Lava gravel under Aqua soil

[Omegatron]

So i've been reading a lot about substrates the last days since im planning to start over with my aquarium. Im thinking about buying the ADA AS Amazonia.

I've been reading posts by Tom Barr that the ADA Power Sand (that you place under your aquasoil) is not neccesary at all and now im wondering. Would adding lava gravel under the aqua soil have any benefits?

I recently bought 17 liters of lava gravel(8 euro's at the local gardening store) to serve as a biological filter. Now I have loads left and i was thinking to use this gravel at the bottom of my aquarium so i dont have to buy a lot of Amazonia if I want to create some height in the substrate.

Will adding this lava gravel have a beneficial effect on the bacteria in the substrate? Or will it be the opposite?

Or will it do nothing but save money for me so I dont have to buy an extra 9 litre bag of amazonia?

Here is a pic of the gravel i have, as a reference i added a toothpick to see the size (I could always crush it a bit with a hammer if its to big)

thanks!

 

[i4yue]

I was just thinking about doing that as well! so I don't have to buy so many bags...

 

[ShadowMac]

I have to say this has crossed my mind as well. I'm not sure if there is much of an added benefit other than using less aquasoil.

The one problem I see is this can get mixed in with the soil and it will make it difficult to manage should you pull up or move plants. Or even re use the soil for another scape.

 

[Omegatron]

I have to say this has crossed my mind as well. I'm not sure if there is much of an added benefit other than using less aquasoil.

The one problem I see is this can get mixed in with the soil and it will make it difficult to manage should you pull up or move plants. Or even re use the soil for another scape.

About the mixing with the aquasoil, the lava gravel is much larger then the aquasoil so i though if u would rescape and some of the lava is on top then it should be easy to "fish" em out the aquasoil just the ones you can see ofc. Could take a while but doable i think. And again if it safes me the cost of 1 bag of aquasoil it would be worth it i guess.

Still wondering if its good for the bacteria having lava gravel under the soil though.

 

[Tom Barr]

Having done this, I would not recommend it.
Plants did not grow as well and where the lava was, tended to thin out and go flat, exposing the rock.
A thin layer of smaller lava or a bag of small stuff that's only say 2" tall, that's fine, but the tank sediment will go flat after awhile.

 

[matmas]

I use it in my new tank, but only where there's going to be a otherwise ton of aquasoil. Saves on the aquasoil as well. I poured ADA bacteria over it first. We'll see how it goes.

 

[ShadowMac]

Having done this, I would not recommend it.
Plants did not grow as well and where the lava was, tended to thin out and go flat, exposing the rock.
A thin layer of smaller lava or a bag of small stuff that's only say 2" tall, that's fine, but the tank sediment will go flat after awhile.

well that satisfies my curiousity

 

[Gilles]

Go for akadama, much cheaper and with enough water column fertilization the same results can be achieved.