# brown/cloudy water with ADA Aquasoil?



## JenThePlantGeek

Another member on here was having this problem. She ended up capping the AS with gravel over the top and the problem went away. 

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/general-planted-tank-discussion/34306-giving-up.html


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## SPL-311

I just did a 40% water change and figured I'd run a little experiment over the weekend. I filled 2 jars with the fresh tank water - One with only water, and one with Aquasoil from the tank in the bottom. If the water in the jar with the aquasoil is bron on monday I'll know it's from the substrate. If both jars have brown water I can assume it's not caused by the substrate. 

Hope it's not the aquasoil b/c I think it really helps the plants. I'll keep you posted on the results.


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## tmm

spl-311, I had to cap the aquasoil. I would do a water change and by the next morning it would be brown. After a few days it would be so brown that I couldnt see plants or fish. I tried everything, really, and the only thing that helped was putting a layer of gravel on top of the soil. Now, the tank is beautiful. I was about ready to quit, Im very grateful to the people on this board. Tina


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## Momotaro

> After a few days it would be so brown that I couldnt see plants or fish.


That is absolutely abnormal. I have heard of dust in the water, and I have heard (and experienced) a "tinge" in the water. I have never heard of Aqua Soil causing such a muddy cloudiness that plants and fish were obscured.

Mike


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## tmm

I am reading more and more about people having problems with ada aquasoil. I know its supposed to be the best, and that is why I bought it, but it was causing the brown water. Tina


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## SPL-311

Seems that it is indeed the aquasoil that creating the cloudyness in my water. In my little experiment the jar w/o substrate stayed clear, while my tank and the jar with substrate clouded up over the weekend. 

I think at this point I'm going to try daily 80% water changes for a week or two and see if that helps any. after a couple weeks though, I may lose my patience and change out the substrate to EcoComplete.

Perhaps there was a bad batch of Aquasoil? Why would it cloud some people's tanks but not others?


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## Momotaro

This is no big discovery. 

Aqua Soil can cloud the water a bit, it is pretty well documented. Frequent water changes are a good idea. Frequent, large water changes, as you have stated you are going to perform, are better. There is a difference in the water having a tint of color (similar to tannin), some cloudiness, or outright murky/muddiness (like Tina experienced). I think making an effort to differentiate between the level of water affectedness may help determine what may be at the root of the problem.

SPL-311, at this stage, I see this becoming an issue for you if the tint/cloudiness persists over an extended period of time, there is no remedy, or the tint/cloudiness becomes murkiness. 

Until then, the best thing to do would be to sit tight and let it run it's course. I'd give the water changes you suggested a chance, then switch to adding some carbon to your filter for a short while if the condition persists. I don't see the solution happening in a matter of hours, but it should clear up over the course of a few days.

Keep us up to date!

Mike


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## Hypancistrus

ADA Aquasoil might slightly tint the water, but it does NOT add a brown cloudiness to the water to the point where you can't even see the inside of the tank. ADA Aquasoil is a semi fired clay with a strong negative charge, so it should actually CLEAR the water VERY soon after the tank is set up, as it works like carbon and pulls in positively charged ions. THIS is very well documented.

tmm and SPL-311, we need to begin by tracing where your Aqua Soil came from. Where and when did you buy it?

SPL-311, do you have any of the Aqua Soil that you used left over?


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## SPL-311

I bought the aquasoil about 2 months ago at Aquatic Forest in San Francisco, and I have about half the bag leftover.

I may not have been clear in the earlier posts, but my water problem is nowhere near as bad as Tina's was. The water in my tank will appear cloudy and have a brown tinge to it after 2-4 days however, it never gets muddy or so bad I can't see through the water. My plants are all still getting enough light and doing well (even the glosso). At this point it's more of an annoyance than anything and I'll keep up the frequent water changes and see if that helps. Since I have some AS leftover, I wouldn't be opposed to sending some out for a comparison test.

-Zack


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## Hypancistrus

OK, I would like some of that leftover Aqua Soil.

Please PM me, I will pay to have you ship some of it to me. A good 3-4 cups would be great.


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## scolley

Well, just to chime in...

This problem appears to be both real, and significant.

