Ideal Soil

[cbong]

Cost aside, what would be your ideal soil? ADA, Nisso, NEX etc...??????

[StanChung]

NEX? GEX you mean.
I like ADA's Amazonia-literally addicted to it.

[cbong]

NEX? GEX you mean.
I like ADA's Amazonia-literally addicted to it.

typed too fast... GEX i mean.

[cbong]

NEX? GEX you mean.
I like ADA's Amazonia-literally addicted to it.

do you just use Amazonia alone or with power sand?? can do without the sand?

[tarzanboy]

Hi, I wonder it is necessary that use like ADA amazonia soil II for example that promote grow how about lapis sand can plant grow with it.

[StanChung]

I use Powersand when I can afford it. It helps create slope for one thing other than the supposed benefits of reduced compacting etc. Maybe ceramic pipelets or lava rocks work similarly for that matter. It does however have some timed release small white blobs of fert.

Soil does provide for better growth than just sand. It releases nutrients via decomposition. It also acts as a nutrient buffer. Inert sand has nothing and last forever almost while some hard clays from Seachem does release some minerals but will run out after maybe after a year or two and become near inert.

The bad thing about soil is the cloudiness and muck when rescaping. You also need to do top ups once awhile. Some Penac W+ Bacter 100 is recommended every month to prevent the soil from hardening.

[Desewer]

lapis sand is cheap and will work just as well for plants. just get quality base ferts e.g. sera floradepot or jbl florapol or other branded ferts, pour 3-5cm of lapis on top and you're ready for a planted tank.

some others also have tried potting soil (dirt cheap, pun intended!)

as long as your substrate is rich in nutrients, will be okay for planted i guess.

[tarzanboy]

lapis sand is cheap and will work just as well for plants. just get quality base ferts e.g. sera floradepot or jbl florapol or other branded ferts, pour 3-5cm of lapis on top and you're ready for a planted tank.

some others also have tried potting soil (dirt cheap, pun intended!)

as long as your substrate is rich in nutrients, will be okay for planted i guess.

I agree with you lapis sand will grow also I watch a video at youtube of Tropica advance aquarium planting their use some of lapis sand with ferts and it grow so great.

[Desewer]

yep, my current scape is already very messy (background ludwigia cuba, foreground tenellus jungle, midground wood with java fern n java moss). substrate of seachem fluorite red.

my next rescape will use some costlier base ferts e.g. jbl florapol or sera floradepot, and maybe 10kg of lapis sand with gentle slopes. i wanna try hairgrass on lapis sand lah. i'm sure lapis will allow the roots to take hold quickly.

[checkerboard]

Lapis Sand is perfectly fine. I have grown just about everything using Lapis sand. The thing about using soil is the mess when uprooting, and also the cost (since it doesn't last forever). I re-use my Lapis sand by washing away the base fert - keeps cost of set-up low.

As for nutrients, deponit-mix by dennerle is excellent, JBL florapol is ok, cocopeat ($2 a pack i think) also works well but doesn't last and can be messy. I am not a huge fan of seachem flourite, i find that it tends to break plant roots or even the more delicate plants when inserting them into the substrate.

[deacon]

Is it alright just to use GEX soil or do you folks put in a base fert first?

[mozesyap]

Nice inputs guys.. I think I would have to make the same decision pretty soon ;p

Same tank, cbong

How much substrate are you considering?

[cbong]

Nice inputs guys.. I think I would have to make the same decision pretty soon ;p

Same tank, cbong

How much substrate are you considering?

looking at 3-4 inches thick at least. Used to have 5 inches lapis in the past and found it easier to plant larger plants. My current setup a bit thin and tweezer always hit bottom glass

[BFG]

Some plants can't be grown with lapis sand as I've found out even though using in conjunction with base fert. With ADA Amazonia, it was easy to grow plants that I experienced was difficult with lapis sand. This is without any chemical interference in the water column.

[Desewer]

Bro, which plants did you try in lapis sand without success?

[williamng]

Aquasoil. Best of all. Lol!

[BFG]

Bro, which plants did you try in lapis sand without success?

The Tonina species and it's cousin. With the usage of Amazonia, it grow like weeds hence the drop in prices when it cost more than $5 a stalk way back then.