & startup with AS . this helped out a lot.
> i will fallow ADA guide as there tanks are amazing!
> 
> I never thought of the plants to carry healthy good bacteria but now as I think about it more it does make since. so what your saying is that I will not need any of the bottled or powered stuff to help kick start it. just AS and plants?
> 
> sorry I know this is an older thread just doing my research before i get going...


You do not need any of the additives when starting a tank on AS, they may help some early in the stabilization process, but are definitely _not needed_. IMO the benefits are not worth the extra money and the AS is all you _need_ in the beginning to get a healthy and beautiful planted tank.


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## underH20garden

so it seems like the more heavy you plant the better and go with DSM? am I understanding that correct?

also where is a good place to get bulk plants with good quality at a reasonable price? no LFS around me so its all mail order. dont mean to high hack the tread and might even start a thread on this.


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## tankninja

houseofcards said:


> Ok, take a deep breadth it's not that complicated. The guy at Eheim I don't know who you talked with but that is completely ridiculous. Did he know you were using Aquasoil and did he know what it was? There would be no reason even if your not using AS to not do water changes.
> 
> I have setup countless tanks using AS as have some other members here. Go by their advise. Many times people don't know the answer to something at a LFS or company and they don't want to say "I don't know" so they make stuff up. All you need to do is:
> 
> Setup your tank
> Plant
> Don't disturb the AS when you fill or do things in the tank.
> Do daily water changes 1st week, 2nd week every 2nd day and then move to one per week. Change about 50%. Get the plants growing and in about a month you should be ready for fish after checking that there's no ammonia, etc.
> Run a short light cycle 4 hours during this time.
> 
> Here is a good tutorial from ADA themselves:
> 
> ADA Tank Setup
> 
> Use the outline as a general guide. They might show products, etc that you can do without like any other company would.


Agree, people way over think this and have all these complicated processes. You are right, put in soil, add plants and water. Test weekly and water change. Simple.


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## mexicatz

If I'm going to be planting with crypts, anubias, and marsilea will I encounter issues during the initial phase if I follow the water change routine and lower photo period? They aren't the fastest growers so I'm not sure if I will encounter algae issues.


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## FreshPuff

mexicatz said:


> If I'm going to be planting with crypts, anubias, and marsilea will I encounter issues during the initial phase if I follow the water change routine and lower photo period? They aren't the fastest growers so I'm not sure if I will encounter algae issues.


Because you are not planting any fast growing plants in the beginning water changes and a short lighting schedule will be key. It's normal for crypts to have a melting phase when planted in a new environment. You will have lots of organics in the water column from both the melting and the fresh aquasoil. You will definitely want to do a water change everyday for the first couple of weeks if possible to keep the algae at bay.


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## mexicatz

Do you think I should just cycle the amazonia first so I don't risk an algae bloom with the excess ammonia and plant matter


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## Slawek4all

How about adding co2 to a tank with AS?


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## simpler_times

ADA Amazonia cycling query/test levels.

Hi all, just set up a new tank the day before yesterday with ADA Amazonia original. Did some water tests just before water change today (48hrs since floading it) and readings were:
* Ammonia .25
* Nitrite.25-.50
* Nitrate 80ppm
I was surprised that the Ammonia is so low and the nitrates were so high. I haven't added any cycle media or mature tank media etc. Anything to worry about or suggestions? This is all new to me but not the readings I was expecting.
Thanks heaps.


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