A few months ago I set up a tank with both AS and driftwood. When I filled that tank the water would start turning brown real quickly - within 24 hours, as if the driftwood were leaching tannins.

I went back to my source for driftwood, and they assured me that ANY leaching of tannins should be limited, and end soon. Well tannins or not, the brown water has continued.

So now, 4 months later, with brown water is continuing to be a major issue, I have to ask... is it the driftwood? Or is it something else, like the AquaSoil? Goodness knows there is nothing else in the tank that can do this. Anubias don't turn the water brown.

I've had discus in the tank for a month now. And my incremental small water changes are the equivalent of 50% every two days. But it is clear from their behavior and lack of stress bars that they are really, really happy after I do a run-of-the-mill 50% water change. And FWIW, only after for a short while after such changes does my water look clear - not brown tinted. Before such changes my measurable water parameters are EXCELLENT.

I can only assume that what ever is making my water brown so very quickly after water changes, is due to something wrong in the Aquasoil I put in my tank.


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## Betowess

Steve, did you see the follow up thread. Pretty illuminating. Sorry to hear that about your water. Mine isn't perfectly clear and gets funky with little debri, but over all has cleared up nicely. I wonder if you got some of the batch he documents in the thread below...
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/g...ion/36119-bad-bag-ada-aquasoil-proof-but.html


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## Momotaro

How brown is the water, Steve?

I think the questionable bags of Aqua Soil have left the water muddy. It doesn't look like that is what you are suffering from.

If the wood is ADA Old Black Wood, I would suspect that is the culprit. I had some leeching for a while as well. 

Try running your filter with a little bit of carbon in it for a while. If it clears pretty quickly, it was the wood.


Mike


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## jasonh

This kind of thing makes me nervous about going and dropping $120+ on AS for my (hopefully) soon-to-have 58gal....I'd really hate to buy it and then have muddy or even cloudy water that won't go away....

I know you're not supposed to rinse AS, but would it be a good idea in this case?


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## Betowess

Jason, my experience with it was not anywhere near what Zach's was. One could consider capping it with about an inch of other top dressing, if you have corys and others. But, no, I would not rinse it. There is a bit of peat in the mix, which will float up and need to be netted out too. It really is a nice substrate to work with. My water has cleared up nicely after about a month or maybe a little longer. I anticipate it will get better as things settle in on the biological level.


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## dhavoc

same thing here, water doesnt turn to mud, but a tea color like a tank with driftwood leaching tannins. but there is no driftwood in my tank, and 3 weeks of water changes every few days and the same thing, clear for few hours and tea colored the after that. plants and fish are doing great, especially the HC, but the color is annoying. cant replace the soil as its a 120g and i used 5 bags of AS and one of powder, which with airfreight to Hawaii is pretty damn expensive. i have a CRS tank which has no problems and was crystal clear in a day, with NO tea coloring ever, and i have old black wood in there as well. will try to keep doing water changes but dumping 100+ gallons down the toilet every few days is getting old real fast.


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## Momotaro

The tea color has to be coming from the peat. It is kind of like "black water".

Try running some carbon in your filters for a couple of weeks as well as the water changes. That is what you would do for tannins in the water and it will work for the tinted water caused by the Aqua Soil. Amano does it, and Jay Luto and I did it with successful results.

Mike


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## scolley

Momotaro said:


> How brown is the water, Steve?
> 
> I think the questionable bags of Aqua Soil have left the water muddy. It doesn't look like that is what you are suffering from.
> 
> If the wood is ADA Old Black Wood, I would suspect that is the culprit. I had some leeching for a while as well.
> 
> Try running your filter with a little bit of carbon in it for a while. If it clears pretty quickly, it was the wood.
> 
> 
> Mike


It's not real brown Mike. Just tinted. But it gets tinted pretty quickly, like in a couple of days.

I'm not sure if my wood is the ADA Old Black Wood, but it is from ADG. I know that because of the type of wood I was looking for, Jeff Senske pulled it from a batch of stuff he uses a lot. And he indicated that it would leach, but would stop pretty soon. Well this is four months now.

I'll try some carbon and see if that pulls it out. So you think that if that is the case it is the wood? I'll try.

