Black peat granulate as substrate

[ttl100]

Hi all. Just registered myself here today. I am from Sabah, Malaysia.

Basically, I have 3 major questions which would like to seek all the gurus here for advise.

1. Can I use used black peat granulate from Sera mix with some fresh peat granulate as substrate for planted aquarium? I've read Amano's Aqua Soil article and found that the Aqua Soil series are quite similar to peat granulate as they lower PH and water hardness as well.

2. Has anyone here tried using clay ( "ang toh" in Hokkien ) as substrate? I am thinking of spreading a layer of loose clay ( about 2cm ) at the bottom and layer the substrate with peat granulate + dead leaves + palm fibres and finally fine gravel of about 5~8cm at the top. Will this be good for plants? Any comments / experience?

3. Finally, where can I buy Aqua Soil Amazonia and Power Sand from the ADA range in Singapore? Can anyone give me contacts ( email, fax, address ).

Thanks and cheers!

[Vican]

Welcome to AQ!
Firstly, what kind of fish are you keeping?
From what you want to do, seems like the pH of the tank could be quite low because of the high peat content.

If I remember correctly, most ppl don't use clay as substrate as its too fine and the roots of plants can't root well and can rot. Memory fail me. I'm too old...

[TTL]

Hi ttl100,

Welcome too. My username is TTL, but yours... erm.. whats the 100 for? don't tell me we got the same name? OMG[]

[Simon]

welcome,

yes, heard that ADA soil do contain some kinda peat to help lower pH, u may wanna try mixing some with yr gravel, but seriously dunno what will be the result, eventually u need to experiment around to get the desired results... my first impression when I read yr substrate layering is rotting, with so many different layers and plus dried leaves? ADA do not have a agent in Singapore