How does GeX substrate compare against ADA Aquasoil?

[oblivion]

Hi all,

Just to ask around if anyone has tried the GeX brand of substrates and hows the results compared against ADA?

See that they are now quite comonly sold in some of our local lfses and there are a few packaging/types available which are roughly as per the below.

Green packaging - for plants
Red packaging - for shrimps and plants
Blue packaging - for ??? (can't make out the jap words)
Black packaging - for ??? (seems like inert shiny black gravel)

Any advise?

[nys]

I never seen blue or black packaging in lfs. On the other hand, there is a dark green packaging for plants, small pellet ~2mm which ideal for shrimps to crawl and won't alter the ph.

Fyi, red packaging will lower the ph.

Currently, Im using the light green packaging for plants which its pellet average ~5mm. 4kg for 20L tank, didn't wash it, water cloudy but become crystal clear after 4 hrs. Till now, no water change and just top up only.

Result:
- Petite Nana is a slow growth plant. I directly planted its root, no CO2, no fertilizer till now, lighting ~2wpg for 8hrs. I could see the nana growing daily (rhizome become thicker, longer and new root developing, new shoot to leave within 3 days)
- Didn't measure the ph, but my RCS so far so good.

[oblivion]

I never seen blue or black packaging in lfs. On the other hand, there is a dark green packaging for plants, small pellet ~2mm which ideal for shrimps to crawl and won't alter the ph.

Fyi, red packaging will lower the ph.

Currently, Im using the light green packaging for plants which its pellet average ~5mm. 4kg for 20L tank, didn't wash it, water cloudy but become crystal clear after 4 hrs. Till now, no water change and just top up only.

Result:
- Petite Nana is a slow growth plant. I directly planted its root, no CO2, no fertilizer till now, lighting ~2wpg for 8hrs. I could see the nana growing daily (rhizome become thicker, longer and new root developing, new shoot to leave within 3 days)
- Didn't measure the ph, but my RCS so far so good.

see it being sold in many lfses now
hoping to get feedback from people out there who have used the various kinds

apart from the PH lowering properties, what other difference is there between the red and green packaging?
at the packaging theres a small table that says they have the exact same chemical composition
so i can't see whats the difference since i can't read jap for nuts

[nys]

I suppose the diff by ph property only.

IMO, not necessary to go for the red one as ph will be lower if there is dw in the tank.

[illumnae]

I just bought 4 bags of this for my 4x2x2 tank as ADA amazonia was out of stock...i was told by the shop owner this might actually be better than amazonia as it doesn't cloud, has more stable ph lowering and is of similar composition...i'll try it out and give my feedback =)

i have the light green one for plants

i'm not keeping CRS it's for my planted discus tank rescape. switching from low tech to moderately-high tech so i got a better substratee suitable for planting. the LFS i went to was out of stock of ADA amazonia so the owner recommended this substrate instead, listing me the benefits i stated above over ADA.

[oblivion]

I just bought 4 bags of this for my 4x2x2 tank as ADA amazonia was out of stock...i was told by the shop owner this might actually be better than amazonia as it doesn't cloud, has more stable ph lowering and is of similar composition...i'll try it out and give my feedback =)

i heard it doesnt cloud
but am unsure of the composition and how it compares against amazonia in terms of plant growth and nutrients

will be great now that you are testing it out!

[nys]

I just bought 4 bags of this for my 4x2x2 tank as ADA amazonia was out of stock...i was told by the shop owner this might actually be better than amazonia as it doesn't cloud, has more stable ph lowering and is of similar composition...i'll try it out and give my feedback =)

Which one? I suppose you have bought the red package type as it has the properties to lower ph.

One of the advantages on this GEX substrate is no washing required. Water will cloud initially and become crystal clear ~4hrs later (for my case, 4kg in a 1ft tank, ~15L water).

