# Aqua Soil



## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

This Stuff


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Unfortunately, 4-6 bags, but you should contact them first because I'm not sure

I bought 1 bag when I bought it for a 10g


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

DiPpY eGgS said:


> Unfortunately, 4-6 bags, but you should contact them first because I'm not sure
> 
> I bought 1 bag when I bought it for a 10g


Jeff Senske said I will need 4 (9 liter) bags for a 75G.


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Cool that he answered you so fast.

He used a picture of one of my tanks in a seminar he gave in Japan one time about the hobby in America.


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## boiler149 (Oct 31, 2007)

4 should do the trick i would think


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

The stuff does an amazing job growing plants for about 6-8 months. After that it starts to break down but you can still use it no problem.
This substrate gives a beginner a lot of time to learn how to fertilize their tanks, because they simply don't have to fertilize much for a few months, and still grow nice plants.

What do you have to go with the substrate? I hope some nice T5's and a pressurized CO2 system!


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

DiPpY eGgS said:


> The stuff does an amazing job growing plants for about 6-8 months. After that it starts to break down but you can still use it no problem.
> This substrate gives a beginner a lot of time to learn how to fertilize their tanks, because they simply don't have to fertilize much for a few months, and still grow nice plants.
> 
> What do you have to go with the substrate? I hope some nice T5's and a pressurized CO2 system!


The tank is still empty. Im in the learning/planning stages. My plan is to use that substrate and top it off with the fine version of that substrate, gonna probably go with an Amazon biotope setup 55-60 low-medium light plants with driftwood and my current corallife 2x65 (130W) setup. *Should I look into getting T5's* ? I dont have a c02 system, not to sure about those yet. I will keep an eye out on ebay about those though. Maybe in the future when i understand what happens to my pH from dusk to dawn and in between. Since i am finding out not to use HOB's on plant setups at least not recommended, probably get a sponge that Vortex sells for their diatom filters and use that as my bio/mechanical filter when it comes time to cycling. I do have a vision on what it will look like and i'll be sure to post pics when complete.


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Dr. Giggles said:


> The stuff does an amazing job growing plants for about 6-8 months. After that it starts to break down but you can still use it no problem.
> This substrate gives a beginner a lot of time to learn how to fertilize their tanks, because they simply don't have to fertilize much for a few months, and still grow nice plants.
> 
> What do you have to go with the substrate? I hope some nice T5's and a pressurized CO2 system!


The tank is still empty. Im in the learning/planning stages. My plan is to use that substrate and top it off with the fine version of that substrate, gonna probably go with an Amazon biotope setup 55-60 low-medium light plants with driftwood and my current corallife 2x65 (130W) setup. *Should I look into getting T5's* ? I dont have a c02 system, not to sure about those yet. I will keep an eye out on ebay about those though. Maybe in the future when i understand what happens to my pH from dusk to dawn and in between. Since i am finding out not to use HOB's on plant setups at least not recommended, probably get a sponge that Vortex sells for their diatom filters and use that as my bio/mechanical filter when it comes time to cycling. I do have a vision on what it will look like and i'll be sure to post pics when complete.
[/quote]
Awesome. What size tank is it?
Are you going to go with the Power Sand for the very bottom? It helps out quite a bit, but laying some sort of mesh material over top of it, to keep it where it belongs is a big plus.

The T5's would be if you didn't already have a light fixture.. You do, so why get a new one? The T5's are nice though. 
A co2 system would greatly enhance your planted tank. If you don't go with one, make certain you don't go over 1.5wpg.
Cant' wait to see your creation!


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

Its a 75G tank. The coralife 2x65W comes with two 6700K fluorescent lamps. I think it should be fine. I wasnt thinking about the power sand, just the normal type topped off with the powder type aquasoil. I'll be a hair over 1.5 wpg but less than 2wpg. 130W in a 75G... Thanks alot Dippy. Your tank pictures have inspired me for a long time and for some reason the P hobby isnt grabbing me like it used to even though i still love them. So now is a time for me to dwell into this new exciting aspect of the hobby for me. It may take some time, i'm definately not rushing things.