But first I've got another experiment going. I dose 12 drops of ADA ECA a day. And that stuff is like dark brown ink. I'm gonna go 4 or 5 days without that first, just in case - to see if that might be doing it. I doubt it, but I want to rule out all the possibilities.

Then I'll give the carbon a shot.

And if I do conclude that it's not that Aquasoil, I'll definately post back. I don't want to malign a good product with unsubstantiated rumor. And right now, this is definately unsubstantiated (for my tank anyway).


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## Momotaro

> So you think that if that is the case it is the wood?


I am starting to think it is just the peat in the ADA substrates that is the main culprit. I also think the wood comes into play as well. "Old Black Wood" or plain old Malaysian driftwood, they seem to leech a lot of tannins. I really think the carbon is going to make a difference. It did for Jay and I.

Stopping the ADA ECA for a little while is a good idea as well!! :hihi: 

I don't think it is a slant against the Aqua Soil, just a condition of it. If you are adding a substrate with peat (not peat capped by a substrate) ...I think a person should expect to have some discoloration to the water column.


Mike


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## scolley

Momotaro said:


> I think a person should expect to have some discoloration to the water column.


That is certainly reasonable, provided of course, you had any idea it had peat in it. The peat content is news to me. Live and learn...


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## Betowess

If you pour in the AS, you will see a small quantity of floating bits of woody peat. One might not experience that if you do the traditional dry tank, gentle water fill method. Believe me, there is at least 1/2 cup worth of floating peat (in 36 liters of AS) that drifted up. But my water is slowly becoming less pee colored overtime, I believe. I haven't resorted to activated carbon, but I have some and may try it out soon.


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## scolley

Over this past week I've gone to a good bit of trouble, testing, trial, and observation to determine if my water staining problem is from my ferts, my driftwood, or my Aquasoil. I think I have the answer now, but I need 3-4 more days observations to post conclusions with a reasonable level of certainty. Stay tuned for results...

But I can tell you now, it is all going to hinge on Momotaro's assertion that carbon takes the color out of driftwood stained water, but not AS stained water. So Mike, you previously posted that if I run some carbon in my filter, and it clears quickly, then it is probably my wood (as opposed to the AS). If that position has changed, please say so soon, as I'm about to post conclusions to my test of those differences, along with the possible influence of a few other factors.


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## Betowess

Steve, I have Manzanita which is definately done with its leeching, so I know it is the 36 liters of AS which was/is staining my water. BUT, about 4 days ago I put in a large bag of Activated Carbon and a 45% water change. Well over a quart of the carbon. The water is still totally clear. In the past it would be well on the way to pee color. My conclusion, the carbon does the trick. I just don't want to have to keep putting it in there. Too expensive.


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## scolley

Betowess said:


> Steve, I have Manzanita which is definately done with its leeching, so I know it is the 36 liters of AS which was/is staining my water. BUT, about 4 days ago I put in a large bag of Activated Carbon and a 45% water change. Well over a quart of the carbon. The water is still totally clear. In the past it would be well on the way to pee color. My conclusion, the carbon does the trick. I just don't want to have to keep putting it in there. Too expensive.


Bob unless I misunderstand what's going in in your post, all you really know for sure it that the carbon takes out the pee color. What you don't know (and I'm talking KNOW, not have good reason to believe) is that the pee color it's taking out is from the AS.

And that's my problem. Mike indicated that if carbon clears it up quickly, it was the wood. And the inverse of that is that if the carbon does not clear it up quickly, it's the AS. I've got the carbon and am ready to run it using HOT Magnum filter (which the discus hate!). My concern now, what if it does clear up quickly? How does Mike know that means it's the wood? Why shouldn't carbon clear it up quickly regardless of the source: wood, soil, whatever?

Mike? Anybody?


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## Betowess

scolley said:


> Bob unless I misunderstand what's going in in your post, all you really know for sure it that the carbon takes out the pee color. What you don't know (and I'm talking KNOW, not have good reason to believe) is that the pee color it's taking out is from the AS.


Steve, its gotta be the AS. Its not from my wood or plants. There aren't any other sources, I believe.


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## Momotaro

Me said:


> That is what you would do for tannins in the water and it will work for the tinted water caused by the Aqua Soil.





