My Take On ADA's Products - Aquarium Design Group

ryan_suiso · 01-23-2005, 02:40 PM

I just wanted to chime in on ADA's products.

Some of you may already know me. I have been the 'unofficial' spokesman for ADA for over 8 years now. I have lived in Japan for 5 years and I feel I have a good deal of experience with ADA line of products. Not to mention a Japanese wife that helps me out with translations.

Here is my take on some of ADA's products.

Substrates:
Personally, I would not set-up a planted take without Aqua Soil. I have used it on all my planted tanks though out the years. Some had Power Sand plus Aqua Soil most just Aqua Soil. Why? I feel this is ADA's best product. It lower pH below 7 allowing plants to use ammonium directly without any help from nitrifying bacteria. Aqua Soil also has a high CEC(Cation Exchange Capacity). This means that excess nutrients (Ca++, Mg++, Na+, K+, NH4+) from the water column can be sequestered by the substrate for the plant roots to use, thus reducing nutrients for algae.

I know of no other substrate with all the abilities above. For more info on this please read this
http://www.suiso.com/v2/modules.php?...=article&sid=6

Liquid Fertilizers:
Once again this is one product I have exclusively used, mostly the Step Series. People have asked me how much of this 'nutrient' is in Step whatever. It has never be disclosed by ADA, but they do list some of the major nutrients that are in each step.

Japanese are a very meticulous race. That is why there are different products for different situations. I will only comment of some that I have used mostly.

ECA contains non-chelated iron and manganese. The iron is bound to another organic molecule(s) and any unused iron will precipitate. This make is immediately available to plants. I have used this with great success. It even brought out the reds in Crypts.

I have used Brighty K sparingly. I maybe dose a couple times a week just for good luck

Just be careful not to over dose with this as it will kill shrimp! Trust me on this. There is even a disclaimer, in Japanese, on the box.

Lighting:

Living in Japan the only bulb I felt comfortable using was ADA's NA-Lamp. The regular FL lamps have a rating of 8000K and 93CRI. These bulbs peek at 100% in the 540nm hence the green color. Of course if you throw enough light at anything it will grow, but since I have been in the States I have been 6700K CF with great success. I still need to put together my 100 gallon tank and I might go with ADA's newer HQI MH lamps, but use a DIY kit from hellolights.com for this dual ended bulb.

Maybe Jeff can correct me on this, but I thought the Japanese regular FL bulbs are slightly shorter then American bulbs, thus they will not fit in regular fixtures.

CO2

I have used the ADA's mini CO2 cartridges and regulators on tanks up to 20 gallons. Unless you have a LFS down the street that sells the little cartridges forget about this. One thing I highly recommend is the CO2 diffusers, Pollen Glass. Anything that goes in the tank has to be as none obstructive as possible thus focusing of the layout. ADA's line of CO2 accessories is something I have not seen in the States. Where can I get a 1-3 CO2 branch? Oh, ADA makes it. Same goes with all the other valves and mini-regulators. I use these and would be lost with out them.

Once again maybe Jeff can correct me on this, but do ADA's standard regulators fit American CO2 bottles?

Filters:
ADA's series of filter are nice, just like everything else ADA makes. They are made of stainless steel and feature an Iwaki pump. Some members may know this of this high quality pump. Worth the price? Maybe not, unless you have an open cabinet where the filter is exposed. Everything is aesthetic after all.

I do recommend the Lily Pipe inlets and outlets if you have the extra money. This goes back to where anything obtrusive in the aquarium will distract from the display. These high quality glass parts must be matched exactly with your tubing.

Plocher Energy System:
Don't get me started on this....Any product that does not scientifically describe what it does I would stay away from. Instead of scientifically explaining we are left with term like 'harmonic oscillations' and 'ecological balance'. My wife, in the past, went through some Aqua Journals and she was confused! She could not understand what it is let alone how it works. Skip this unless someone can actually decipher it.

I have no affiliation with ADG, but I do with them the best of luck with ADA's products. Hopefully we can help spread the word of ADA.

Regards,

Raul-7 · 01-24-2005, 01:51 AM

Have you ever tested how high AquaSoil's CEC is? Good substrates such as Flourite and Onyx are clay-based(not listing EC becuase it's not clay-based?), so don't they have the same effect? Zeolite is the best adsorbment used as a substrate, which would mean Volcanit is superior to all the other substrates in terms of CEC.

ryan_suiso · 01-24-2005, 02:40 AM

Raul,

No, I have not tested the CEC ratio. This was based on what was learned from various Japanese Aqua Journals. Not sure I fully understand your question. The exact composition of Aqua Soil is unknown. Just one of those things ADA does not readily disclose.

Regards,

jsenske · 01-25-2005, 09:10 AM

Once again maybe Jeff can correct me on this, but do ADA's standard regulators fit American CO2 bottles?

The ADA regulators will only fit a US bottle with a metric adaptor attached to the bottle. It is the same one that comes with an EHEIM CO2 regulator.

kekon · 03-01-2008, 04:04 PM

Quote:

I have used Brighty K sparingly. I maybe dose a couple times a week just for good luck Just be careful not to over dose with this as it will kill shrimp! Trust me on this. There is even a disclaimer, in Japanese, on the box.

I had the same problem. I used KHCO3 as a sole source of K. KHCO3 is also used in Brighty K. When too high doses were added all of my shrimps died. It also happened to some fish.

Bunbuku · 03-04-2008, 04:50 AM

I have used Brighty K sparingly. I maybe dose a couple times a week just for good luck

Just be careful not to over dose with this as it will kill shrimp! Trust me on this. There is even a disclaimer, in Japanese, on the box.

Yes, I think this is what happened to my Amanos when I first set up my 60-P. I was reconstituting RO/DI water with Equilibrium (at a fraction of the recommended amounts to 3 dGH) and dosing with Brighty K daily. Ammonia and nitrites were undetectatble yet every day I would get 1-2 shrimp deaths. OTOH, the Oto's were not at all bothered. I noticed that most of the casualties would occur after adding Brighty K.

Now I only use it sparingly, 1 pump 2x week - no more shrimp deaths.

mikenas102 · 03-04-2008, 10:00 AM

Amano's products killing the very shrimp named after him. How ironic.

kekon · 03-04-2008, 10:05 AM

Quote:

I was reconstituting RO/DI water with Equilibrium (at a fraction of the recommended amounts to 3 dGH) and dosing with Brighty K daily.

I my opinion adding more K when Equilibrium is used is quite unnecessary as the Equilibrium contains much potassium. At recommended dose reconstituted water will have as nuch as 50 ppm K.

Bunbuku · 03-04-2008, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kekon

I my opinion adding more K when Equilibrium is used is quite unnecessary as the Equilibrium contains much potassium. At recommended dose reconstituted water will have as nuch as 50 ppm K.

Agree.
Seachem recommends 16 grams per 20 gallon (0.8 grams/gallon) to raise GH by 3. Using a GH test kit and gallon containers of RO/DI water, I emperically determined that I need only 0.4 grams/gallon to achieve my target GH between 2-3 GH. So even with half the dose, combining it with Brighty K daily led to iatrogenic fatalities. Live and learn...don't mix drugs