cS

Is there a listing of all the substrates and its related accessories listed somewhere, along with how they are to be used? Also, are there descriptions as to what each one of these products does? For example, I've read references of the Power Sand to provide "nutrients" and it is to be used over Aqua Soil which provide... Does ADA provide further information as to what these nutrients are?

The term "ADA substrate" has been used liberally over the past year and I have not a clue as to what specific product it refers to. I am confused by all the myriad of choices and what is supposed to be used with what and what each product is supposed to provide (e.g. Africana, Amazonia, Pantanal, Crypt, etc.). Something more in depth than "nutrients" or "all the necessary [stuff] to make plants grow" would be greatly appreciated. I am not sure if ADA provides any of these information to you or not. If so and it is in Japanese, would you post it anyway so that some of our members who happen to speak Japanese would be able to make a rough translation?

Such information would in quite helpful when addressing posts from members who are using the system or one of its components singularly. As is, I'm reading all of these posts and cannot visualize what is going on, when everyone is spouting "ADA substrate" as if it is the same for everyone (is it?) when there are so many sub-choices. I hope that I am making sense here?

Oodles of thanks for any clarification.

Gomer

ADA substrate refers to Aquasoil and powersand. I'd like to think that it means in combination, but I think most people use the term for either the combination or just aquasoil by itself. I don't think anyone uses the term if they are just talking about the powersand. If youw ant to see the whole product line, go to ADG and take a look. Most of the ADA product line is that.

ADA doesn't really say waht the nutrients are. About all we know is taht powersand is pumice based. the powersand special has peat, carbon and bacteria added. The aquasoil is some sort of earthen material which has been fired yet not to completion as a ceramic.

In general, people tend to use Amazonia as the all around substrate. the other's don't seem to get as much attention. Amano himself said that he has the best experiences with Amazonia.

hope my ramblings help some ..I just had lunch..and it was warm and sunny out....and I don't think this cup of coffee has taken me out of my food/heat induced coma.

dmartin72

Don't you wish we had siestas?

Gomer

you have no idea how nice it is to have a couch in the office LOL.

cS

Thank you for the feedback. I have indeed taken a look at both ADA Europe and ADG's website before composing the above post. I was hoping that ADA has provided ADG with additional information (as is usual with other companies and their distributors); and/or that ADG has access to numerous Japanese literatures and Aquajournals as well as a group of professional translators who would be able to provide some additional insight to the products beyond what is listed on the product labels. I feel confident that these minutiae are available because I have taken a look at some Aquajournals and have seen technical discussions of ADA products (i.e. PhytoGit). I highly doubt that ADA would hide these kind of details if ADG were to approach them with questions, when the same information has already been presented in a public publication such as Aquajournal.

I don't expect exact formulation because that's legally protected. If I were them, then I would not divulge such information either. However, basic GENERAL information as to what the product provides and is supposed to do are to be expected. I am not an exact hobbyist, so micro-management is the least of my concern at the moment. ;D I am just unsatisfied and confused by the myriad of product choices with this ADA substrate system. Why should I choose Amazonia over Africana? If I purchase Amazonia, then what else should I buy? How should I layer them? Why do I need to add Power Sand? If it provides the nutrients, then why do I need Amazonia for? Why do I need to add Penac W? What kind of nutrients does Power Sand provide? Does it include macronutrients or micronutrients or both? Does it provide enough so that I don't need to add anything to the water column? Etc. Etc. Etc. These are basic questions that I do not think is at all unreasonable to ask as it is extremely important to the vast majority of us for a variety of reasons, both logistical and economics (It always come back to the bling bling doesn't it? ).

Raul-7

Amazonia looks like it has more organic matter than Africana, which is probably why it has that black color. And thus it might be better in the long run, and it also lowers the pH more than the other two. Whichever AquaSoil you buy you need to layer PowerSand under it. PowerSand is extremely porous and rounded, meaning it's capable of housing colonies of bacteria which help reduce Fe and micros into a form easily uptaken by plants. Peat is used as the carbon-source for the bacteria to feed off while the carbon acts as a nutrient-adsorbent since it has a good CEC. I assume all the nutrients come from the AquaSoil, but remember Amano usually adds Fe(Iron Bottom) and traces(Tourmaline/Multi Bottom) to the PowerSand. So I assume that's where most of the nutrients come from, while AquaSoil acts as binding site for the nutrients where plants can easily uptake them. To save money you might want to add regular Laterite and something with traces(ie. Greensand) to the PowerSand. A better substitute for carbon would be zeolite, it has a higher CEC and it doesn't leech out after it's full. Mulm or BIO-Spira should be added to provide the new substrate with bacteria, or else it will take much longer before the substrate matures.

jsenske

cS,
Please see the PM I sent you!

Also, in the AQUASCAPING forum there's 2 different posts that show a complete series on installing the ADA substrate! Very detailed and should clear many of your questions.
Can someone please post a direct link to those here for cS? The 225gal. ADG open-top install and the 90cm tank install at ADG would help her a lot. I am fairly stupid when it comes to adding such things to a post. I think GOMER's 40 gal post shows this too.

Mostly the differences in the different AQUA SOILS pertain to color/presentation. It's more so a matter of your personal tastes than overall effectiveness. They will all yield superior results.

I will add better, ADA provided how-to's to shopADG site also- I am working on it!!

jppurchase

Another place to look for information on Amano products is the website for ADA Europe (http://www.adaeuro.com). You can download the catalogue in sections, formatted as PDF files, in several languages.

Don't look for, nor expect to find, anything which will tell you the exact composition of any of Amano's products. For example, Brighty K is said to be a Potassium supplement, but nowhere does it tell you how much Potassium is added per cc. Someone who wants to know precise details of those sorts of things, and to micro-manage a tank, should get themselves an accurate scale and a bunch of raw chemicals.

By following the recommendations that ADA does make and watching how your plants react, you should soon gain a feeling for how the products work. But a suggestion, at least in the beginning - stick with ADA products, don't mix in Seachem, Dupla or another competing line. If you want to find out how good or bad ADA products are, you have to limit yourself to using ONLY ADA products, until you know what you are doing.