How does GeX substrate compare against ADA Aquasoil?

[riccia]

I just bought a light green 2kg pack from a very reputable LFS that most of us patronised yesterday. If I used the buying price to divide by the number of kg and multiply by 9l (or approximately 9kg), the price of GEX is definitely higher than ADA weight for weight.

[nys]

I just bought a light green 2kg pack from a very reputable LFS that most of us patronised yesterday. If I used the buying price to divide by the number of kg and multiply by 9l (or approximately 9kg), the price of GEX is definitely higher than ADA weight for weight.

You are not comparing apple to apple. Small package definitely more expensive.

[riccia]

Of course small packages are more expensive. Some of us here found that GEX price is higher and it is a fact. I am not against GEX but just stating a fact or else I would not have bought it in the first place. Anyway, they are 2 different products with 2 different brand names and 2 different pricing. Can't wait to start using them soon.

You are not comparing apple to apple. Small package definitely more expensive.

[illumnae]

9 litres of ADA does not = 9kg. this was discussed before if you bothered to read the whole thread. i did a side by side comparison of ADA 9li and Gex 8kg and to the naked eye, they are the same volume. volume is what matters not weight.

as i've mentioned before, 8kg of Gex is cheaper than 9li of ADA. thus a direct comparison will show that pricewise, Gex is the forerunner here. and THIS, my friend, is the fact, not what you stated above

another thing to stir the pot a little: any price comparisons should be made between Gex and Amazonia II, not the original Amazonia. the reason being that ADA themselves have admitted than Amazonia has cloudiness issues with soft water and that's the reason behind coming out with Amazonia II.

Except for 1 person who has come out to say that Amazonia has no cloudiness issues, I think the general consensus is that Gex's biggest advantage over ADA is that it does not have problems with cloudiness. As such, it would be more accurate to compare Gex soil with Amazonia II (a similar product) as opposed to the original Amazonia (an inferior product because of cloudiness)

As it stands, Gex is already cheaper than the inferior product, what more the similar product?

[BFG]

I think cloudiness can be determine to end user error. Disturbing the substrate aggressively while planting or filling the tank with water without diffusing the water coming out of the hose or introducing large amount of water into the tank itself.

Also introducing bottom dwelling animal that will disturb the substrate would be placed as end user error too. The animal will not be at fault as it is at the disgression of the owner to know what he is adding.

[illumnae]

for Gex soil, however, even with aggressive disturbance while planting or because of fauna (i've had both), my water clears up in mere minutes. i believe i've read enough ADA sob tales to know that this doesn't happen with ADA, even brand new ADA

[BFG]

for Gex soil, however, even with aggressive disturbance while planting or because of fauna (i've had both), my water clears up in mere minutes. i believe i've read enough ADA sob tales to know that this doesn't happen with ADA, even brand new ADA

I have to refute this claim. Here's my experience with ADA Aquasoil Amazonia.

I was among the 1st few who were involved in a bulk order for ADA Amazonia through Biotope ( the 1st owner, not Thio ) quite a few years ago before there was an lfs selling ADA substrate. I also has helped a couple of colleague to use ADA Aquasoil in their tank when they wanted to start a planted tank setup. And I use a combination of JBL base fert with Aquasoil on all the setup I was involved in setting up. The cloudiness issue did not crop up as I was careful handling Aquasoil. What I find from feedback from my colleague that the water was very clear the next day, not that it was even cloudy in the 1st place. Of course I had dismissed their remark as they may have been excited having a planted tank setup. But for my personal experience setting up 2 planted tank with the same combination, no cloudiness was noticed.

I can safely say your mileage may vary.

[Shadow]

Why is so concern about cloudiness? It is good enough for me as long as it does not last forever. 30 minutes or 1 week does not make any different. Plant does not grow over night, it take time for them to grow nicely and when it does, I want the water to be clear. I bet even ADA cloudiness should be over by that time.

I'm more concern on the ph and kH lowering property as well as the nutrient content. Any one can comment on this?

