# Mr. Aqua Aquarium Soil?



## nanoguy (Mar 12, 2006)

Sorry folks, I searched but didn't find any good info. 

Looking at setting up a 10g low-tech tank for my wife's classroom for some small fish and possibly shrimp. I'd like to use a substrate with some ferts (built in) but I am not keen on dirt at the moment. 

Looking at the ADA soil and came across the Mr. Aqua soil which looks to claim the same thing. I don't really mind paying for the ADA stuff for this small tank but does anyone have experience with the Mr. Aqua soil? Would it be a safer bet to just go with the ADA?

Thanks in advance. 

Ty


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## RyRob (May 30, 2015)

I've only ever seen the Mr. Aqua soil in 1L bags priced roughly $12 a bag making for an even more expensive substrate than ada. For the amount you would need, I would just buy the ada and call it done. One 9L bag should be more than enough for a 10 gallon with leftovers for scaping. Aquatic-garden, a sponser on this site, has the cheapest shipping I've seen for ada also if you are shopping online. Ada aquasoil has been tried and tested many times over to a point that if a problem in your tank arises, I think you could have the piece of mind knowing that it isn't your substrate where if you purchased the Mr. Aqua, you would probably keep second guessing your substrate. Having said that, I haven't used either substrate but I do plan on buying a few 9L bags here soon. Imo it's the best option for plant growth/health and ease of maintenance, from my research and observations on this site.

Especially with it being a low tech tank, I don't think you would even have to dose fertilizers with the ada although I would personally still dose excel daily to help achieve ecosytematic equilibrium, or balance, (i just felt like using big words lol) and help aid in algae control. Do weekly 30%-50% water changes and monitor the process and I think you could have a pretty sweet tank.


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## nanoguy (Mar 12, 2006)

RyRob said:


> I've only ever seen the Mr. Aqua soil in 1L bags priced roughly $12 a bag making for an even more expensive substrate than ada. For the amount you would need, I would just buy the ada and call it done. One 9L bag should be more than enough for a 10 gallon with leftovers for scaping. Aquatic-garden, a sponser on this site, has the cheapest shipping I've seen for ada also if you are shopping online. Ada aquasoil has been tried and tested many times over to a point that if a problem in your tank arises, I think you could have the piece of mind knowing that it isn't your substrate where if you purchased the Mr. Aqua, you would probably keep second guessing your substrate. Having said that, I haven't used either substrate but I do plan on buying a few 9L bags here soon. Imo it's the best option for plant growth/health and ease of maintenance, from my research and observations on this site.
> 
> Especially with it being a low tech tank, I don't think you would even have to dose fertilizers with the ada although I would personally still dose excel daily to help achieve ecosytematic equilibrium, or balance, (i just felt like using big words lol) and help aid in algae control. Do weekly 30%-50% water changes and monitor the process and I think you could have a pretty sweet tank.


Great point, I had to go back and look at the bag size but assumed they were similar. Guess that is what I get for quick searching. Thanks for the info, I'll check out the vendor you mentioned.


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