jsenske

I have had plants melt in new setups using every type of substrate, so I do not attribute it specifically to ADA substrate (or substrate in general), though it surely may be a factor.

Either way, I find doing 50-60% water change every other day for the first week to 10 days seems to work. I also have started adding SeaChem PURIGEN right at the 2 week mark. I find it clears the water to amazing clarity and any lingering algae present disappears almost overnight. This tank and 2 other new tanks I did in recent weeks hit a pretty nasty little algae bloom that I completely eliminated in 3 days using 90% water change, shrimp (added immediately after 90% water change which seems to help them transition into Aqua Soil better), Purigen, and ADA Bamboo Charcoal added to the filter. Powerful combination that has worked identically now in 4 tanks in a row.

Plants continue growing wonderfully after the addition of the Purigen, BTW.

Some plants might melt in a new setup no matter what you do, from my experience.

houseofcards

Jeff thanks for that response, that's really helpful information. I was surprised by the amount of water changes since you are setting these up for clients and it would demand that you are there quite often (unless client is doing per instruction). One last question, was this tank seeded with an established biofilter other than the plants?

jsenske

No, just started from scratch like all my tanks.

jassar

yet another cool tank Jeff... what a lucky client!