# ADA Aquasoil Amazonia exessive nutrients!



## MtAnimals (May 17, 2015)

what kind of algae? how long was the tank left unattended?


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## abdul (Sep 13, 2016)

MtAnimals said:


> what kind of algae? how long was the tank left unattended?


Blue-green algae. and my leave was for 2 months


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## Dman911 (Nov 24, 2016)

I don't think its excessive only because it is marketed on those properties. 2 months is an extremely long time to leave a tank and almost any tank after 2 months would be a disaster even if it just had tap water and no stocking with no maintenance.

Dan


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## MtAnimals (May 17, 2015)

abdul said:


> Blue-green algae. and my leave was for 2 months


well,for the BGA,all you have to have for that is dead plant matter,IME.Once oyu get enough plant matter rotting for the BGA to take hold,it becomes a chain reaction as the BGA kills more plants.I don't think BGA is caused so much from excessive plant nutrients so much as it is from organics released from dead or dying plant matter,and low nitrates.

I find when I keep the filters cleaned out and dead stuff out of the tank,I have no problems from BGA.

To get rid of it,the most effective and cost effective as well is the ultra
life blue green stain remover.I get it from Amazon and it usually only took one treatment.

I think what may have happened,is not from the soil,but a plant or two failed and that's what set off the BGA.


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## abdul (Sep 13, 2016)

Dman911 said:


> I don't think its excessive only because it is marketed on those properties. 2 months is an extremely long time to leave a tank and almost any tank after 2 months would be a disaster even if it just had tap water and no stocking with no maintenance.
> 
> Dan


my tanks can go for months with no maintenance due to the plants, low stock, and auto-feeders.



MtAnimals said:


> well,for the BGA,all you have to have for that is dead plant matter,IME.Once oyu get enough plant matter rotting for the BGA to take hold,it becomes a chain reaction as the BGA kills more plants.I don't think BGA is caused so much from excessive plant nutrients so much as it is from organics released from dead or dying plant matter,and low nitrates.
> 
> I find when I keep the filters cleaned out and dead stuff out of the tank,I have no problems from BGA.
> 
> ...


I didn't know that dead plant can cause BGA. Thanks for this info.

I will definitely try the product. I re-did one tank from scratch and I'm finding hard time cleaning the other one.


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## MtAnimals (May 17, 2015)

abdul said:


> I didn't know that dead plant can cause BGA. Thanks for this info.
> 
> I will definitely try the product. I re-did one tank from scratch and I'm finding hard time cleaning the other one.


I know the name of it implies it's a cleaner,but it's really a bga killer.They say it has enzymes that eat what the bga does,whatever it is,it's very effective and much cheaper to use than erythromycin.works better too.


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## Dman911 (Nov 24, 2016)

abdul said:


> my tanks can go for months with no maintenance due to the plants, low stock, and auto-feeders.



What made you think Aquasoil would suit a tank that goes 2 months without maintenance? see directions for use. What I'm saying is its not fair to say that they go to far with nutrients when they are not being used as directed. Why would you even attempt to use it in that application? Why not use a substrate with less added nutrients? I would say you didn't select the proper substrate for your choice of setup as not all are created equal and used for different circumstances. Its seems unfair to blame the product is all I'm saying.

Dan


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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

+1 to dman

seems pretty obvious that this would happen. if you want to neglect tanks for months at a time you need to avoid high nutrients (aka not use aquasoil)


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## Sherminator (Aug 29, 2011)

klibs said:


> +1 to dman
> 
> seems pretty obvious that this would happen. if you want to neglect tanks for months at a time you need to avoid high nutrients (aka not use aquasoil)


Depends...I have a 12x12x12 cube setup for almost 5 years now with ADA Aquasoil and for the past 3 years or so I've done nothing but add water to it and feed the shrimp once in a while. I had a huge chunk of moss in it a few weeks ago, but after the tank pumped out about 95% of the water on to the floor. I pulled the moss and replaced the water...the shrimps took off after (population spiked with lots of baby shrimp) this and I decided that I'd actually start caring for the tank again more regularly since I had the time to now...I was working out of state and the tank was over my parents for a few months with no water changes either till I got settled into my new house. 

Not recommended, but it worked for me.

I also had a first gen Finnex LED light that I don't think put out enough light to cause any issues with it either...which was replaced by a new Finnex Planted Plus LED light recently.


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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

Sherminator said:


> I also had a first gen Finnex LED light that I don't think put out enough light to cause any issues with it either...which was replaced by a new Finnex Planted Plus LED light recently.


exactly

mo light mo problems

blanket assumption should not be made to think that all aquasoil tanks are higher maintenance.

you can't really pull off that low-maintenance lifestyle when you have higher light. aquasoil is not the root cause but will certainly make it worse (more nutrients). balance of low light and good healthy plant mass means you can afford to slack off (this is basically how i run my 20g / how you ran your tank it sounds like). OP obviously had not achieved this level of balance so their tank blew up. probably would not have been AS bad if not using aquasoil-type substrate if i had to bet...