Thread from quixotic:
SiO2 (silicon dioxide aka silica) - 48.2%
Al2O3 (aluminum oxide) - 23.9%
Fe2O3 (ferric oxide) - 11.3%

and from Valiece:
Composition of ADA soil is a tightly guarded secret

Means we can't compare both of them

So does any one see the different in plants grow between Gex and ADA? of course this also depent on the fert dossing, CO2 and light

[gwabbie]

I'm currently using GEX now, when i first used it, it was all black(colour of the soil), but now after using it for 4 months, there are brown soil.
i got the light green packaging.
I'm not too sure if these brown soil are coloured or wrapped in black soil.
I'm using GEX for my shrimp tank.
but overall, im still ok with using GEX soil

[yeoyl87]

I think the mere different now is your preference. Both GeX and ADA II are roughly the same in price, in look and in function. So many people tried GeX and so far the responses are good, ADA also have their fair share of happy users.

I was planning to pick up a pack of GeX at Biotope that day but changed to ADA II instead cause so far there is no review on it. In my opinion, the price is not too much of a dif. Thus I buy and try out ADA II. A lot of improvement has been made I should say.
After adding in the water, I realised that I need more adjustment. Being lazy, I simply pour in the rest of ADA II just like that!! A big no-no right? The cloudiness problem has been greatly improved in ADA II. Oh well, I get perfect crystal clear water in a few hours. Plants growing well now after 1 week of change.

I guess it is all about which brand you more comfortable with now. Just go for whatever is cheaper at that shop. Not much Dif in GeX and ADA now I would say.

[illumnae]

i fully agree that comparison is more accurate between Gex and Amazonia II. Pricewise, I'd still say Gex is cheaper if you know where to look, and it's a commonly visited LFS so it's convenient to get the cheap Gex.

I've read reports that Amazonia II deals with tha cloudiness issue by reducing the amount of black soil in the product, which makes it not as nutrient rich as the original Amazonia. According to one of the 2 USA distributors of ADA, Amazonia II is a good "beginner" soil, but it sacrifices nutrients...if you know what you're doing, still go for the original Amazonia (words not mine, I paraphrased it from someone who called up the USA distributor). So it seems that Amazonia II gives up something to gain something else. Gex possesses both high nutrients and clear water.

It's good that you are trying Amazonia II, yeoyl87. I think it's good when people try out new products, as better alternatives could be found that makes our lives easier. A great example is this thread. If the first few pioneers of Gex didn't try it out and post their experiences here, we wouldn't have found a better product, and ADA would still be the recommended best substrate by everyone here.

At the end of the day, we as users benefit most from innovation and price competition between the various brands. Blind brand loyalty is only detrimental to us and beneficial to the pockets of the brand owners and distributors.

[yeoyl87]

I also read that ADA II has reduced their black soil level to eliminate yellow water problem. My question here is by how much have they lowered the nutrient level? Lower than GeX?

Any bro tried Magic soil? Hows magic soil? I know the granular size is bigger. Personally I prefer small ones like ADA or GeX. What about cloudines? yellow water?

What Bro illumnae said is right, we have to put in some judgement when buying the goods and not plunge in blindly because of the brand. We should give chance to other distributors to showcase their goods. With more variety, we will have more choice and of course, the competition will pull down the price

I think we should just give comment on the goods and refrain from "GeX is best or ADA is better" type of conclusion. Allow the other user to have a chance to exercise their own judgement, let them try out for themselves and decide which is the best for them. Don't result in blind followers who simply follow what people feels and said.

Bro illumnae, how much is your cheapest GeX? I curious also. The cheapest I seen is $12.60. Mod, ok to name price but no shop name right? Paiseh if violate, delete if needed.

[gwabbie]

i would say magic soil doesn't cloud the water and its good for shrimp
as i am using it in one of my tank. it maintains the pH to abt 6.4, which is needed for shrimps.
and because of its large granular size, its harder to plant. therefore i only have moss inside.

[Jaws]

i would say magic soil doesn't cloud the water and its good for shrimp
as i am using it in one of my tank. it maintains the pH to abt 6.4, which is needed for shrimps.
and because of its large granular size, its harder to plant. therefore i only have moss inside.

Magic don't cloud? Does that mean someone sold me fake magic soil? Mine cloud like nobody business.

[genes]

Just wondering, has anyone tried cultivating toninas in GEX substrate?

Yixiang, you not using any ammazonia right? Your africana causes your water to turn yellow? Thats strange. I have a row of tanks with africana and the next row with ammazonia. Africana seems to produce clearer water then ammazonia. But this should be attributed to the lighter coloured substrate thus brighter and clearer looking tanks. However, yellowish for both ammazonia and africana is a definate no.

