Nutrients in ADA aqua soil and garden soil

Eric

New Member
Jul 9, 2017
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Hi folks,

I just read some interesting reports about the nutrients in ADA aqua soil and garden soil. To my surprised garden soil contains so much more nutrients than the ADA aqua soil. The data I read is listed below:

[1]Ecology of the planted aquarium(Walstad) - About garden soil

B: 20(mg/kg)
C: 20000(mg/kg)
Ca: 15000(mg/kg)
Cu: 30(mg/kg)
Fe: 40000(mg/kg)
K: 14000(mg/kg)
Mg: 5000(mg/kg)
Mn: 1000(mg/kg)
Mo: 1.2(mg/kg)
N: 2000(mg/kg)
P: 800(mg/kg)
S: 700(mg/kg)
Zn: 90(mg/kg)

[2]ADA Aqua Soil and Power sand analysis(Barr) - ADA aqua soil Amazonia I

NH4-N: 262.89(mg/kg)
NO3-N: 9.19(mg/kg)
Olsen-P: 111.3(mg/kg)
X-K: 390(mg/kg)
Fe: 324.9(mg/kg)
Cu: 1.2(mg/kg)

[3]ADA Aqua Soil Analyse(Coring) - ADA aqua soil Amazonia I

NH4: 22.1(mg/kg)
NH4-N: 28.5(mg/kg)
NO3-N: 3.3(mg/kg)
P2O5: 20(mg/kg)
PO4: 26.8(mg/kg)
Mg: 50(mg/kg)
K2O: 80(mg/kg)
K: 66.4(mg/kg)
Fe: 160(mg/kg)
Mn: 36(mg/kg)

From the above three data set, we can find that although Barr[2] and Coring[3] show big difference in nutrients of ADA aqua soil Amazonia I(e.g. 10 times for NH4-N, 28.5 to 262.89), the nutrients in Amazonia I is still way less compared with garden soil[1]

So now comes my questions:

1. Is ADA aqua soil really better than the simple garden soil? In my opinion, it isn't. Can anyone comment on the above date that I've shown? I'm really confused whether to use ADA aqua soil(one of the best in aqua soil) or simply use garden soil.

2. Also I'm not too sure about the "garden soil" that walstad[2] mentions. Is that the top soil, dirt, or fertilized soil specific for garden plant growth?

Finally, just a little bit about my background. I used to raise fish only(FO) tank, so I didn't consider the nutrient in substrate that much. Now I switch my interest to plant tank, so I really want to find out which substrate would be the best for plant tank.

Thanks and appreciate!

Eric
 

Phishless

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Jul 13, 2017
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Here is what I just started using about 10 weeks ago.
full


I sift all mulch and wood debris out.
Soak, stir, and then remove all floating matter.
Rinse and pour off top once each day for 6 days.
Dry outdoors just enough to make it firm. 1" of soil pulled away from sides of tank.
Cap with BDBS or any tight cap that is easy to plant in. 1-1/4" thick or more.

I cannot say if this leached anything into the water column.
Planted so heavy from the start it was not noticed.
 

Bensonsa

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May 24, 2017
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I also planted the absolute crap out of mine and used salvinia on surface. Im amazed its been 3 months and have not cleaned the glass and have no algae
 
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slipfinger

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1. Is ADA aqua soil really better than then simple garden soil? In my opinion, it isn't. Can anyone comment on the above date that I've shown? I'm really confused whether to use ADA aqua soil(one of the best in aqua soil) or simply use garden soil.

If you are only using the 'beginning' nutrient valves of the different soils listed above as a decision maker, your thinking is some what flawed.

Doesn't matter what soil based substrate you use they will all eventually run out of nutrients. How long this takes depends on how hard you push the gas pedal in your tank. High light, high Co2, under these conditions the plants will demand more and deplete either substrate quicker. The opposite holds true with low light, non Co2 tanks. At some point you'll be adding fertilizers to the tank, be it root tabs, column dosing or both.

For me personally and I've used both. Because I am constantly moving plants around TS is out of the question in my current setup. My current tank is AS, yes you can stir it up if you go pulling plants up like a wild man but when it all settles out its still only AS. The same can not be said with a TS tank, try pulling up a sword plant in TS with what ever cap and tell me what the substrate looks like after..........

My point is, I think there are more things to consider other than the nutrients in these soil substrates when we first add them to the tank. At some point both will be equal and you will have to supplement with nutrients anyway.
 
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