# Akadama, no thanks



## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

Yikes!


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

Hi Morph,

Out of curiosity, whats the PH/gh/kh of your tap to understand how much buffering was enacted by the Akadama


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

Ph of my tap is between 6 an 7 and kh is 0, gh is 0 tds is ~20


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

Btw, I do remineralize per my standard, which is to 5 gh. For the longest time the Akadama ducked gh right out of the water, and after about 2 months that effect was no longer noticeable. I'm guessing that the Akadama stores minerals but then rapidly releases them. 

All I know is ill never use it again and never suggest it to anyone. 

I might try to get some cardinals to live in it though instead of breaking it down tonight.


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

it seems that not only is the old akadama not buffering, its actually charged to adversely raise the parameters beyond tap... coming from 6 and 7 up to 8 is just inconcievable.


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## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

well, it is designed as a terrestrial substrate for bonsai, was never a believer myself.

now I would very much like to try something like BW soil.


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## Hmoobthor (Aug 15, 2011)

wow..that a high ph


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## dhavoc (May 4, 2006)

never had any success with it either, nothing i kept in it did well, and buffering varies greatly from bag to bag. i am going to use it for my hydroponic experiment (trying to grow plants in my koi pond filter outflow, where it doesnt matter much what it does as long as it holds together).


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

Yeah, I am going to transfer over a few cardinal shrimp to see if they do good in it, now that it's at 8+ pH, haha. I put a heater in last night and I"ve got about 100 cardinals to play with.


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## idex (Apr 15, 2010)

How old was the akadama?


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

Less than a year, and I'm having pH woes in my planted 50 gallon with akadama as well. 

I think it's 10 months old. My worries are, I have 3 other tanks I set up a few months ago, and now I have to tear them all down and redo them with a proper soil. Not looking forward to that.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

Yup, I just set up a new ADA Amazonia tank because my Akadama PH started to rise.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Since it's just clay mined from a general region, Akadama seems extremely (emphasis on the extremely) hit or miss. I've got a tank that's been buffering for about 23 months without issue and one that stopped buffering after less than two months. Same water: RO water with GH5.

I'd definitely never use it for anything other than aesthetic purposes. Stories like Liam's illustrate why it's a huge risk to take.


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## plamski (Sep 25, 2009)

*Liam check your PH meter.*I almost kill all my shrimps because of failure PH meter.
My Akadama is 6-8 months old and it is buffering to 7ph. I’m adding tennis bal size peat moss per tank and it keep PH 5.6-5.8 for 50-60 days.
When I started the tank substrate discharge GH just a little bit. I have 2 tanks with it one CRS and one CBS 
There are 20-50 babies in each. Will see how they will do in future.


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## pejerrey (Dec 5, 2011)

that is so weird, mine are close to 6. i have to add crushed coral to one of them for my neos.

i did some water changes with tap and it raised the ph tho, i wonder what is in tap that does that. 

when i wasnt doing any water changes and only di water top offs the ph was 5.6 for 6 months.

Liam! i set up my shrimp tanks following the instructions on your website! that is why i bought akadama! lol!!


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## Max Kenji (Mar 11, 2012)

I have to agree with Liam. I experienced the same problem. Random shrimp loss with bad molt. My 2 years old Amazonia tank are much more stable. Now I will have to tear down 6 Akadama tanks that I just set up about 6 months ago . I'll redo them with New Amazonia. No more Akadama ;/


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## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

I’m suddenly so glad I get a hold of this stuff when I tried earlier in the year …


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## jczernia (Apr 16, 2010)

Do you guys use UGF with the New Amazoina??
No More Akadama for me!!


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## Max Kenji (Mar 11, 2012)

I recommend using undergravel filter with New Amazonia especially when you have trouble with lowering Ph. You can either connect it to the intake of your canister or just use an air pump.


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## GeToChKn (Apr 15, 2011)

I have half a UGF plate under about 4" of netlea soil hooked up to a HOB Aqueon filter. Buffers in no time and keeps my pH around 5 and clears the water in no time.


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

plamski said:


> *Liam check your PH meter.*I almost kill all my shrimps because of failure PH meter.
> My Akadama is 6-8 months old and it is buffering to 7ph. I’m adding tennis bal size peat moss per tank and it keep PH 5.6-5.8 for 50-60 days.
> When I started the tank substrate discharge GH just a little bit. I have 2 tanks with it one CRS and one CBS
> There are 20-50 babies in each. Will see how they will do in future.


I tested with liquid because I didn't believe my pH meter. It was really that high. Like I said before it was empty of shrimp, just had plants in it. I took all shrimp out a few months ago because they were steadily dying. Good thing too, pH went through the roof!


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