AQUASOIL or DIRTED SUBSTRATE - Which is BETTER?

[@piotrkulpa8034]

I really like this aquarium next to you, this is what I love. There are different styles of aquariums and aquascaping, some ppl like this, some not but I like how natural dirted substrate aquarium looks.

[@Odipodi]

I only use the dirted tank method. Aqua soil is very expensive at my local pet supplier. I only use organic potting soil, and i freeze some of it in an ice tray. Every year I push some of these frozen soil cubes into my substrate to boost its fertility.

[@droeksonfishkeeping]

Great tip!

[@EnergeticIguana]

Thanks for the video. I recently discovered your youtube channel while doing research for my first tank and have been enjoying watching all your content. I love the fish store tours and have recently visited a couple of ones you featured while trying to decide which fish I want to keep. One unrelated question I have is where to find the whatsapp groups relating to fish keeping? Cheers from Gauteng.

[@droeksonfishkeeping]

Go to Facebook and look for "Aquarium Advice South Africa," "Aquatic Perspectives South Africa" and "Tropical Aquariums South Africa." I think those are the biggest groups. There should be someone who can helo you or a link to the whatsapp groups (the groups sometimes max out their members and you have to wait for someone to leave).

[@ChillGuyBonsai]

I use aqua forests natural substrate you cap it like a dirted tank but it has the properties of aquasoil but it is made to last years like iv seen some tanks that are 22 years old with this stuff and they are beautiful jungles!

[@AE6YT-Glenn]

This is a good video breaking down the positives and negatives of each substrate. I have two clay pots with aquasoil in my show tank. They have an Amazon Sword and a red dwarf lily. They are both doing well but aren't growing as fast as I expected. And expensive is right! I bought this bag at a deep discount and still it's expensive. I would maybe use it in a nano tank, but I think I'll stick with using it in pots for now. Looking forward to your net video. Cheers!

[@rionbioscience]

If Robert got the idea from Epic Aquatics WhatsApp group it would have been from my post today maybe. Here it is: Here are my observations after studying the Dutch from Armand with no CO2 and studying Diana Walstad's book: - Tank run with RO H2O and APT Sky for Gh raise; - ADA Amazonia V2 soil acidifies the water and consequently lowers the Kh and pH as well as the Gh/general hardness; - In non-CO2 tanks the source of carbon for plants come from little CO2 produced by the plants themselves, dissolved organic carbon and calcium carbonate (the latter determines = kH/carbonate hardness); - I recently added bicarbonate of soda and nearly killed everything (be careful) because it raised the Kh massively; - The Kh is now again low due to the ADA soil but after the soda addition the pH remains high (hmmm) - Consequently, the plants are stunted and sp like Glosso', Rota. Florida and even R. 'Blood Red' as well as R. colorata and Pogo. diccanensis and P. stellatus. actually start dying; - The upside is that most these plants do very well in my inert substrate tanks and I will be soon moving over to Walstad method however, I am saving the dying ones either growing pieces in said tanks or emersed before I lose them; - All the above despite dosing liquid ferts (Seachem and APT); - I will thus not recommend ADA Amazonia in non-CO2 injection aquariums pers. obs.; - I will however keep the ADA soil for an e.g., Caridina shrimp tank or when CO2 appear at my doorstep; PS been wanting to do a post on this so thanks Armand⁩

[@droeksonfishkeeping]

Thanks for the great comment. ADA then designed for CO2 tanks it seems, makes sense. The idea from Robert came from a question he had in the comments in one of my videos a couple of weeks ago about which is better.

[@thesolaraquarium]

new sub… i recommend to try one inch soil capped with aquasoil. grows plants very well. i use Amazonia v2 and just potting mix as a bottom layer. just an idea i find aquasoil to be nutrient deficient i have 2-3 year old amazonia which i have rinsed and reused. i may have lost some due to disintegration but cannot tell? after i rinse it clean it looks the same. too expensive to throw out. i am keeping it.

[@droeksonfishkeeping]

That's something new, thanks for the tip. No clouding of the water or algae blooms?

[@droeksonfishkeeping]

@@thesolaraquarium thanks for the sub!

[@thesolaraquarium]

@@droeksonfishkeeping oh, I always get algae in every new aquarium for at least the first 3 months. as the plants establish it goes away. i like murky water so cloudy never bothers me. i never get bad algae. there are many different kinds. the algae i get is easily removed or tolerated (usually, not always - i have had some disasters)

[@andrewdefty6044]

Well, I've tried the Dirted and the Deep Sand and I'm really not sure of my results. Reason:- Dirted became very overgrown with Cyano which was because of the Phosphate release when it eventually began to Burp Out... This took no less than three months to achieve a level where I lost many plants to it covering them and killing them (within a couple of weeks it was unmanageable). So I scrapped that tank substrate and did a Deep Sand instead. The sand is 3 inches due to it being a smaller tank, but even without root tabs it is thriving. The plant growth is respectfully slower than the Dirted tank was, but after 8 months... No Cyano or other problems. I'm also not Root Tabbing or Fert adding, they are growing just off the fish waste. Due to these results, I'm not setting up a larger tank 240ltr with Deep Sand and an MD style Media Bag with Dirt. Sand almost 4 inches with media bags of about an inch deep when placed down. I'm going to use root tabs to get the plants to set down the roots, and let the dirt filled media bags do the rest. I honestly feel that this is the best option, as you then avoid the Brownian Effect of the dirt mixing with the sand, and less chance of the ill looking substrate (which can be remedied with Black Tape to cover it from sight). I've never used any kind of Aqua Soil, but it is because the little balls just don't look natural or nice at all, and their longevity is questionable also... Great vids, keep up the great work!

[@droeksonfishkeeping]

Thanks for the comment, let us know how it goes.

[@andrewdefty6044]

@@droeksonfishkeeping Will do!

[@antonolivier9291]

Dag maater altyt lekker om jou weer te sien ek hou van n diep sand gebryk filter sand dit werk vir my my plante groei maar nie so mooi soos joune nie dankie dit all tyt lekker om jou videos te kyk

[@gracebromfield9070]

Great comparison video👍What's going into that empty tank though?😉

[@droeksonfishkeeping]

Still have no idea 😂