Just to share my 2 years experience of using ADA aquasoil.

[illumnae]

Just wondering, has anyone tried cultivating toninas in GEX substrate?

Yixiang, you not using any ammazonia right? Your africana causes your water to turn yellow? Thats strange. I have a row of tanks with africana and the next row with ammazonia. Africana seems to produce clearer water then ammazonia. But this should be attributed to the lighter coloured substrate thus brighter and clearer looking tanks. However, yellowish for both ammazonia and africana is a definate no.

Just to share my 2 years experience of using ADA aquasoil.

my africana is crystal clear, but my africana is also devoid of nutrients and i have to resort to using root tabs to keep my plants growing. comparing africana to Gex is like comparing apples to oranges. as far as i know, the only proper use for africana is to achieve low ph to support the keeping of fishes with special requirements for low ph. as a planted substrate, it's worthless. and the bottom line of our debate here is the planted aspect of substrates. if you bother to read my posts, my comparisons have always been Amazonia vs Gex. it's just that at times, ADA is easier to type, but anyone following this thread should realise i refer only to amazonia.

I believe that a couple of neutral people have posted and said that the cloudiness caused by ADA doesn't matter either because #1 cycling takes longer than the cloudiness takes to clear or #2 they don't mind waiting a week for cloudiness to clear. what does this mean? this means that Amazonia indeed does cause cloudiness, but the cloudiness is not an issue because of the 2 abovementioned reasons.

at the end of the day, we can argue till the cows come home about which you think is better, but i think what we can conclude based on testimonies by people posting here is this:

1. Amazonia is high in nutrients, Gex is high in nutrients.
2. Amazonia causes cloudy water that lasts for days or weeks, Gex causes cloudy water that lasts for minutes or hours.
3. Gex is cheaper

Draw your own final conclusions on which you'd prefer from the above.

[bslong]

I am using GenX(red package) and peat moss to lower my ph.
But so far the ph is still around 7.5.
I will like to know if the ph will go down somemore as times goes by?
Or there is a limit as to how low it will go depending on the kh of water?
So far my tank is about 3weeks old only.

[StanChung]

I tried the Gex soil late last year. From what I saw, it's 1st impressions or good with regards to water clarity, better than Amazonia for sure, but if you know how to handle Amazonia then it's no problem. Nothing a WIWO[water in water out] can't fix. [Unless you're doing a behemoth tank where WC takes days!]

I also noticed long term stabilty and plant quality show a remarked decrease in growth from what I saw. Hairgrass [E acicularis] was harder to grow than in Amazonia. I could get it to carpet fully in 1.5 months with Amazonia. However, since substrate is only part of the equation in growing plants, I would say a little experimentation is needed to get the right balance for the GEX soil.

[illumnae]

Thanks for your feedback on Gex Stan

Here's my experience after about 6 weeks (I finished planting on 3 August).

1. The hairgrass (no idea what's the scientific name, it was sold to me as hairgrass) is nicely carpeting, growing both horizontally and vertically...i give it a weekly haircut to encourage horizontal growth and to keep the lawn low.

2. The red lotuses are deep blood red and have grown from about 1.5 inch diameter to almost palm size...they also show 2-3 inches of growth per week and i find myself having to cut away leaves that reach the surface pretty often

3. Sword plants have noticeably grown in height and leaf density...the reddish/brownish one (i think it's rubin but i'm not 100% sure) has retained its red/brown colour well too

4. Crypts are growing well, more than double in height from when they were first planted...didn't experience any melting at all, but i think that's probably because they were wendtiis, i've read that wendtiis don't melt?

5. blyxa japonica is thick and lush now, forming a very lush bush as compared to the thin clumps i planted in 6 weeks back.

6. crinium flowered once a few weeks ago, but other than that i don't see anything noticeable with them.

This is my experience thus far with Gex, and i'm very satisfied with both the growth and the clear water after my discus panic attacks =) Of course soil isn't the only factor to growth, as i'm dosing EI, running 3wpg and adding CO2...but i'm sure the subtrate plays a part as well

[PeterGwee]

If you want to compare substrate quality, you need to ensure that the water column is lean (so that it doesn't influence the results) and that the CO2 is relatively equal for both tanks. (Lots of work and calibration of good test kits is needed.)

Regards,
Peter Gwee