Re: Seachem vs ADA
A few things come into play.
Cost is the largest.
Flourite might be far more there than ADA.
Over all, flourite is fairly inert, it has plenty of Ca and Fe.
It weights more, making planting easier.
Onyx has more Ca/Mg, and is finer grain, like sand.
I add mulm and peat or leonardite to these two substrates.
ADA is a 2 layer mix, these invariably mix over time. Power Sand has macro nutrients, NH4 etc in it. The Aqua soils are like Flora base, 1/2 baked clay.
These are much lighter than Onyx/flourite and crumble in your hand.
They will turn mushy over time, but some light vacuuming like you do to remove mulm will address that.
Powersand loses it's nutrients after a couple of months so both flourite and powersand are onm equal terms there.
Some folks do not move their plants around or rearrange every so often, most folks do, some are careful when they do move things/replant, some are not.
You can add things to any substrate to add nutrients/peat/mulm etc.
I just know I end up mixing anything with 2 layers, and having it look tacky after I replant a tank or redo it after a 1-2 or more years, decide on a different scape etc etc.
Peat & mulm do not matter there.
Both grow plants well and both depend heavily on the water column later.
Regards,
Tom Barr
