mats808

i wasn't saying that it doesn't. I said that your example wasn't really a good one. Bottom line that's a ton of shrimp in a 12 gallon. But this is how the whole nitrifying bacteria thing works. An established tank doesn't have excess bacteria. To simplify things, I'm going to say that it has just enough to deal with the consistent amount of ammonia being produced by your shrimp for example. When you removed all your 'gravel' you removed a considerable amount of nitrifying bacteria. Temporarilly the new, decreased amount of bacteria won't be able to keep up with the same amount of ammonia being produced.

So really it doesn't matter if shrimp don't produced that much ammonia and all the other stuff you said. However much they produced, when you removed some of the bacteria there no longer was enough to keep up.....there was no longer a balance.

I've actually used amazonia and I am still using it to grow some potted plants in my breeding tanks.

There's no real argument here. I was just shocked with what everyone was saying initially so I was more just ASKING if this was a guarantee fact or a theory. As the thread went on I even said that it may be beneficial that it leaches ammonia in the initial stages. I just couldn't believe that you would make a product that leaches ammonia on a long term basis or forever in other words.

Leonard

Ok, I have ordered "ordinary" Amazonia now =) I belive it will be good enough!

Should I have plants in the tank while changing water in the beginning?

jazzlvr123

you should stuff the tank full of plants right from the get go to avoid algae growth

Leonard

Ok! Then I'll put filter, plants and everything (ferts too?) directly when I start the tank.

I am also going to start a "low-tech" for shrimps with Aqua Soil Amazonia, plants will be mosses and ferns, and som easy fastgrowing plants. Is it very important to add plants at the start or could I fill the aquarium with water and AquaSoil only and change water every day in a week first?

Paul Higashikawa

For first week you want to be religious about water change everyday because of chemical spikes. You will also notice from Amano's and other artists that they always try to fill up the whole tank with plants in the beginning instead of slowly adding one or two plants here and there every week. This is because it goes along with their layout designs and also make things easier to monitor.


In terms of Amazonia, the first month is the most crucial month because in this time frame you are doing alot of things......

Just to give you an example(of course this regiment is not the absolute)
-water change everyday and adding plants and setting up the tank in first week
-water change every other day and perhaps adding some algae eaters second week
-water change twice or once a week and adding more algae eaters and some fish
***notice also you can add fertilizers even during the first week***

Homer_Simpson

Would this also apply for ADA Amazonian 2? I will be setting up a tank with the #2 and just want to make sure things are done right. Thanks.

Paul Higashikawa

That is a good question. I personally have not tried using II completely, although a friend of mine did use II powder as a finish layer on top of my 60-P when he came over to scape it. I bought a box of II not too long ago but haven't had any chance to use them since all my tanks are still kindda new. My friends who tried did say there is no noticeable diff except for the tannin-like brown color that doesn't seem to be as obvious in II. In terms of chemical spikes, I am not too sure.....need to ask them again

Guys in NASH, can y'all chime in on this if you have used II already?

Leonard

Then I'll set up as much as possible at the start (except animals)

Tetras

So - if I'm starting from stratch for a new 90gal - and going all AS II, nothing else - would two of the 9L bags be sufficient?

Paul Higashikawa

There is a rule in ADA site as well as ADG that tells you approximately how many bags you would need for the size of tanks you would use. But in all honesty, this also varies with what layout you have in mind. But 2 bags of AS in a 90-gal would be stretching it, IMO. I have a 90-cm(~40-gal) and I used 3 and half bags of AS and it still didn't look that much.