[coryfanatic]

I'm thinking of setting up a 30g planted tank. Not sure which substrate to use. I'm thinking of mixing aquasoil with flourite black sand. I want to have a lot of bottom dwellers in the tank so I thought the flourite black sand would be good. I don't want to harm their barbels. Should I use aquasoil powder mixed with the flourite sand or should I stick with the regular aquasoil?

If you use aquasoil I heard you have to wait at least 3 months to start adding fish into the tank because of the ammonia leaching is there any way to make the process go quicker like a month? Need advice on which substrate to use. Open to any suggestions thanks

 

[chunkychun]

I have used flourite sand and aquasoil in small tanks but with sand on bottom and aqua soil on top.I figured the sand will sink to bottom anyways. So far I really like it and have very good plant growth.I have dwarf cories and they seem fine with the aqua soil. I planted lot s at the beginning and wait ed like a week and then add a snail.it survived and then I added fish.I think with the mix you get less leaching and if you plant lots of floaters and other plants you naturally cycle. Good luck

 

[Jalopy]

I have regular Fluorite and my cories are doing just fine. Not sure why people say it's bad for their barbs since they don't stab at the substrate.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

 

[lauraleellbp]

Welcome to TPT!

I'm not sure how well Flourite and ADA would mix... the ADA is very light and I think will all end up on top.

If you have an established tank that you can pull mulm and filter media from to seed the new tank, you can speed up the ADA cycle.

A month is what I hear from most people- given frequent large water changes and stuffing the tank early on with some hardy, fast-growing stems.

 

[coryfanatic]

Thanks for the warm welcome

How many frequent water changes do you think would be needed?

 

[lauraleellbp]

50-75% a day was what I did when I cycled an ADA tank. It's been quite a few years, but if I remember correctly, it took about 3 weeks for the levels to bottom out, and that was using an established filter and putting lots of old tank mulm under the ADA.

 

[Topekoms]

I use Black Diamond blasting sand from TSC for my 180 gallon and have tons of corys. They have no issues with it at all and its heck of a lot cheaper at only $8 a 25lb bag just drop in some DIY root tabs and its all good

 

[coryfanatic]

Does the sand end up on the bottom has anyone experienced this? Would the aquasoil powder be a better choice or do you think the aquasoil powder wouldn't be that good for plants?

 

[MamaJu]

I just set up a 10 gallon with aquasoil amazonia and it took about 6 weeks to cycle. I changed 50 - 75 percent of water every day for a week then went to 50 percent water change every couple of days for 2 weeks. Then weekly water changes after that. It's quite a process but well worth it.

I added snails first before I added a fish. The amazonia is great for stem plants. You may not need aquasoil powder unless you are growing dwarf baby tear carpeting.

Hope that helps.

 

[coryfanatic]

What if I just filled the whole tank with aquasoil powder would the stem plants not grow as good? Is the powder the same consistency as sand or thicker?

 

[MamaJu]

I don't have any experience with aquasoil powder but I'm sure it would work fine.

 

[Krispyplants]

I have used flourite sand and aquasoil in small tanks but with sand on bottom and aqua soil on top.I figured the sand will sink to bottom anyways. So far I really like it and have very good plant growth.I have dwarf cories and they seem fine with the aqua soil. I planted lot s at the beginning and wait ed like a week and then add a snail.it survived and then I added fish.I think with the mix you get less leaching and if you plant lots of floaters and other plants you naturally cycle. Good luck

Idk about a 30 gal tank but my 2.5 has fluorite black sand and aquasoil below it. The sand cap is very thin but it does hold its spot. From what I see, the sand is even heavier than the soil. The sand will only fall through if you not plant but pluck often.

 

[burr740]

I use Black Diamond blasting sand from TSC for my 180 gallon and have tons of corys. They have no issues with it at all and its heck of a lot cheaper at only $8 a 25lb bag just drop in some DIY root tabs and its all good

Same here. The cories in my 75 are the most hyper diggers Ive ever had. They literally burrow down up to their eyeballs, move to another spot and do it again, constantly. Their barbels are a picture of health.

 

[redant]

i recently did a 15G with ada amazonia + power sand special. With activated carbon in your filter and regular water changes, ada amazonia cycles in no time. My tank was cycled in two weeks approx.

 

[coryfanatic]

Will there be ammonia spikes after the tank is fully cycled?