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Dr. Giggles said:


> Its a 75G tank. The coralife 2x65W comes with two 6700K fluorescent lamps. I think it should be fine. I wasnt thinking about the power sand, just the normal type topped off with the powder type aquasoil. I'll be a hair over 1.5 wpg but less than 2wpg. 130W in a 75G... Thanks alot Dippy. Your tank pictures have inspired me for a long time and for some reason the P hobby isnt grabbing me like it used to even though i still love them. So now is a time for me to dwell into this new exciting aspect of the hobby for me. It may take some time, i'm definately not rushing things.


Duh.. My bad.. 75g right.. lol
The 6700k bulbs are perfect for a planted tank. Powersand goes quite well with the AquaSoil. You might want to check on that one. It might help you out. But placing some kind of mesh over it is definately a good idea.
At your wpg, I would still go with CO2, just to make things nice and green, and growing a tad more rapidly than without. It really does make THE difference.

Now that I have had a planted P tank, I would have to say that is the perfect amount of light for it. Not so much light that you have to trim the plants every week like I used to have to do. lol.

I'm trying to set up a medium light P tank here in a while.. I have to finish my basement first. I have my work cut out for me.. lol


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## notaverage (Sep 10, 2005)

May I ask what power sand is???

I have never heard of it?


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

notaverage said:


> May I ask what power sand is???
> 
> I have never heard of it?


Its part of the substrate system they sell. I just took a look at it and definately gonna go with that as the base, the normal amazonia on top of that, topped with the powder form. It wont be cheap but at least it will be done right and to my expectations of what I want this tank to look like. Here is the link to the power sand and the substrate itself. ClickMe


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## notaverage (Sep 10, 2005)

I realized after I posted that you had a liink!

Damn I went with Eco complete for my 10 and have another few bags waiting to set up my 55 when I put my spilo in their!
Hope its good enough.

Good luck and keep us updated!!


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Seriously look into putting some sort of a mesh type material over top of the Powersand. You will thank me later. lol



notaverage said:


> I realized after I posted that you had a liink!
> 
> Damn I went with Eco complete for my 10 and have another few bags waiting to set up my 55 when I put my spilo in their!
> *Hope its good enough.*
> ...


Eco Complete is just fine!
It's half the cost of the ADA soil, and is very good.
The ADA stuff is peat based, and has a lot of nutrients in it that depleates after so long. Very good stuff, but you will be just fine with the EC.


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

FYI -- For a 75G the power sand as a base will require 1 6 liter bag as per Jeff Senske. What kind of mesh material you had in mind (wire or nylon, any particular width ?). I assume i would find this in a plant supply store ?


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Dr. Giggles said:


> FYI -- For a 75G the power sand as a base will require 1 6 liter bag as per Jeff Senske. What kind of mesh material you had in mind (wire or nylon, any particular width ?). I assume i would find this in a plant supply store ?


Nice.

I have no idea what kind of mesh, but I know is common practice now to use it. You will find it somewhere, you can even ask Jeff. I bet he knows where to get some, or at least what to get.

What happens is, the plants grow, and the roots attach to the powersand. Then on routine trimmings and re-scaping in which you have to uproot plants, the powersand gets pulled to the surface and looks hella-ugly.
It happened in my tank, and trust me, I would use mesh of some sort if I do it again.. lol


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

DiPpY eGgS said:


> FYI -- For a 75G the power sand as a base will require 1 6 liter bag as per Jeff Senske. What kind of mesh material you had in mind (wire or nylon, any particular width ?). I assume i would find this in a plant supply store ?


Nice.

I have no idea what kind of mesh, but I know is common practice now to use it. You will find it somewhere, you can even ask Jeff. I bet he knows where to get some, or at least what to get.

What happens is, the plants grow, and the roots attach to the powersand. Then on routine trimmings and re-scaping in which you have to uproot plants, the powersand gets pulled to the surface and looks hella-ugly.
It happened in my tank, and trust me, I would use mesh of some sort if I do it again.. lol

[/quote]
Hey Dippy,

I finally got off my lazy ass and asked Jeff Senske regarding the mesh option and this was his response mostly regarding the pulling up of the sand to the surface. Copy/paste of email:

