Amazonia Soil fertile?

[jonas83]

A few months back, I bought Amazonia Soil II at C328 for my 3ft tank. Soon I placed them in my tank and started circulating before introducing plants. After a month so, I found that my plants aren't growing while some turns brownish. But I wasnt bothered then because I thought ADA soil should be not a problem at all. It is just a norm.

Now because I planned to renovate my 2ft tank. I went back to C328 to get the Amazonia soil II, thinking tat is a very good soil. I asked the auntie over the stall do they have Amazonia Soil but was out of stock. So auntie introduce me GEX soil, say that it can grow plants. BAck then, I said amazonia soil also can what? She told me that amazonia is not FERTILE.... In my mind, I just went Oh MY GOD..... End up, I bought 10 Kg of GEX soil which she introduced. Thinking that I might mix them with my amazonia soil after doing my 2 ft tank.

The next day I went to midori to buy some substract for my external filter. So I went to question them about the amazonia soil, they told me that they are fertile. I said but my soil went greeny, they said then no problem. It is fertile. Thinkin that maybe one PL lights is not sufficient, I bought another at C328. I have 2 PL lights, CO2 and chiller now.

ANy guys out there can tell me whether amazonia is it fertile anot? If it is, I not going to mix them with GEX soil.

[illumnae]

both ADA Amazonia and GEX soils are extremely fertile and good for plant growing.

[williamng]

I will still go for Amazon soil.

[lorba]

Both are good to grow plants in. However, you should invest in substrate fertilizer for sustainable enrichment to your plants.

You should also be dosing liquid fertilizer to supplement plants which uptakes more from the leaves.

Not forget all other parameters like co2, light, temperature and New Tank Syndrome. Like fishes, some species of the plants will also suffer in a new tank with new water and new soil.

[illumnae]

I will still go for Amazon soil.

GEX is actually a better yet cheaper product

disclaimer: my opinion

[samuelgoh]

both is fertile, but still you need a layer of base fert to ensure good growth rate. ya ?

what i did for my set up was 3 pack of ADA soil and 2 pack of JBL base fert.
Plants that i previously had problem growing in the lapis sand, got no prob at all in the ADA soil.

I would say both ADA and GEX is good. =)

[illumnae]

base fert is not necessary at all. i'm using GEX soil in my high tech 4x2x2 (of course, being high tech i do dose ferts into the water column) with no base ferts, and i've been experiencing explosive growth.

[valice]

A few months back, I bought Amazonia Soil II at C328 for my 3ft tank. Soon I placed them in my tank and started circulating before introducing plants. After a month so, I found that my plants aren't growing while some turns brownish. But I wasnt bothered then because I thought ADA soil should be not a problem at all. It is just a norm.

First, what plants you have that start to turn brownish?
Next, you actually do not need to "circulate" the tank before introducing plants. In fact, you use the plants to do the cycling of the tank and you can actually use the plants to assess whether the tank is ready for planting.

Because ADA is NOT just about the soil, but in fact an overall system of products which aims to create a biologically rich and stable system, and it is therefore important that you look at other aspects of the aquarium as well. One other important aspect is your biological filteration capability. The bacteria must be doing well to ensure a stable environment. And in the ADA system, the bacteria plays an extremely important part which aims to break down the waste and ammonia into nitrate and other components for the plants.

[Justikanz]

Yes, what plants are the ones giving you the problems? Some plants are not suitable for acidic soils or waters and some plants you bought from the shops might be in the terrestrial form or may not even be aquatic... So, it might be good to let us know plants are affected...

[lorba]

base fert is not necessary at all. i'm using GEX soil in my high tech 4x2x2 (of course, being high tech i do dose ferts into the water column) with no base ferts, and i've been experiencing explosive growth.

Illumnae, i am sure you have a beautiful and lush planted aquarium. GEX is no doubt a good product too.

However, i do not think "not necessary at all" is correct.

Depending on plant species, water parameters and maintenance regime, you may or may have good growth without it. I think we should be open to ideas and concepts. The term high tech and low tech exists because people are open minded and they put down these terms after trying different things.

What product to use is entirely dependant on depth of individual's pocket and preferrence. There are people who swear by using garden soil and people who wants the best and branded.

