# Home Depot Aquatic soil



## willowist (Jan 30, 2005)

I was wondering what is wrong with this soil? it's a fraction of the cost of other aquatic soils and it looks nice as well, i'm thinking of using it in a planted tank i'm setting up unless there's something wrong with it.
Bill


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## bharada (Mar 5, 2004)

Is it a Home Depot branded product? If it is I've never seen it. I'm familiar with Schultz/Profile Aquatic Plant Soil, though. I have about 25# of it mixed with coarse quartz sand in my 125g tank.


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## willowist (Jan 30, 2005)

It's Schultz Aquatic soil that they have at home depot, it's a little over $5.00 for a 10lb bag.I'm going to go ahead and get some can't beat the price and after some reading up on it it's just as good as the more expensive stuff.
Bill


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## Rolo (Dec 10, 2003)

Try a forum search and you will find a lot of info on this substrate.



willowist said:


> I was wondering what is wrong with this soil?


Some downsides I didn't like of it: It's very light, making some plants hard to keep down. The color is very light after washed and put into a filled tank. It played havoc with my water parameters (up'ed KH and phosphates), but I think my case is unusual. 

That is my experience. There are people who do like it and have good reasons. It also makes a very nice substrate for growing plants emersed.


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## bharada (Mar 5, 2004)

Ok. There are a few people who use it, but it's not an ideal substrate on it's own. For one thing, the color is not that attractive being a uniform tan. Secondly, it's vey light so it can be very difficult to get stem plants anchored in it. However it does have a higher CEC than Flourite or Eco-Complete so it is a good way to get Fe to the plant roots.

As I mentioned above, I use it mixed with coarse sand. It's color blends in well with the sand and I get the benefit of its nutrient holding ability while the sand makes planting a breeze.


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## willowist (Jan 30, 2005)

Ok,i put the aquatic soil in and put sand on top so far i think it's going to work out pretty well.
Bill


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## ThomE (Aug 26, 2004)

Be careful when you rearrange your tank. I heard that it's nice as long as it stays under the sand.


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## bharada (Mar 5, 2004)

I have it thoroughly mixed in with the sand in my 125 and I haven't had any peculiarities in my water column in the 5 months since I've set the tank up. KH, GH and PO4 levels are consistant with what I would expect with my tap water and dosing.

If you're planning on using playsand then it'll have a tendency to rise to the surface...or rather, the smaller sand particles will settle to the bottom. The grain size of my sand (coarse quartz sand from Tri-City Rock in Fremont) is 2-4mm and matches well with the size of the APS grains.


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## Rex Grigg (Dec 10, 2002)

You can beat the price. It's the same product as Turface or Profile. I can get 50 lbs of Profile for under $20.


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## glass-gardens.com (Apr 14, 2004)

I called my HD, $6.36 for a 10 pound bag (only size they have), but he said it's Profile Professional Aquatic Soil, is that the same stuff?


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## bharada (Mar 5, 2004)

glass-gardens.com said:


> I called my HD, $6.36 for a 10 pound bag (only size they have), but he said it's Profile Professional Aquatic Soil, is that the same stuff?


It's the same stuff, but packaged for the home gardener. Turface is packaged more for landscapers/groundskeeper so comes in much bigger bags. The problem is finding a source for it.


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## glass-gardens.com (Apr 14, 2004)

10 pound bags are all they carry right now.

Heh, I called a place that deals only in water gardens, supposed to be the biggest and baddest in the area, they never heard of it, nor do they carry any similar products. I asked them if they needed help over there, they asked me to come in and apply.

Go figure.

I'm seriously considering a complete tear down on my 75, the jungle method has really gotten out of hand, I whacked through about half of it last weekend, but aside from a slight outbreak of BBA, it's pretty much back where it was before already.

I did find out that I have two more Amanos than I thought I did, and now I seem to have very small zebra danios coming out of nowhere, guppies reappeared and I saw my corys for the first time in weeks.

Ain't it cool?

Anyway, I'm thinking of changing the substrate, thought I'd take a look at this stuff, Petsmart is out of my Flourite and won't have any in for a week and they won't price match online places anymore, guess they're on to me


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## bharada (Mar 5, 2004)

http://www.protimelawnseed.com/turface_mvp.htm
Looks like you need to try more of the landscaping angle. Do you have any ball fields around? You can go ask the groundskeeper if he has a supplier.


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## fishyboy (Nov 16, 2003)

Had it.. caused po4 to fly, and stay there, impossible for plants to stay in the substreate( 2 inches of profile 2 inches of small gravel) algae just covered it too


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## bigpow (May 24, 2004)

I had it for a few months. Didn't like it. Switched to sand.
Got 7 bags from HD ($6.5/7lbs bag) - I'd be happy if I could sell them for $20 LOL
Should've listened and bought flourite/eco-complete instead.
But I didn't have the budget then (and I don't have one now)


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## freeflyer (Feb 3, 2005)

The product is also sold as Schultz Clay soil conditioner in big 40-50# bags for about $15, I emailed the company and it said its the same product as the aquatic soil. I mixed it about 50/50 with flourite and its working well for me. But used alone it is too light and nothing will stay rooted in it.


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