# ADA Aquasoil turning to mush, rinsed it with success!



## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

After only a year and a half my Aquasoil is starting to turn to a fine powdery dust. It's pretty ugly to look at and very, very hard to scape with... if I touch it even gently it clouds up the entire tank. It was mixed powder/normal type - there are still some distinct granules of the normal type but the powder type is now just mush. Should I pull it all out with a siphon hose, rinse it, and put it back? Pull it all out and replace it completely? Leave it? My tank is not very well established and it would be easy to take down and redo, but I am not sure if I can save the remaining Aquasoil, or if it's even worth it to replace. Money is a big concern for me. I like the buffering/pH lowering of the AS but I don't know if I can save it at this point.

Don't mind the cyano and general nastiness...


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## JohnD72992 (Aug 8, 2013)

*ADA Aquasoil turning to mush, what to do *

Trash it and get a bag from ADG. It's $40+- for 9L. It's supposed to be much better and last longer. Oh, and that's with shipping included


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## NeonFlux (Apr 10, 2008)

That is sadly one of the biggest drawback cons of ADA Aquasoil Amazonia.. They all eventually break down.... Mine had pretty much turned into muddy soil as well over the years.. but I still use it because I have some fish that don't disturb it too much and I have MTS sediment.. I'd say trash it since it doesn't appeal to you that it has broken down, so just find a new substrate; however, remember, you may know this already but, if you decide to remove all the ADA Aquasoil, doing so will very likely cause a mini-cycle, so you would have to monitor ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate waste levels in the tank every few days making sure only to see nitrate present and you would have to try and let the tank cycle and mature itself again. 

Good luck.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

JohnD72992 said:


> Trash it and get a bag from ADG. It's $40+- for 9L. It's supposed to be much better and last longer. Oh, and that's with shipping included


I live in Canada, they don't ship it here sadly.


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## JohnD72992 (Aug 8, 2013)

jaguar said:


> i live in canada, they don't ship it here sadly.


afa?


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

NeonFlux said:


> That is sadly one of the biggest drawback cons of ADA Aquasoil Amazonia.. They all eventually break down.... Mine had pretty much turned into muddy soil as well over the years.. but I still use it because I have some fish that don't disturb it too much and I have MTS sediment.. I'd say trash it since it doesn't appeal to you that it has broken down, so just find a new substrate; however, remember, you may know this already but, if you decide to remove all the ADA Aquasoil, doing so will very likely cause a mini-cycle, so you would have to monitor ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate waste levels in the tank every few days making sure only to see nitrate present and you would have to try and let the tank cycle and mature itself again.
> 
> Good luck.


yeah... i wasn't expecting it to go mushy after only a year and a half though. disappointing. the only other substrate i can really get locally is fluorite... maybe i'll go with the onyx sand... it seems like it would be easier to work with, though i like the natural brown color of the aqua soil.



JohnD72992 said:


> afa?


I don't think AFA will either - I remember emailing them a while back and never getting a response. It looks like they're out of stock right now due to a shipping hold up anyway. There are a few ADA retailers in Canada but shipping gets a bit crazy and prices are high as it is... my 9L bag was around $72. I can't afford that right now :X


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## JohnD72992 (Aug 8, 2013)

Ehh... Just wait then man, as I'm sure you know that's about the best you can buy... The newer form does hold up longer as far as I've been able to tell.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

yeah, i agree... however I decided to move my fish out of the tank today anyway to treat them for ich... I think I will rinse the AS and let the tank re-cycle with a seeded spare filter while they are in QT. i'll update on how it goes.


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## accordztech (Dec 6, 2004)

I think there was a batch of ADA that did this. I have a old batch here that I rescaped and abused for a year, the previous owner had it for 5 years. Still decent condition. It has been in a few tanks to.


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## JohnD72992 (Aug 8, 2013)

accordztech said:


> I think there was a batch of ADA that did this. I have a old batch here that I rescaped and abused for a year, the previous owner had it for 5 years. Still decent condition. It has been in a few tanks to.


Yeah, it was one of the earlier versions that fell apart rather quickly


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

There are alternative active substrates available in canada. netlea comes to mind... ADA isnt the only mfg out there.


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## ThatGuyWithTheFish (Apr 29, 2012)

Which version is it?


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

New Amazonia

anyways 2 hours later and a VERY sore back from packing buckets i washed it all. WOW what a difference. pic speaks for itself.










and so do my nails...


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

Hey Jaguar, you live in BC right? The Canadian ADA distributor is located there and they have lower prices than the US. 

I live in Toronto and we get our ADA stuff from our distributor which gets it from BC, you guys are closer to Japan than us.

Anyways, mine too is starting to break down. I have been told to get the powder type to "top off" as it acts like a cap much like people using soil as a substrate. So just get a 3L powder type and cap it off, 20 - 40 dollars per year isn't such a bad trade off for ADA AquaSoil.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Yeah, Miyabi Aqua Design, that's where I got my tank and the original bag of AS. It was about 3/4 normal and 1/4 powder type - it was $72 without shipping (Miyabi dropped it off in Kelowna for me). I don't actually have a car or I would drive to Vancouver and get it myself!


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## accordztech (Dec 6, 2004)

haha your nails will grow pretty quick, in a day or so.


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