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Struggling with aquasoil

Rob P

Rob P

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Joined
13 Oct 2013
Messages
785
I know this is down to me being rubbish and not the product, but...!

I set up my Mini M low tech tank a week ago using Columbo florabase. I got 3 x 10 litre bags of this stuff as i intend to use it in my new hi tech tank later this year and so nabbed a little for the Mini M, but my initial thoughts are that I'm really not enjoying having it! :(

When it was just damp it was quite a sticky/gloopy substrate that the plants easily plugged into and I thought great, how easy is this!?! The more water I added when getting to planting taller stuff, the more difficult I found it. Stuff i've knocked out whilst my hands are in the tank are proving a PITA to replant well, just looks like the 'beads' of the substrate turn to clouds of mush and no matter how far i push my tweezers in the substrate seems floaty and crumbly and the plants just lift out again, pulling out the ones at the side as well. I've had to literally bury some plants to keep them in.

Am I missing a trick here? Maybe my tools aren't up to the job and I need thinner/longer points on my tweezers? I guess I was expecting the florabase to hold together as beads rather than appearing to crumble/turn mushy so soon.

I can only imagine the mess I could make with this stuff in a larger tank when moving stuff around, and with what I know now about water column fertilisation being sufficient i'm even tempted to ditch the idea of aquasoil and use a black sand/micro gravel substrate instead. Having now planted into sand, gravels & aquasoil it's the gravel type I find the easiest and aquasoil a pig!!

Any guidance from you experts? :)
 
I've used Florabase in my previous set ups, and at first I hated it. It's so light and floaty lol

I found that if you fill slowly through an air line this will help to minimize air pockets that will kick up dust etc

Also when you plant if you plant with one hand and then lightly press down on the plant with the other, then it tends to stay in place rather than lifting out with your tweezers / pincettes.

This technique also works with cat litter and other similar substrates.

Once I had got the hang of it, I didn't uproot anything by accident anymore. It's just my damn Angels that do it for me now lol

PS. I had Florabase in my 60cm for 18 months and it didn't turn to mush at all.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Rob P said:
Did it just stay as pellets then?
Click to expand...


Ya, as it came out of the bag ( didn't bother to rinse it ) is how it stayed in the tank.

I've still got 2 28l tanks out in the shed that both have Florabase in, and they haven't had any water in them since I moved house Sept 2012 and it's still all the little pellets / balls whatever you want to call them lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Even ADA soils break up, its just the way these soils are, the more you mess with them the more they will break up. For me the worst so far has been ADA Amazonia II (don't think they retail that anymore), I have used the Oliver Knott soil and still have that in on of my tanks, it breaks also and is very light, I have used Colombo Florabase, again breaks but better than the other two, the latest one I am using is the Ebi soils and those so far the better of the lot, in terms or durability. But they all break eventually.
 
Maybe it's just the clouds of dirt when trying to replant stuff that is making it appear to mush up, probably just the floatiness of it that i'm not liking then. I'll have to have a closer look later on.
 
Im using the fine grade florabase. Its a git to plant into, but now everything has rooted incredibly well. Been running for just under two months. Soil is still very hard and looks like it did in the bag.
 
I use really thick tweezers and thought about getting some of those needle tip ones but find i di just fine with what i have. I push the plant in and then gently shoogle the tweezers as i let go of the plant and pull them away. I find this lets the hole my tweezers are leaving fill up with substrate. I then fill any gaps/level the substrate around pulling it over with the tweezers. I've just planted a load of montecarlo in ada amazonia and there was not one floater this morn so it can be done. Sometimes it can help if you push the plant right under and then get it by a leaf and pull gently to the surface.
 
ldcgroomer said:
I push the plant in and then gently shoogle the tweezers as i let go of the plant and pull them away. I find this lets the hole my tweezers are leaving fill up with substrate
Click to expand...

Yes this works great in my hi tech tank! (coarse sand over aquabasis) but not so well in the Mini M. Doesn't help due to the small size of the tank my hands are usually shaking like an alcy :facepalm: lol
 
Rob P said:
usually shaking like an alcy :facepalm: lol
Click to expand...
Sounds like you need something to rest your forearm on as you are planting to reduce shoogle. Maybe you would benefit from some angled pincetts purely because you are working in such a small tank;)
 
Shoogle lol :)

I actually use some angled Fluval tweezers, i'm thinking some long straight ones with fine tips might be better, or stop being soft and just stuff the plants in harder lol
 
Ah you'll be on the 5 quid Fluval gear soon then lol
 
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