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## abdul (Sep 13, 2016)

Dman911 said:


> What made you think Aquasoil would suit a tank that goes 2 months without maintenance? see directions for use. What I'm saying is its not fair to say that they go to far with nutrients when they are not being used as directed. Why would you even attempt to use it in that application? Why not use a substrate with less added nutrients? I would say you didn't select the proper substrate for your choice of setup as not all are created equal and used for different circumstances. Its seems unfair to blame the product is all I'm saying.
> 
> Dan


Calm down!

It is just an observation and I share my experience with other hobbyists as this hobby based on experience most of the time. No need to be angry!

This forum is to discuss, not to market products and bias to some products just because we bought it. 

There are no directions for ADA products or maybe it is in Japanese.


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## Dman911 (Nov 24, 2016)

I'm not angry, I am asking relevant questions and stating relevant information related to your statement and topic for discussion. Different substrates serve different purposes and your lack of research is what led to your issues not the product. I'm not advocating this product by any means or marketing it, the fact is if you would have posted this topic as advice for substrate to use for this application there is no way I (or others I believe) would recommend it for use in the application you described. Any bit of minimal research would have led you to directions of use all over the net not to mention any ADA book or forum or site. My point is the statements you made about the product are not appropriate for the use in which you used it. There are lots of people that read these and other forums to gain information about products, applications any much more that in my opinion would be subject to misinformation or false claims about this product if left without comment. 

Dan


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## abdul (Sep 13, 2016)

Dman911 said:


> I'm not angry, I am asking relevant questions and stating relevant information related to your statement and topic for discussion. Different substrates serve different purposes and your lack of research is what led to your issues not the product. I'm not advocating this product by any means or marketing it, the fact is if you would have posted this topic as advice for substrate to use for this application there is no way I (or others I believe) would recommend it for use in the application you described. Any bit of minimal research would have led you to directions of use all over the net not to mention any ADA book or forum or site. My point is the statements you made about the product are not appropriate for the use in which you used it. There are lots of people that read these and other forums to gain information about products, applications any much more that in my opinion would be subject to misinformation or false claims about this product if left without comment.
> 
> Dan


Can we share our experience here without naming it "not appropriate statement"!!! 

at the beginning, you asked me to see directions for use which do not exist and now you referred to my lack of research. 

ADA leech excessive nutrients. It is not cons nor pros. let people read and made their mind regarding these commercial products.


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## Dman911 (Nov 24, 2016)

abdul said:


> Can we share our experience here without naming it "not appropriate statement"!!!
> 
> at the beginning, you asked me to see directions for use which do not exist and now you referred to my lack of research.
> 
> ADA leech excessive nutrients. It is not cons nor pros. let people read and made their mind regarding these commercial products.


The directions can be found all over the net as I have stated and in several ADA books, this and other forums. They do exist just because you have not attempted to look for them other than on the bag does not mean they do not exist. Common sense would also dictate a high nutrient substrate would not be ideal for the application you described.

What I saying by your statement being inappropriate is that you are blaming a substrate or substrates for the issues you encountered by claiming they have excessive nutrients. These substrates are intended to have a high nutrient content and are marketed as such. So in my opinion its not the substrate having high nutrient or as you say excessive nutrients content but rather the fact you have chosen the wrong product for your application and your statement is unfair towards the product(s). Here is an analogy, I live in Canada I buy summer tires from company X and in winter I get stuck all the time and write an article claiming that company X makes garbage tires. Is this a fair statement? Again I would say no because I obviously did not by the proper product for the application.

I am letting people read and stating my opinion or are you asking that they only be entitled to your opinion?

Dan


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

Amazonia has enough nutrients to keep you going for a couple months. No deficiencies. Excess? I do not believe so, people dose ei with it so...Nh4 leech yes, this is the most algae issues in the beginning where you need to supplement water changes. The soil is packed with organic material and yes the nh4 and a lot dirtier than its two counterparts.


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## Kubla (Jan 5, 2014)

abdul said:


> I have 3 tanks and I was on long leave. 2 of 3 tanks covered by algae. The third one is flourished with no algae whatsoever. I even had some plants in my sponge filters!
> 
> The 2 tanks with algae have ADA Amazonia and Tropica Soil and the third one I used SL-Aqua Soil. Algae literally colonized the 2 tanks and the existed plants died.
> 
> I started to believe that ADA Amazonia and other competitors go too far with nutrients which lead to algae and other complications


Algae didn't colonize your tanks.
Some facts:
ADA will leach some nutrients. It will only be excessive if your plants can't use them. I've never heard anyone else complain about ADA soils providing too much.
BGA is not algae.


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