Aquasoil, Ferts & New Tank Melt - Page 2 - Fertilizing

eklikewhoa · 04-17-2007, 07:31 AM

With those numbers it would turn out perfect!!!

argblarg · 04-17-2007, 09:33 AM

I changed 75% daily for a week before putting plants in, that seemed to get rid of the lingering ammonia. pH dropped from 7.8 to 7.0 using Aquasoil. KH from 10 to 3.

Some plants melted but others were fine. Tonnia, Blyxa, foxtail were pretty bad. HC was fine.

I put in what I thought was enough plants, and started EI dosing w/ 10 hours of light right away. That was a disaster. I am still cleaning up from that. I stopped dosing anything at all for almost 2 weeks and bought enough plants to cover the tank. Algae is almost gone with 6 hours of light and now I'm starting to dose K again. My advice is to take it slow because I sure screwed it up badly.

houseofcards · 04-17-2007, 12:05 PM

Just so you know I asked Jeff S. about this in his 90cm Install Log so you can go there to see what he said.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...tml#post294585

With those numbers it would turn out perfect!!!
Eklikewohoa why do you feel that is so?

eklikewhoa · 04-17-2007, 01:32 PM

The plants would acclimate a lot easier then going from two opposite ends of the scale.

houseofcards · 04-19-2007, 04:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eklikewhoa

The plants would acclimate a lot easier then going from two opposite ends of the scale.

Yeah I see what your saying, but those are the numbers in my co2, eco-based tank (ph 6.0, kh 2), but out of the tap my ph is 7.5.

Another thing, those that have been experiencing these issues with AS, have you been seeding your AS-based tanks from the start with mulm or a mature filter media or are you just relying on water changes and the ADA additives?

Salt · 04-17-2007, 11:28 PM

I don't get it... Aqua Soil used to be the product where everyone said, "Just use Aqua Soil, you plants will all grow great!" And many people did just that and posted threads confirming success.

Now I'm reading thread after thread of water so cloudy you can't see in the tank, spiking ammonia levels that won't go down, and plants melting... all on new tanks set up with Aqua Soil.

I seriously wonder what the heck is going on...

Naja002 · 04-23-2007, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Salt

I don't get it... Aqua Soil used to be the product where everyone said, "Just use Aqua Soil, you plants will all grow great!" And many people did just that and posted threads confirming success.

Now I'm reading thread after thread of water so cloudy you can't see in the tank, spiking ammonia levels that won't go down, and plants melting... all on new tanks set up with Aqua Soil.

I seriously wonder what the heck is going on...

Personally, I think it has to do with the general "Fear" of going up against certain brands and having the loyal "Wolf-pack" come out to chew Your ankles off. I just went through my first experience with ADA AS and it was a disaster. Plain and Simple. From what I can gather to date--hard water--compounds the effects.......

eklikewhoa · 04-18-2007, 12:39 AM

It does grow great and the amonia thing I think is part of the "jump start" for the tank. It has always stated in the instructions to do multiple water changes and dose Brighty K in the amounts listed which I believe raises the KH so that the plants don't go into shock.

It's always been a good substrate IMO just less people reading instructions I guess. Also nothing beats the growth after the initial start up.....the first time I used it it melted everything into nothing and I left it and now everything is like giant bushes! same plants that melted into nothing....

dhavoc · 04-18-2007, 01:34 PM

i agree, its more people trying it out and thinking its a magic bullet to grow anything, they forget the startup issues like clouding, ammonia etc that have always been there but handled by massive water changes, purigen etc. after the first month, you should be past the ammonia spikes and most of the clouding (mine took 3 months) but you cant beat the growth.

as for the melting, i dont know very many plants or fauna that can take a 1-2 ph drop immediately without some stress. my latest tank went from 7.8-8.0 ph (tap water) down to 5.5-5.8 with co2 (i actually add baking soda to buffer it and raise the ph a little), plants took a beating, but came back stronger than ever after adjusting. same with fish, some didnt adjust and kicked the bucket, but those that did (most of them) are doing fine. just need to be patient and do the reccomended water changes.

eklikewhoa · 04-19-2007, 04:38 AM

Well I have noticed that tanks with eco have higher Kh then others and mine was one of them.

With my aquasoil tanks I have done....seeded filters...no filter....no filter with green bactor....seeded filter with green bactor....the fastest cycle time was the one with the seeded filter and green bactor which was less then a week.

I just set up another tank actually with Aquasoil/Powersand and it filled up clear....

All of my tanks have Powersand under the Aquasoil though... don't know how much difference that makes from the others but there is a pattern though.