Me said:


> I am starting to think it is just the peat in the ADA substrates that is the main culprit.





Ugh said:


> If you are adding a substrate with peat (not peat capped by a substrate) ...I think a person should expect to have some discoloration to the water column.


I guess I threw a bit of a monkey-wrench in my line of thinking when I mentioned the water would clear quickly if it was the wood.

If you have a tannin leaching wood, carbon should take care of it. The peat color in the water? Carbon should take care of it as well. I believe that is part of the reason why ADA runs carbon in the filter for a period of time. 

I think it will take a little longer for the tint caused by the Aqua Soil to clear (there is more of it with more surface area to leach into the water), but then end result should be the same. 

I think it will take you a little longer as well, Steve, since you have both OBW and AS contributing to the tint.

Don't over think it, Steve! :icon_wink You have a couple of contributing factors (OBW+AS) staring right at you, and a time proven solution (CARBON) sitting in your HOT. Run it for a few days.


Mike


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## Momotaro

> There aren't any other sources, I believe.


Don't overlook the potential of wood, Bob.

You soaked that great manzanita burl. What color was that cruddy water after you finished soaking? Bet it was brown! :hihi: 

Mike


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## scolley

Momotaro said:


> I think it will take you a little longer as well, Steve, since you have both OBW and AS contributing to the tint.
> 
> Don't over think it, Steve! :icon_wink You have a couple of contributing factors (OBW+AS) staring right at you, and a time proven solution (CARBON) sitting in your HOT. Run it for a few days.


Thanks Mike. That clarifies it for me.

Bottom line is I can't know which it is. I can only assume. Too bad, because it would be nice to know the culprit. And I'm NOT going to assume.

So now I've got to go straighten out a post in another thread, where I was making an assumption that my tint was from the AS, only because the tank has been up for four months or so, and that just seemed too long for my driftwood to still be contributing significant tint to the water. Shame on me for posting an assumption. :icon_frow I should know better.

As for the tint, I'm not even going to bother trying to pull it out with the carbon. I'm doing SO MANY water changes for these discus right now, the tint doesn't really get a chance to get too dark.


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## scolley

*You can skip this post...*

Earlier I indicated that the tint in my water could be a number of things, driftwood, aquasoil, or even my ferts. I've concluded that it is not the ferts, so my ADA fert products should not be implicated in this tint question. Skip this post if you don't care about that. But since I questioned the ferts, I figure it's worth posting for the community record why I believe they are not the culprits.


There are only a few things that are likely to be causing this build-up of tint in my tank.

1) Aquasoil leaching color
2) Driftwood leaching tannins
3) ADA ECA added daily to the tank
4) ADA Green Brighty Step 1 added to the tank daily
5) K2SO4 added to the tank daily

Since half the members here are not complaining about tinted water in their tank, I'm going to exclude K2SO4 solution outright. And quite frankly, it's almost clear anyway, so it can't be that.

In order to see if it might be the ECA, which is really dark stuff, I stopped adding it to the tank for several days. Yet the tint has returned to my tank. So I don't think it's the ECA.

But I also tested that visual conclusion :

I found a clear glass container - 3/4 gallon capacity - filled it with water from the tank and held it against a white surface. The tint in the water was clearly visible. So this is my control, as I test for tink cause by fert, I know that the tint can be visible in this container, if the tested fert is causing the tint.

Next I refilled the container with tap water, and inspected it for tint in the same manner. None visually detectable.

Knowing that I put 12 drops of ECA into the tank daily, that's 84 drops a week. My tank has a nominal volume of 70 gallons, so 1 drop of ECA would be just a shade less concentrated in a 3/4 gallon container then 84 drops is into my tank. But two drops is nearly double.

So I added 2 drops ECA to the tap water filled container, stirred and inspected for tint. None visible. So I really don't think it's the ECA causing the tint.

Next I tried the same method with the Green Brighty Step 1, also a somewhat dark product.

