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ATTENTION ALL AUSSIE PLANT GEEKS!!!

ADA (Aqua Design Amano) products are now available in australia from an online shop!

http://www.aquariumproductswholesale.com

Its not cheap... but its here! everything from fish food to complete co2 systems.. (i wish i could afford one of those fancy glass difusers!)

Anyway, just thought post for anyone who might be interested

Cynical

Yeah, it's great isn't it?
Now if I can only justify the prices....

-P

ADA products seem to fall into 2 categories.

Over priced nonsense like Riccia thread , bit like buying a designer jacket for your poodle.

Or, pricey but extremely high quality stuff like the filters, co2 equipment etc. They probably don't work that much better then standard equipment to justify the price but are so aesthically beautiful and obviuosly well crafted that if I could afford them I'd want them. If only 'cos they look so darn cool.

One exception is the Aquasoils. They are very competively priced , especially for smaller tanks. No need for the powersand, Tourmaline add ons etc. Probably the best substrate around and not too expensive, I think a 9 lt bag would probably do a 20gal tank.

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

It's the only glass diffuser available in aus,(that i know of) though i think it works out cheaper to buy a cheap one from an online store in the US and get them to ship OS.
Cynical

One exception is the Aquasoils. They are very competively priced , especially for smaller tanks.

I noticed this too. Definitely cheaper than Flourite/Eco-complete here. Any personal experience with any of them? The black Amazonia one looks nice. What's the difference between normal and powder types?

I think I saw some at NA in Spore, but didn't really pay attention to them since I just presumed anything with ADA on it would be ridiculously expensive!

-P

Any personal experience with any of them? The black Amazonia one looks nice. What's the difference between normal and powder types?

No personal experience with them. But word on the street is they are excellent. Tom Barr has been working with just using Aquasoil and normal EI dosing and has reported terrific results.
As far as I know the only differnce between the two is grain size. The powder is basically a very fine sand like grain. Personally I prefer that look over the bigger grains.
Apparently the substrate system only gets pricey if you use the other additives like Powersand and Tourmaline. On it's own Aquasoil is very very competitive compared to Flourite, Eco-complete et al.Most are reporting great results using Aquasoil only.
Great thing about the Aquasoil it's very clean, no rinsing. Apparently you can just plop it in a tank that's already full and not a bit of cloudiness
I made the same mistake as you, I found one place here that sells ADA (in Serpong, Tangerang ) But I assumed becaused the liquid ferts were $40 for a small bottle the substrate would be way pricey. Not so. Very tempted to drive out there pick up a bag and redo the nano tank

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

Are these products available in the US? Did a search and couldn't find anything...

You darn lucky pacific island/ rim people...

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Back in the saddle!

Great thing about the Aquasoil it's very clean, no rinsing. Apparently you can just plop it in a tank that's already full and not a bit of cloudiness

Done, they're on my list now. Just have to sneak in another tank into the house.

-P

Yep, been available in the US for a long time thru Aquarium Design Group (ADG) run by Jeff Senske, who also happens to be one of my favorite scapers.

Thay have a web site and also have a sponsor forum on APC.

Prices are a little cheaper in the US I believe.

Tom Barr reckons it's the best substrate he's used in 20 years. If it's good enough for him and Amano, I'm convinced

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

Hmmm, I'm going to check this out then...

See, part of me says that I should just use regular gravel and do the best I can with it, because that's how we learn... but another part of me says, if someone else perfected the substrate and it's available to me then why not... will definetely be thinking more about this...

Thanks for the heads up everyone

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Back in the saddle!

Hi,

I checked out the website and I have a question regarding the Aqua Soil:

It comes in 3 flavors
Africana - Malaya - Amazonia

All 3 seem to have the same part in the desctiption that says "decreases the hardness of the water and lowers the PH level".

Question 1: How?
Question 2: What if you already have a low hardness and a sufficient ph to begin with? Would this soil lower it even further?
Question 3: do your CO2 calculations based on KH and ph fly out the window?

Thanks

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

It's probably typical Amano pseudo-science.

By all accounts it works and works remarkably well. Nobodies reported any issue with it.

Never came across anyone who anything bad to say about it. As I said Tom Barrs being using it a lot and says it works great with a normal EI routine.

There's almost certainly some peat in it and that'll soften the water and lower pH some. More then likely some P in there which will do similar.

I don't think it'll lower anything to a degree that makes a significant difference.

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

From what I've read, the Africana aquasoil is the only one that doesn't lower the pH and GH. The Amazonia & Malaya do. It's a similar effect as adding peat.

BTW, I found it interesting that these aquasoils actually contain both NO3 and NH4 (yes, ammonia!), and quite a bit of the latter too (>5ppm). The NH4 must be in a good bonded form (perhaps similar to the one in Flourish Nitrogen), otherwise it wouldn't be too good for the fishies if it gets released to the water column accidentally.

-P

Yep it does contain NH4. Which anyone will tell you is the best plant food around, just a shame it cause algae and kills fishies if added directly to the water column.

The molecules are probably bonded in the substrate to prevent them leeching into the water column.

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.