• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

Volcano mineral out of stock everywhere in uk?

ojustaboo

Member
Joined
15 Mar 2011
Messages
200
I wanted Jbl volcano mineral for my new tank but the entire UK seems to be out of stock?

Is this COVID related or is there some other reason why no one has it?

Is there something I could use instead? Last tank had soil/peat covered in netting covered in sand. Today I watched one of the Aquascape vids and liked how they did their initial setup, thought I’d give it a try, approx first 3 mins of



thanks
 
Thanks, when I go to buy, it’s preorder and will be dispatched within 6 to 10 days, was hoping to get it quicker being the impatient person I am :)
 
Thanks, I might go that route. It appears that the only place selling lava rock is in Germany. I noticed Amazon have the same company but £1.60 a kilo rather than 97p on eBay.

The reason I was looking for the JBL volcano mineral specifically is that my new tank turns up today and I wanted to make a start before Christmas. It appears my only choice is to buy from Germany and hopefully it will arrive near the 16 Dec rather than 24th

The only other lava rock I’ve found in the UK is much more expensive per kg than the JBL
 
Thanks, I might go that route. It appears that the only place selling lava rock is in Germany. I noticed Amazon have the same company but £1.60 a kilo rather than 97p on eBay.

The reason I was looking for the JBL volcano mineral specifically is that my new tank turns up today and I wanted to make a start before Christmas. It appears my only choice is to buy from Germany and hopefully it will arrive near the 16 Dec rather than 24th

The only other lava rock I’ve found in the UK is much more expensive per kg than the JBL

Your local garden centre may stock bags of it.
 
I got some from Riverwood Aquatics about 2 weeks ago. They still have 3l bags in stock.

I actually only ordered the 3l but they sent a 9l bag. I even contacted them to ask was that a mistake, and offered to pay the balance but still no reply. Dont want to see an independent shop out of pocket for an honest mistake.
 
Thanks all. Much appreciated, but I might have to do a complete rethink.

I'm downsizing from my old 190L tank to a 126L tank due to health issues and the 190L being a little too big for me to easily cope with now. I'm also not going to use CO2. I want low maintenance (don't mind trimming plants etc)

I don't want sand, previously went the B&Q soil/netting/sand and while the plants are still growing, I don't like the look of the sand at all, I also find it a pain when cleaning with sand (and sand has scratched glass when cleaning) .
So I watched a few youtube clips and saw the one linked to in my first post and thought I would give that method a try (as in the substrate/soil). What I didn't realise is how much just the substrate and soil will cost me if I follow that exact route.

9L Volcano Mineral (or 25kg bad from ebay) £25
ADA Power Sand 6L a whopping £70
Tropica Aquarium soil 9L (I do like the look of this as my top coat) £35 a bag, one bag might to at a pinch but will probably need a little more and the 3L bags are £16
In the vid they then sprinkle Tropica Aquarium powder around their plants and that costs another £19

That makes a total of around £165 just for the substrate/soil. That is about double the amount I want to pay.
I like the idea of the lava rock being used to build up the landscape (want two raised corners at the back), I also don't mind paying for the Tropica soil. But the power sand is simply too much. I will look at what others are doing on youtube plus read up on here.

Many thanks
 
Hi all,
That makes a total of around £165 just for the substrate/soil.
Mother of God... £70 for six litres of pumice mixed with peat and with a word "Power" in its name?
No, its not "Power" that is important, its "ADA".

How about <"garden soil">, topped with <"Moler clay cat litter">?

Ten years on, I might go into the <"substrate business after all"> (below), the ADA thing is a bit more tricky, but I wonder about a name change (via deed poll) to get around trademark issues? It worked for <"Joe Lycett">.

4722561004_6d2c075a38_b-jpg.jpg


cheers Darrel
 
Thanks all. Much appreciated, but I might have to do a complete rethink.

I'm downsizing from my old 190L tank to a 126L tank due to health issues and the 190L being a little too big for me to easily cope with now. I'm also not going to use CO2. I want low maintenance (don't mind trimming plants etc)

I don't want sand, previously went the B&Q soil/netting/sand and while the plants are still growing, I don't like the look of the sand at all, I also find it a pain when cleaning with sand (and sand has scratched glass when cleaning) .
So I watched a few youtube clips and saw the one linked to in my first post and thought I would give that method a try (as in the substrate/soil). What I didn't realise is how much just the substrate and soil will cost me if I follow that exact route.

9L Volcano Mineral (or 25kg bad from ebay) £25
ADA Power Sand 6L a whopping £70
Tropica Aquarium soil 9L (I do like the look of this as my top coat) £35 a bag, one bag might to at a pinch but will probably need a little more and the 3L bags are £16
In the vid they then sprinkle Tropica Aquarium powder around their plants and that costs another £19

That makes a total of around £165 just for the substrate/soil. That is about double the amount I want to pay.
I like the idea of the lava rock being used to build up the landscape (want two raised corners at the back), I also don't mind paying for the Tropica soil. But the power sand is simply too much. I will look at what others are doing on youtube plus read up on here.

Many thanks

The power sand IMO is not worth the money, it is basically lava rock with some powders/nutrients added and is totally unnecessary

The Tropica powder is another extra that is not needed, most use it simply for aesthetics.
 
I'm no expert when it comes to substrate or aquascaping but I think your massively over thinking it. You could get some plastic mesh bags and get some cheap gravel and put that in there to bank the substrate up if you dont use crushed lava rock. Then use tropica soil on top and that would be it.
 
I'm no expert when it comes to substrate or aquascaping but I think your massively over thinking it. You could get some plastic mesh bags and get some cheap gravel and put that in there to bank the substrate up if you dont use crushed lava rock. Then use tropica soil on top and that would be it.

Good point, I have used cheap pea gravel (£2.50 for 25kg) in mesh bags for this, worked fine. You do lose out on the benefits of lava stone, but it is a small trade-off.
 
The power sand IMO is not worth the money, it is basically lava rock with some powders/nutrients added and is totally unnecessary

The Tropica powder is another extra that is not needed, most use it simply for aesthetics.

Both are proven performers that work.

power sand advance will outperform any other base layer (note quoted above above is the wrong size and size bag for your tank I think?)

powder will hold up slopes and hold carpet plants in much more securely.

the substrate is the bedrock of the tank, no point on skimping on it. You can get away without the power sand but really don’t think you can replace it with pea gravel, good if your substrate is a foot deep but you are not building a massive steep sloped tank so, not worth it.
What is going to happen when the stem plants roots hit the pea gravel? They will stop and spread everywhere looking for food leading to weaker stems..👍😃
 
Last edited:
Back
Top