[illumnae]

First impressions:

the soil itself looks like ADA soil, and i had no clouding at all even initially after filling the water. tank's been filled with soil and water and the filter's running and i have clear water. i did experience some surface scum when filling water, but i suppose that's normal for all soil substrates.

when i did some planting and moving around of the soil after the tank was 1/3 filled with water, some clouding from the dust in the soil did occur, but it settled really quickly.

all in all, setup with this was a breeze =)

[oblivion]

i presume you mean to say that its easier than amazonia based on direct comparison?

hehe thats good
now only need to know the plant growth and health results of plants grown using this soil

[illumnae]

haha no direct comparison for me as i've only ever used africana before, no amazonia. i'm just saying in general it was easy to set up

[oblivion]

haha no direct comparison for me as i've only ever used africana before, no amazonia. i'm just saying in general it was easy to set up

in your opinion, how does it fare against africana then?
in terms of ease of setup, ease of planting, cloudiness issue etc
i know this is a bit subjective but it'll be good to see your views

[nys]

I can assure plants grow well.

Maybe because of very undemanding plants I have.

[oblivion]

I can assure plants grow well.

Maybe because of very undemanding plants I have.

hehe maybe
though i was thinking in terms of more root-uptake demanding species of plants like cryptos and echins

[nys]

Oh... I have crypt. Wendtii and Parva in my tank. 2mth old tank, so far only add 2x liq fert, taiwanese brand, UP, during last sunday and previous sunday.

[oblivion]

Oh... I have crypt. Wendtii and Parva in my tank. 2mth old tank, so far only add 2x liq fert, taiwanese brand, UP, during last sunday and previous sunday.

i presume its doing fine for you since no complaints haha

since this substrate brand is generally new i suppose we won't really know until some time has passed and people who have tried it have had some long term results to report

i will try out either the red or green one the next time my hands get itchy
the packaging catches my attention
although i only ever saw the light green one.
is there a dark green one? whats the difference?

i confirmed theres a black packaging which has different composition
its shiny black gravel...saw it at yishun aquastar

the blue one also saw at aquastar, looks same kind of packaging but its actually under the five plan brand (which if i am not wrong is also under gex's wing)
its reddish porous gravel if my interpretation of the jap words and picture didnt go wrong

[nys]

i presume its doing fine for you since no complaints haha

Because I have undemanding plants.

since this substrate brand is generally new i suppose we won't really know until some time has passed and people who have tried it have had some long term results to report

Agreed...

i will try out either the red or green one the next time my hands get itchy
the packaging catches my attention
although i only ever saw the light green one.
is there a dark green one? whats the difference?

I guess the main difference is pellet size. Properties should be same.

i confirmed theres a black packaging which has different composition
its shiny black gravel...saw it at yishun aquastar

the blue one also saw at aquastar, looks same kind of packaging but its actually under the five plan brand (which if i am not wrong is also under gex's wing)
its reddish porous gravel if my interpretation of the jap words and picture didnt go wrong

I saw in NA and Aquastar last Sat.

Btw, based on my interpretation on those jpn words, the light green packaging substrate should be volcanic soil.

[joydiv]

Think the difference is in the gravel size.
Red ones is smaller, like amazonia powder ,than the green one.

[illumnae]

well not sure if anyone reads my 4x2x2 journal thread, but i've had a big misfortune in my tank.

but with the misfortune comes some good news i guess - good feedback about Gex substrate.

basically for those who haven't read my thread, my psychotic discus have been thrashing around the substrate and uprooting all my foreground plants, whacking the substrate around until i can see the glass bottom of the tank. despite this, the water remains largely clear except for some cloudiness that clears/settles in minutes. not sure if ADA can do this as well? from what i've heard if my discus did that in an ADA substrate i'd have murky water for weeks.

also, the uprooted hairgrass, after 2 weeks, have long and bushy roots growing out...i'm assuming this is due to good root fertilization and not just water column fertilization right? the past 2 weeks have been without root tabs, so it seems the nutrient level in the soil is very good as well.

a small consolation to the fact that my tank is now ruined is that the substrate is good i guess haha.

[valice]

not sure if ADA can do this as well? from what i've heard if my discus did that in an ADA substrate i'd have murky water for weeks.

Given that your tank is less than 2 months old, even the Amazonia I will have no problem. Sp that is not a fair comment.

Problem starts when the substrate is old and the soil slowly breaks down.

[oblivion]

i have officially joined the GeX club!!!
decided to plump for the 2kg light green (for plants) packaging to try out for my new 1-foot cube setup

the soil is great!
its like AS Amazonia (crumbles slightly more easily than Amazonia imo)
planting is easy and same as with AS
more importantly and I believe several others have said this already
the water is crystal clear right from the start!!!
no yellowish, no whitish, no cloudiness no nothing!