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if you can afford it then get some aquasoil. Akadama is just too dusty in my opinion unless you are capping it.

if you can, get it in a big bucket of water now and flush it now and again until it goes into the tank. I tried akadama once and it was dusty as hell. Moler clay is harder than akadama but I stick to soils now.

Thirder for the tropics soil due to no big ammonia release on startup

Like bacms says. It's assumed you've got a pre seeded filter but if it's heavily planted it will kick in quicker. I used 5 bags on my 120 and it doesn't suffer from the usual Ammonia spike like ada which is great.

it is but its a bit more fiddly than planting into powder

as above I wouldnt do all powder as it doesnt leave any gaps in the soil for the water to circulate. Get normal and if needed for any small plants get s small bag of powder for the top 1cm layer

It's always easier in powder but will be fine in normal. Just be prepared to replant a few floaters :)

I'd use it but make sure its capped as the tropica substrate will cloud if it gets into the water column. As above I usuallly scoop off the top layer of amazonia to dry, sieve and re use and bin the bottom layer. then I use new tropica susbstrate the next time.

Apart from the angle of planting which has been mentioned its worth getting a little of the powder when planting small stuff like HC as it grabs it a lot better

yep, youll spot the power sand layer as it will change colour to a lighter shade with white pummice in.

in theory its usually exhausted after about a month and done its job in the old tank so it will be plain old pummice by now. I usually use a scoop to separate the power sand by scraping the top layer soil off. If its already mixed then a sieve may do it

i'd bin the power sand and dry out the soil. I wouldnt mix them as the white pummice from the power sand will stand out against the soil. I usually put mine in a flat garden organiser and leave in the conservatory to dry out

Think I used the two smallest ones last time and graded into 3 sizes

I use stainless bonsai sieves for mine as they have 3 different gradings.

mines gor dragon stone and nile sand in it. i do like it as its not too white but your can get darker sand which would be closer to the stone colour. 90x45x45cm planted dragon stone aquascape by Stu Worrall, on Flickr

it is quite a nice colour for a change as Ive always used amazonia mini-m-40 by Stu Worrall, on Flickr

not sure on the malaya as I haven't used it but the africana is super clean with no dust but has apparently less ferts in it than the others.

works really well for my nano too. hardly any dust in it so crystal clear when first setting up and filling with water

that looks like a very good idea. especially when I blew africana powder all over my scape this week!

Just found a big threa on power sand and tropica aquacare here - http://www.ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=10862 just another post for the balance :) , there was another one I used to use called Sera floredepot but im not sure if many people use this anymore? Floredepot...

PS, I think I took some pics when I was putting it in my first 90cm scape so ill try and find them and post them up tonight.

about 1cm (ish) high and leave a 1cm gap around the edges of the tank so you cant see it when you put the AS over the top as its an ugly light brown colour. Dont put the aquacare in too deep as youll end up pulling it up if you re-plant stuff with long roots. Getting the aquacare substrate...

yup, the power sand/tropica aquacare would go underneath the substrate. a few people on here inc me have used osmocote underneath the aquasoil before now to give the soil a boost. Tropica plant nutrition+ capsules can be used in a similar way to osmocote (which I think are the same thing) I...

tropica Aquacare plant substrate is similar and ive used it in a few tanks with no problems

the amazonia in my 90cm at the moment is from my juwel 125 that I ran for a year. It all came out the same as it had gone in as granuals so its lasted pretty well.

Re: How much of a substrate I need to cover the top of my ta nice one :D its good stuff to use with HC

Re: How much of a substrate I need to cover the top of my ta dont bother with the amazonia ii unless youve got hard water you want to soften. its also not had that great a track record so best to stick with the original.

Re: How much of a substrate I need to cover the top of my ta i had the same dilema for my 90cm. I ended up buying the large bag and ive got about 1/3 left but this has come in handy for my other tanks plus it will be there when I re-do my 90cm again. If it was me with the difference in price...

mm, i was thinking of re-using the 18 litres of amazonia in my new tank topped off with a new 9l bag. I was going to put in some tropica tabs though that I got cheap so hopefully that will help

thanks all, ive been compeltely won over and given it up for a bad idea :lol: I suppose tropica aquacare would be in that same league of exhausted after a month then too?

im thinking of taking it (akadama) out of my 60cm shrimp tank. its just too crumbly and dusty for my liking, growth of rooted stuff isnt as good as with my tank with aquasoil in but that may be down to other things like lighting etc on another side for those using cat litter ive just found a...

I did think of that but id read that the bigger particles promote better circulation so wasnt sure if this would mean the nutrients would be absordbed by the AS. I was using the aquacare as I had some left that I bought when I started back in the hobby. I currently have my Rio 125 planted up...

Ive seen the use of a stainless steel mesh between powersand and amazonia aquasoil over on aquascaping world. Im just wondering has anyone here done this with their tanks here? After speaking with the chap whose tank it is they use it to help with re-scaping so it doesnt mix plus if you decide...

ive got some in the bottom of my 60cm Dave. put it in as a bit of an experiment after reading about it somewhere

Re: Bad expereinces with ADA AS yup

isnt a low KH bad for your shrimp as they need it for their shells? (or is that GH?)

mate of mine who owns a bonsai supply business has mentioned the akadama prices may be going up soon. with the exchage rate its getting expsenive to import so supply may drop soon due to it being repotting season in bonsai at the mo.

ive found that when you crush akadama it just turns to dust rather than smaller pieces :(

i think i need to go to specsavers, sorry! i just looked at your avatar bit for the location! these guys are in essex so may save you some money on postage, they dont have a pricelist though - http://www.bushukan-bonsai.com/ Bushukan Bonsai Ricbra Lower Rd Hockley Essex SS5 5NL Tel: 01702 201029

would also help if we knew where you are in the world so we could suggest local bonsai nurserys

where do you live?

which one? Cat litter ive not tried myself becuase of the scent it carries. cant imagine it would be too good for the water chemistry but maybe it could be weathered a bit first in an outside water butt or something? The good thing with cat litter is that its very hard and will last longer than...

by the way ive tried akadam in my spare 60cm tank and it seems to be coming on well with no problems yet. Ive also put Amazonia in my Rio 125 though and ive found this a hell of a lot easier to plant in. The ADA stuff just tends to grab the roots when you put it in, probably due to its small...

interested to see how he gets on with that cat sand. In Bonsai most of the people in my local club tend to use Sophisticat Pink cat litter as its quite hard and doesnt break down very easily. Usually mixed with akadama/cat litter/compost in thirds for most stuff with a drier mix with grit for...