# "ADA Aqua Soil new Amazonia" in lowtech. bad idea?



## dzega (Apr 22, 2013)

i want to switch from plain gravel to some sort of soil for my non-co2 2wpg tank.
as of now its plain gravel, 
no3=10ppm, 
po4=0.5ppm,
PH=7.2
kh=7
gh=7
dosing daily NPK, liquid carbon, micros

would it make more sense to go for clay based, micros only like JBL AquaBasis
or
ADA aquasoil new amazonia wich as i understand contains macros also?


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

IMHO, AS grows great plants I would certainly recommend it. You do need to know some of its peculiarities: most people do a lot of water changes in the first couple of weeks, like 50-80% daily, especially if you also using PowerSand. I followed the same process with my very first AS tank and it was a pain with a 65g. With my last 4 AS tanks I did not use that practice but started with a ton of plants and seeded filters with no problems.

It does break down over time, but the amount that did over the last 2.5 years for me is negligible.

Many people complain that AS is to expensive. Once you figure out that AS us sold by volume and not by wait, you will find that filling a specific tank with AS costs pretty much the same as any other 'commercial' substrate, kitten litter, pool sand, MTS excluded.

I now use it exclusively for all my tanks, hi or low tech untill I find something better.

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## dzega (Apr 22, 2013)

i could live with the pricing (altho it is a fact JBL is 3x cheaper)
im just was worried since the tank is lowtech (= slow growth) i could run into nutrient excess.
Also just to be clear, im supposed to use aquasoil without pure gravel/sand top layer, right ?


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Don't want to get into a debate but JBL Manado, depending upon your retailer, is roughly the same price as ADA Aquasoil by volume. There may be a couple euro difference but that's it.

There's no reason to put anything on top of Aquasoil. If you used sand, it would settle beneath the Aquasoil.

You wouldn't have excess nutrients in the water column when using Aquasoil. Nutrients remain in the soil and are slowly released over time. Thousands of people use ADA substrates in low-tech tanks - often for shrimp, which are extremely sensitive.


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## dzega (Apr 22, 2013)

ok thanks, then ill go for it. btw that is a shrimp tank im talking about

just calculated the volumes and it appears i will get 3.5cm (1.4inch) soil thickness with one bag. do i have to buy another bag(which doubles the costs) or can i live with layer that thin? or maybe i can put plain sand below it


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

You'll be very happy with the Aquasoil. As a bonus, you don't have to add an ammonia source to cycle your tank because the soil leaches its own.

After 4-6 weeks of cycling, your tank will be perfect for shrimp.


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