I dose 1.3ml of it each day, or 9.1ml a week. I calculate the amount to go into this glass container to be 0.0975ml, or 0.1 ml roughly. But that amount is a bit tough for me to measure, though 10 times that, 1ml, is easily measured in a dosing syringe. So I measured 1 ml Green Brighty Step 1 and mixed it with 9 ml tap water. Then drawing 1 ml if that mixed solution gave me 0.1 ml Green Brighty and 0.9 ml tap water.

I squirted that into the 3/4g container of tap water - no tint.​So when I consider that I'm actually doing 50% water changes every two days, my testing a 7 day doses was silly. But it did allow me to conclude, my tank tint is not coming from the ECA. And that it's not coming from the Green Brighty. It's got to be driftwood or AquaSoil - not exactly a rocket science conclusion, but it's nice to be postive.


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## Betowess

Momotaro said:


> Don't overlook the potential of wood, Bob.
> 
> You soaked that great manzanita burl. What color was that cruddy water after you finished soaking? Bet it was brown! :hihi:
> 
> Mike


Yeah, but my wood's leeching days are over, and my water was clear pre AS. So for my tank, it has to be the AS.


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## dschmeh

I was having problems growing HC so bought some aquasoil and just dumped it on top of my exixting substraite and my water didnt get cloudy nor did it turn brown the following days.


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## Ankit

I've had the ADA Aquasoil for a few days now and have been doing 2x 50% water changes daily on the 2nd and 3rd day. The 1st day I set it all up and just let the filter run for a while.

I had filled this tank up very slowly using the help of my brother and using the plastic bag that the substrate came in to even avoid splashing as much as possible. Here are pictures of it today, it's been about 24 hours since the last 50% water change:









http://www.crsbreeding.com/aquasoil/1.jpg
http://www.crsbreeding.com/aquasoil/2.jpg
http://www.crsbreeding.com/aquasoil/3.jpg

Sorry for the pictures being grainy - I had the flash off so you could see it without a reflection on the glass and no tripod for these pictures.

Anyway, is this what most of you experienced in the beginning? My tank looks a little better after any 50% water change, but soon after goes back to looking like this. I don't have any problem with this if this is how your tanks looked too since it will go away, but I would like a confirmation.


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## Betowess

Yeah, that's pretty much it. Looks like it was shot with the light off so probably looks better with the light on. Patience and a decent amount of activated carbon in a media will clear it up pretty fast. If you have some fish, some zeolite for the typical minor ammonia spike is a safe thing too. That's a cool little stand in the third pic!


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## Ankit

Thanks 

I turned the light on for the first picture actually, just isn't very noticeable with the brown color. I've got the small layer of carbon in my filter that it came with (new) and so hopefully that'll do the job.

The stand is actually a $40 stand I bought from Petsmart, I'll have more pics posted in my blog soon enough (CRSBreeding.com)


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## PasD

My tank took about a week and a half to clear up with the ADA aquasoil. I did 50% water changes daily.


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## Momotaro

Looks pretty typical, Ankit. Suggestions to be patient, add some carbon and do water changes are the way to go.


Mike


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## Overfloater

As Mike has suggested multiple times, add carbon to your filter to remove the tint. ADA states to use quite a bit of carbon at setup. I used about 2 cups in my XP3 and the 37G was clear overnight and remained that way. Brown water is normal with AS, its well known.


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## Ankit

For carbon, I had put a carbon pad or something that my Eheim filter came with. How would I add more carbon?

Do I simply place it inside the canister's filtration system near the carbon pad that they included? I'm not entirely sure how effective what they gave is and so that's why I question this.


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## Betowess

Buy a media bag and some activated carbon. I put over a quart of a. carbon in my XP3. Cleared it up fast.


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## Ankit

Update... it's still brown/cloudy, *sigh*

I've done many water changes since then and have changed the activated carbon a few times as well. The activated carbon clears it up very nicely and I'll be happy with the results, but within a week or so, it'll be back to normal. Now it's almost more of a golden/yellow color....

What should I do? I'm pretty dissapointed with this so far... it's my first time using the ADA Aquasoil. I did see the thread of someone getting a bad bag and it's not nearly as bad as that.

One thing I know is that it's probably slightly a more intense color than it should be because the water evaporates pretty quickly and so I'm going make something to automatically add more water daily, that should help it a little in terms of keep stable water parameters. 

Any thoughts?!

