Brightwell aquatics shrimp/plant soil?

[Jeffww]

Has anyone seen this yet? I saw it at my lfs today and it looked really interesting. It says it's clay based with volcanic ash. It came in a very small pelleted form and a large pellet form. It was 50 dollars for like a 8kilo bag or something. And like 80 dollars for like a 30 pounder.

[madness]

I have been looking forward to seeing reviews on this substrate.

Price seems pretty ridiculous even by planted tank substrate standards though.

[eklikewhoa]

http://www.houstonfishbox.com/vforum...o-Soil-Testing

[Bannik]

I've used Amazonia, Fluval Shrimp Stratum, Eco-Complete, Flourite Black, and I have a walstatd bowl.

I just purchased Rio Escuro-XF. I added distilled water reconstituted to GH 1 KH 2. PH was 6.8 right before I added it. I haven't added the filter yet since i'm interested to see what the readings will be tomorrow.

So pending what is going on with the buffering capacity my initial opinion is. AWESOME!

It is totally black and looks awesome. It has a clean earthy smell. When I flooded the tank there was no cloudiness at all. They apparently already cleaned out all the micro-fine material that causes that to happen since there wasn't even dust in the bottom of the bag.

The granules are definitely firmer than amazonia. I pulled a small piece that has been soak for about 4 hours now out. I squeezed it to see what happens. With shrimp stratum I squeeze a pellet and it turns into fine dust, with amazonia it turned into mud. With the new substrate it just kind of compacted like a sponge which makes me think it will retain shape for a long time before going to mush.

I'm going to be using this mostly for moss but the particles are about as heavy as Amazonia 2 so it should be fantastic for planting (much better than shrimp stratum)

It is inert so if you plan on having root feeders you're better off with the amazonia.


so far LOVE IT!

[Robert H]

It actually comes in three sizes,

5 pounds, 15 pounds, and 23 pounds.

and three available granular sizes:

mediuim- 5mm, fine- 3mm, extra fine- 1mm.

Your prices seem off too, but who knows what your retailer is doing...shop around

[Caleb19]

How would someone (myself) go about acquiring this nifty new substrate? I am guessing since it is still relatively new, I should contact Brightwell directly? Any tips? Thanks!

[mythin]

My LFS sells it here in houston, its kinda pricey though, for enough for a 20 gallon would be about ~$50.

I have some Rio Escuro-XF, it didnt ammonia spike at all, and was super clear no water cloudiness at all. No dust particles or floating particles, super clean.

[alexopolus]

Originally Posted by mythin

My LFS sells it here in houston, its kinda pricey though, for enough for a 20 gallon would be about ~$50.

I have some Rio Escuro-XF, it didnt ammonia spike at all, and was super clear no water cloudiness at all. No dust particles or floating particles, super clean.

Any feedback on the BW Rio Escuro?

[shrimpNewbie]

Wow that stuff looks aweso e

[Loumeer]

Where can we buy this online? It seems to awesome but I can't find it anywhere.

[Tanman19az]

I heard they discontinued this stuff. Try eBay...there is a company here california that is selling it on there but only in the 5 lb bags. There is a LFS in Tucson that I saw the 30 pound bag of this stuff. It was about $80. They are on Facebook and they are called Arizona Nature Aquatics.

[Loumeer]

Thats such a shame. I just talked with the Rep from Brightwell Aquatics and he confirmed that they discontinued it because of low demand and an incredibly high minimum order from their supplier in Japan. Such a shame; seemed like a better product than ADA aquasoil since it held consistency better and didnt leech ammonia.

[Hoppy]

Originally Posted by Loumeer

Thats such a shame. I just talked with the Rep from Brightwell Aquatics and he confirmed that they discontinued it because of low demand and an incredibly high minimum order from their supplier in Japan. Such a shame; seemed like a better product than ADA aquasoil since it held consistency better and didnt leech ammonia.

If it is inert, it isn't a better product than ADA Amazonia. There are a lot of inert substrates available, but only a few that are fertile.

[madness]

Still an interesting and neat substrate even if it isn't nutrient rich.

It is a shame that they stopped carrying it.

[Keyboard Aquatics]

When I heard that this substrate was discontinued I bought the last remaining cases I could find. Slowly I have been selling it on Ebay.

KA West