# bonsai soil ?



## chris1993 (Mar 6, 2009)

at my local garden centre they sell koyto bonsai soil and its quite cheap , i was wondering could i use this in a planted nano im about to set up as it would save me alot of money. it would just be used as a base and then geo system over the top , any thaughts will be greatly appriciated :thumbsup:

chris


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## Cmeister (Jul 5, 2009)

what is the nutrient/minerals content?


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## marrow (Feb 4, 2007)

There are several types of bonsai soil, one is based on a fired red clay and the other is more of a volcanic pumice sort of thing. The former is Akadama and the latter is Kyodama. I have had good results in tanks using akadama. It is kind of like turface or sms, ie a fired clay. It has no big nutrients of its own but has good cec. I do not know which variety you are concerned about but a mix of the two may be better then akadama alone. I would cap it with a different substrate as it tends to packl down and fall apart in about 18-24 months. You may have some issues with cloudiness. There are many different brands, Ithink the one you are referring to is more likely to be Kyoto not Koyto. Do a google search on bonsai soil or akadama and aquarium and you will find some useful links.


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## chris1993 (Mar 6, 2009)

well i got some some today and im gonna try


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## fshfanatic (Apr 20, 2006)

I dont see any issue with using it depending on the chem composition.


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## wearsbunnyslippers (Dec 6, 2007)

check this link


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## marrow (Feb 4, 2007)

Nice link there "wearsbunnyslippers" a very nice summary of Akadama at that link.


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## wearsbunnyslippers (Dec 6, 2007)

james is the man!


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