*Edit:* Also, I have cleaned up the Eheim canister filter that I'm using and so I'm pretty sure it's not that.


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## Ankit

Does anyone think it may be due to how close the filter inlet is to the gravel? I've just moved it and placed it horizontally and will see if it makes a difference.

Also, am I wasting my time with a cannister filter? Should I maybe go for a spong filter like this: Foam Aquarium Filters: Oxygen Plus Bio-Filter 2


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## fresh_lynny

From what I hear it is key to add zeolite, carbon and do large frequent water changes. It eventually clears up. I am about to test this myself in about 2 weeks. Will keep you posted.


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## sNApple

I used carbon in my xp3 for 3 days, then did 2-3 wc a week , for 2 weeks, now its clear


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## eklikewhoa

set up my tank with the AS dry and then slowly added water and for three weeks there is no problems other than a very faint tinge. Hardly noticable.


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## Ankit

Yeah, I started with AS being dry as well.

I imagine it's something I'm doing wrong... just filled up a large bag of activated carbon and hope that it will make a difference over the night.

Question - when I pour it into the bag, which might still have moisture, if I see the black dust rising and the sound that you hear when the filter is running it, does that mean the beneficial part has been used up or that it will be working now? I'm a bit confused as to how it works, but know that I want to clear up the tank as soon as possible, I've been at this since December and have everything under control except this issue.


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## thatguy

Just be patient. Wait it out, set up everything like you want it to be set up. Plant the plants, etc. Give the soil time to leech out, then do the water changes to clear it up. This happened to me in one of my tanks with AS. Water changes didnt clear it up. I just waited it out a week or 2, then did a large water change, and it cleared up from then out.


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## Ankit

Ok, I'll do a large water change today and another tomorrow and we'll see how it goes.


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## Booger

Yep. Mine bubbles, turns the water funky colors, spikes ammonia, and sometimes decides to float. Aquasoil may be the new hot thing for plant tanks, but it certainly has its drawbacks.


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## eklikewhoa

When I first set up using aquasoil it was clear but the whole first week I did daily water changes to lower the ammonia that was leaching

week two I started the weekly water changes and it started getting a brown tint in the water like tanins leaching but I paid no mind to it. Towards the end of the week I got a bacteria bloom and figured it was normal even though I started with a established canister. 

week three, I did a water change and added a carbon pad to my eheim 2213 and the water is sparkling clear now with unbelievable growth!


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## mrbelvedere

It's going on about a month now. Growth is excellent, rooting is phenomenal. Some algae (more than likely CO2/excessive iron issues), and the water is still tannin-laden. Not a big deal. It won't last forever. Also, 10K lighting sort of masks the effects of tannins.


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## noripwr

Oh god I'm so glad this thread is alive. I haven't been here for awhile and I don't even remember my past username, but I learned that ADA aqua soil is the new thing now so I picked up a couple bags of it to setup in a new 76 g tank. I'm getting the brown cloudy color (I guess like Tina's) and after a week of filtration/lots of carbon/several 80% water changes, it's still the same. I'm guessing it really is the aqua soil. Nothing else is in the tank. RO/DI water is pure and clear when it's in the water jugs. I wonder if I should resort to eco-complete (what I used before). I still have a bag of unopened aqua soil sitting in the garage =T 

~$120 of aqua soil just to have brown murky water and know that it might've been a bad batch is not my cup of tea. =T btw, I ordered mine from adgshop.com


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## eklikewhoa

I don't see it as much of a problem and compared to eco it's like night and day! 



IMO


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## Overfloater

eklikewhoa said:


> I don't see it as much of a problem and compared to eco it's like night and day!
> 
> IMO


I agree. My water has always cleared up quickly and growth is phenomenal. I still don't think people are using enough carbon.


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## <Frawg>

I am wondering if the folks who have had problems with "tinting" did what I did and rinsed out the Aquasoil (despite written directions not to (that I read *after* I did it), yeah - I know. Dumb.).

s


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## eklikewhoa

I didn't rinse nothing and didn't even use carbon till the other day and still had nice clear water.


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## Booger

It doesn't really make sense that an AQUATIC substrate would be so susceptible to rinsing. Think about it.