[illumnae]

i think you misunderstood what i meant i was responding to the post above me that stated that base fert was needed to ensure good growth, and what i meant by saying "not necessary at all" is that it is not a necessary requirement to get good growth.

i agree with you that base fert can be used to further stimulate growth, and that you may or may not experience good growth with or without it. just stating that it isn't a pre-requisite for good growth, which i think is the point you were trying to make as well

[tcy81]

can share what plants did you try to grow that time?
There are other considerations also about lighting hours and co2.
In my personal opinion,I think ADA aquasoil Amazonia II should be fertile.
I also agree with Valice that ADA is not just about its aquasoil, if you talk about their substrate system, there are other things like powersand,bacter 100, super clear, tourmaline BC.
I think basically base fertiliser, is important in the long run so that your substrate can last longer and better for those plants which depends more on the roots to intake nutrients.
I cant comment on GEX soil as i didnt use it before.
Below attached are some photos of my Utricularia graminifolia using ADA substrate.

[dknight]

Hi, i'm pretty new at this hobby and am planning a 1.5 ft tank with some plants and specifically cherry shrimps. In general, do you guys finish doing all your major 'planting' before the start of cycling or is it ok to slowly add in the plants during or after the 2-3 wks cycling stage?
Finally, after the shrimps are bedded in, is it ok to uproot or add plants or is that really bad for the shrimps' 'health'?
Thanks in advance.

[valice]

In general, do you guys finish doing all your major 'planting' before the start of cycling or is it ok to slowly add in the plants during or after the 2-3 wks cycling stage?

I personally make sure that I do all the planting at the beginning of the cycling process. This is because, it is much easier to do plant with a tank without water than to do it with water. The buoyancy of the plants in a tankful of water is a PITA! And it becomes difficult to insert the plants densely that way too.

Moreover, when you have all the plants at the beginning, it helps to remove the ammonia fast and get the cycling up fast too.

Also, if you start with the tank right with good filter media like Biohome plus or BioRio which already has bacteria on them, it cycles the tank much faster too.

[jonas83]

Thanks for the numerous replies. Many said that amazonia soil is fertile so I believe that it must be. Maybe like what tcy81 said, lighting hours and CO2. I only on my lights for 5 hrs. Anyway my water turns green, what should I do huh? Will this affect my water quality? What is the appropriate hours and CO2 to be use? Is ADA clear dash able to make water clear again?

[tcy81]

maybe you can give more details of your tank.
or a picture of your current setup.
Think for green water, i UV light filter is quite useful for me.

[williamng]

Hi Jonas83

Initially, you need to do more water change. 5hrs of light and CO2 will not be insufficient unless you are using very strong lights > 3W/gallon.

For me, I use ADA aquasoil II with 1cm thick of power sand S. With 72W PL lights and 8hours of CO2 injection at 2bps. My E. Tenellus and spiky moss grow very fast. Within 4 weeks, my whole tank is almost full grown with plants.

To share my tank pic taken on day 10. Look at the E. Tenellus at the background
http://aquaticquotient.com/forum/sho...t=35722&page=2

For me, I did a lot of water change initially. This is what I do: -

Day 1: Change water till it is very clear then plant all the plants
Day 2: On lights and CO2 for 4 hours.
Day 3: Water change 30%
Day 4: Dose fertiliser
Day 5: Dose fertiliser
Day 6: Dose fertiliser
Day 7: Water change 50%
Day 8: Dose fertiliser, increase light to 5 hours
Day 9: Dose fertiliser
Day 10: Water change 50%
Day 11: Dose fertiliser
Day 12: Dose fertiliser
Day 13: Dose fertiliser
Day 14: Water change 50%
Day 15: Dose fertiliser, increase light to 6hours

Continue till your lighting is 8 or 10 hours.

[jonas83]

I am also using ADA aquasoil II but why should it be dose with fertiliser?Hmmm.....Why should I dose with fertiliser? What should be the fertiliser dosage be? What fertiliser did you use anyway? By the way, I have transferred my shrimps, because the tank is too chalky and greeny. Planning to redo, using your method.

[williamng]

Well, I am aware that water changes need to be very frequent for aquasoil II. Also, I try to do water change to remove the nutrients in the water. Then start dosing fertiliser again.

I dose ADA brighty-K (1ml), Step 1 (1ml) and green gain (1 drop).

I mainly dose at every alternate day as my tank is too small. If yours is a 2ft tank, you can dose daily.

[o2bubble]

I'm using Amazonia + powersand, my plants even those difficult and delicate ones like r.macrandra, e.stellata, didiplis, l.arcuata all growing very well and fast. Of course I have high light, 4wpg. I also have to trim my tellenus every week and a major "shave" every 2-3 weeks to prevent them from growing like a jungle. So, in my opinion, amazonia is definately very fertile. Not sure about adding of base fertiliser like JBL fertiliser, but combination of Amazonia + powersand is already very powerful in my opinion. Too much nutrients might cause negative effects of algae growth instead.