Thanks for the email. 
No such mesh is sold by ADA, and I can tell you from rescaping nearly hundreds of aquariums that such a mesh would make a far bigger mess when pulling up plants because many roots will work into it and likely you would just pull the whole thing up. This Power sand coming up issue has been blown a little out of proportion. If some comes up, simply scoop out the larger pieces and then cover the top with a fresh, thin layer of Aqua Soil-- problem solved. The top-dressing of Aqua Soil will also provide some fresh nutrition for the re-worked layout. Amano does this all the time, and I spoke with him at length recently on this exact topic. He has tanks in the ADA gallery that are on their 4th, 5th, even 6th different planting around the same hardscape. Power sand is an essential part of the ADA substrate system and will in the long term extend the life an potential of your substrate immensely. 
Kind regards, 
Jeff SenskeAquarium Design Group/Aqua Design Amano USA[email protected]281.924.8894


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Well I see. 
I take his word fo it, he actually knows Amano.
Ok then, now I know what to do with my 10g.
Thanks for asking him lol

I got the idea for a mesh thing from some aquascapers of the Creative Aquascape Union. 
I guess they were 'improvising' to deal with the issue.


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## plantbrain (Jul 3, 2007)

I do not bother using power sand.
I asked Amano in person about it once, he said it "adds power", oh brother...........
I ran a number of tanks with and without PS, it seems most of the nutrients are in the aqua soil.
Powersand has mostly NO3 so I can add that via KNO3 for peanuts and not have to deal with the white powersand popping up and looking tacky.

As far as long term stabilty and that whole notion.....this is the same marketing claims heat cable folks tried to sell alomost verbatim........by Dupla some 30 years ago..and the Parroting keeps such myth's alive.

Circulation is not an issue in a well established tank for the sediment, the plant roots do an awesome job of pumping O2, all aqutic plant roots do this. They must(non aquatic plants die for this reason, they cannot handle water logged sediments for long time peroids).

I think this is an engineer's attempt at selling something, not a botantist.

That said, ADA AS is awesome and easy to work with.
I suggest lower light, 1/5 W-2w/gal of T5 are ideal.
Good filtration.
Lots of water changes.
Dosing the water column as well as having nutrient rich sediments.(this provdes the most error free chance of limiting any nutrient and also reduces the drawfrom the ADA AS nutrient supply) Adding water column ferts is easy and cheap, and a water change takes care of any dosing errors.
Add CO2 etc.........

Most folks that use ADA do not test or look at it critically, they just want to have a nice looking scape like Amano, so they do what he tells them without questioning it or testing things. That does not interest them. It does me. They freely admit to it as well. I have little issues supporting ADA but some products, like anything..........any marketed line..........has good things that work well and some that are much more suspect. In defense of Jeff, he is telling folks what he believes is best, Amano is selling product and so is Jeff. I am not selling anything.

I do not buy the reasons for its use, it's the same mumbo heat cables claimed 30 years ago. It's pumice, peat, and some general ferts like NO3 and then a few small balls of Osmocoat like fertilizer.
Still, I've done several tanks with and without PS and have been unable to suggest the PS does anything when compared fairly.

As far as dosing in the start up phase, this is hardly difficult.
Sediment ferts helps..........but adding water column ferts is hardly some labor of pain, the frequent water changes are far more trouble overall. I add some KNO3, traces, KH2PO4, GH to the water column. These are never an issue either, large water changes removes any build up, same with the full ADA method as well.

So it does not save you any dosing really, you still need to add traces(Brighty K and Step 1) and K+.
Not much issue to add some KNO3/KH2PO4 then either, and I feed the fish etc.

Remember that a scape dose not define the method.
It can be used it sell a method, but it does not mean that the method is great or works for the reasons marketed, a good scaper can make most any method work very well. Being a pofessional excellent photographer also helps.

I used the powder form also, it was messy, like detritus, dust etc........the medium size worked best for me, ADA aqua soil amazonia.I do highly recommend that.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Thanks Tom, your insight is always welcome and appreciated.

Makes sense. I guess you could just lay down a light dusting of organic sphagnum peat on the very bottom, and add pour in some dirty filter water on your first 3/4" AS, and get almost the exact same results.

Does this help at all, Tom?


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

Thanks Tom, I continue to learn more as every day passes and just passing by your forum recently makes me feel alot more comfortable with what i'm going to do with my 75G in the coming new year as far as the use of driftwood and rocks strategically placed. For me i'm interested in the aquasoil not for what it is advertised as performance wise, but I like the look alot especially the Amazonia substrate. Looking at pics in TFH magazine regarding the look is what sells me on it. I'm sure i can get something comparable look wise for alot cheaper price, but have not come across it yet myself.


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