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## bereninga

Definitely DO NOT rinse ADA AquaSoil. If you feel it in your hands, it's obvious that you should not. This stuff is the closest to real soil than Eco and Flourite. It's really soft and fine. My water was cloudy for a while. But after a few water changes, it finally cleared up. One piece of advice I can give: fill up your tank VERY slowly. AS is really light and gets stirred up easily. Filling it up really slowly makes a big difference. So try doing a huge water change if your water is still muddy.

Right now, my water is slightly foggy and has a tint of green water, but it can't be from the AS. I put carbon in my filter and will probably get a UV sterilizer to see if that makes a difference. Otherwise, the water is clear.


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## mnsnowdaboy

I had that problem with a dark muddy color water. My mistake was I played too much with the AS when it was wet. I tried to scape a little after I drained 90% of the water and that is a no no. You should have a plan before the water hits. Scape, fill a tad bit, plant, and then fill with water. If you have to add more plants try not to distrub the AS too much like I did. Over time the AS will have less of the murky stuff even if you distrub it, although it still have it.

Be patient and just keep doing some water changes and you'll be fine.


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## mrbelvedere

Exactly. AS is great. Just a few things.

Don't rinse
Keep water flow off the substrate. This is important.
Do lots of water changes 
Add carbon/Purigen
Don't mess with it once it's planted.

Also, I found that you can keep it from becoming cloudy by planting something over all the substrate. The roots keep it stable, like regular soil.


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## Nightshop

IME, never expierenced cloudiness with Aquasoil.


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## dhavoc

mine had the tinge for over a month and a half at least, did water changes daily (over 100%-drain as much as possible, refill halfway and drain again) and it still turned to tea. gave up and just chose to live with it and it cleared up by itself, dont remember when as i just didnt notice it anymore. plants did great from day one, and i use AS in all my tanks. this is was a 120g, so changing water was a pain in the a** to say the least, plus the stares from the wife as i dumped over 150 gallons a day down the drain....


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## typically

i had cloudy water for about a week. besides that im a fan of AS and so are my plants =]


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## Ankit

I hope you guys are right.... it's still cloudy and getting *very* annoying... I'm not sure what to do, I've had a horrible experience with AS.

I'm experiencing the same thing in another 20 gallon that I set up for my brother and it's not going away at all. He's got a pretty basic 20 gallon HOB filter.

What am I doing wrong guys? I know the water is a bit hard... but that shouldn't make this happen, right?


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## dougiefresh

what type of filter are you using and how many ounces of activated carbon are you running in it?


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## Ankit

Eheim 2232 - I didn't measure how many ounces, will check this weekend.

I ended up solving the issue... I dug around quite a bit and found that some people had good luck with a higher quality carbon, including the NA carbon that ADA sells. I wanted to get this issue taken care of over this past weekend and so I got a back of Purigen from a local shop - this was perfect, exactly what I needed. It cleared up the water and so far it looks awesome. I'm glad I can finally start enjoying my tank as I'd like to


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## epicfish

Hm.

Just put in 3 bags of ADA AS yesterday. Brown tinge? Ran the Magnum 350 w/ DE powder. The powder is absolutely black in the canister. The water has no brown tinge.

BUT it looks like someone tossed in a quart of milk and stirred it around. Absolutely cloudy. I used old filter cartridges from an existing tank, so it *might* be a bacterial bloom, but I've never seen one this "cloudy". Will do a 50% WC later tonight, one on Monday, and one again next week to drop the ammonia levels.


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## mrbelvedere

I just put Purigen in my filter on my ADA 60-P. Water is almost too clear. All tannins gone, algae disappearing, plants growing better. Wow, this stuff is amazing.


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## danepatrick

i know this is a little off topic, but purigen says it will remove nitrates. is it the same nitrates that the plants are using? i'm just a little confused. sorry to jump off topic. if it matters, i just re-did my tank with aquasoil and am having nightmares with ammonia and brown water. this is why i ask about the purigen. i would really like to get some if it's something most people think is a good idea.


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## epicfish

It binds nitrates, but only a negligible amount. I think that's what the SeaChem rep. said in a thread either on here or the "other" forum.

I'm running a DE filter for now, but I'll be adding Purigen tomorrow into the Eheim 2213. The DE powder is BLACK...and this is the third time I've changed it!

As for your ammonia problem, I did a 50% WC the first 24 hours, another 50% WC two days later, and 50% WC again the 4th or 5th day the ADA AS was added. No fish or inverts, just plants in the tank.


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## epicfish

OK, correction on what I wrote. It binds organic nitrates, not the inorganic nitrates we dose. Sorry about that. So our dosing is fine.

Before I could put the Purigen in...the tank is crystal clear. 4th batch of DE powder, no activated carbon and it's crystal clear. 

This is in a tank I put ADA AS in on Friday. I'm on my 3rd WC to drop the ammonia.


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## styxx

Well fwiw I have had the same problems that people have been having with AS (you too Dane). I'm on my 2nd week of use and i still have a slight tinge in the water color. I have noticed, however, that with the Purigen, it is increasingly becoming less and less noticeable (especially with my water changes every 3 days). Of course my water chemistry was WAY off last week but it is coming down nicely. Purigen rocks...I've never used carbon b/c of the redux factor. So far the only other thing I haven't appreciated is the Powersand Special working its way up but if you don't disturb it too much during water changes you avoid that problem...

Plants are going insane. Definitely the absolute best substrate out there...not as hard as Fluorite and more fragile but perhaps that is what makes it so useful to root systems (by increasing nutrient uptake and absorption)??


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## plasko

I have been having this cloudiness problem for a while. The tank was clouding up so fast that within 3 days you could barely see in it. It definitely wasn't green water, but going on the recommendations in this thread, I added a bunch of carbon and the problem has almost completely vanished. I can now go 7 days before the water starts to tinge.


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## mrbelvedere

Switch to Purigen. It lasts longer than carbon, and doesn't leach phosphates.


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## danepatrick

i added some purigen yesterday and noticed a bit of clarity before the day was over. hopefully this will solve everything. after cleaning out my filter and adding the purigen i noticed my fish were swimming more in the middle instead of gasping at the surface as they had been for some time. mike, you'll get a kick out of this - the first thing that i think of each time i stick my fingers in my AS is "Dippin' Dots". not sure if you know what that is, but find some, stick your finger in it, and tell me what you think. AHAHHAHAHA!!!!


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## danepatrick

ok, so since i've added the purigen, my ammonia has shot back up to the insanely DARK green color on the API test. you're kidding me right? :angryfire


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## styxx

Dippin Dots, wtf!? lol...yeah you're right! Now about that ammonia, I can't imagine why it would go up...Purigen usually takes care of that...


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## styxx

Go get some Biospira @ Greco's off of Greenwell Springs...they have some in a small fridge by the checkout counter...expensive but instant bacterial colony and that should resolve the ammonia permanently...


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## styxx

mrbelvedere said:


> I just put Purigen in my filter on my ADA 60-P. Water is almost too clear. All tannins gone, algae disappearing, plants growing better. Wow, this stuff is amazing.


It really is impressive, but I didn't get the best results from it until I had to recharge it. And then, wow, impressive clarity. But I also used two bags or 200mL of it, and I know that the more you use the faster your results are from set-up to planting. I have zero algae now, with EI and that is awesome...


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## yowdy.fish

I know this is from a long time ago but have a look at this:
http://www.adana.co.jp/en/products/information/aquasoil_am2.php
If you can't view it it's found on ada's japanese page (but in english) under product annoucements. 

I just filled up my 30L nano with amazonia aqua soil and water and it's become immediately stained. But I also found that the water I placed into the tank was incredibly alkaline. At the moment, large water changes and pH up additives are helping me slowly fix the water.


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## stewde

I just did a water change and have the same problem never get crystal clear what si you guys use to cap ada


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## Ddrizzle

Bumping this thread because it's the first hit for "ada aquasoil yellow" on this website.

I had this same issue for over 6 months. My water was always yellow/light tea colored.

The cause was because I was using RO water and not remineralizing it enough for aquasoil's natural softening tendencies. It's like like the soil sucked it right up.

My fix was to revert back to my local tap water which is plenty hard and makes the water crystal clear the moment I changed it.


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