Aquasoil & ammonia

[Oli]

Hey guys, I have some questions about aquasoil and ammonia. I know it varies from brand to brand, but I will be using whatever aquasoil is available at my local store at the time so I can’t comment on specifics. I’m assuming it will be something that like most aquasoils, leaches ammonia.

My question is how does this ammonia relate to cycling a tank. The tank will be heavily planted from the get go. There I’ll not be massive amounts of aquasoil, more towards the back of the tank for stem plants. Will I need to dose the tank with ammonia/fish food like a normal cycle; or will the aquasoil itself be enough to cycle the tank. How long will ammonia leach for? I’m contemplating putting the aquasoil in mesh bags and capping with sand. Will this prevent ammonia leaching? I have read that capping the aquasoil will prevent it from regenerating with liquid fertiliser, and eventually become useless? Perhaps I’d be fine just using root tabs?

 

[Oli]

Just to follow this up, if I were to not use aquasoil but simply gravel, sand and root tabs, would I need to cycle the tank?

Surely with a heavily planted 75 gal aquarium, I could add a few small tetras from the get go and the plants would eat up any ammonia produced by the fish? Then I could slowly add more fish?

 

[TNG]

Just to follow this up, if I were to not use aquasoil but simply gravel, sand and root tabs, would I need to cycle the tank?

Surely with a heavily planted 75 gal aquarium, I could add a few small tetras from the get go and the plants would eat up any ammonia produced by the fish? Then I could slowly add more fish?

That's what I'd do for a tank of that size. Is that what we call fish-in cycle?

 

[Oli]

Yeah I’ve done fish in cycles before by dosing ammonia and lots of water changes, but I feel it would be easier with a heavily planted tank. Maybe add 5 tetras every couple of weeks. I’d also try to run a seeded filter if I could find someone to cycle it for me

 

[TNG]

Yeah I’ve done fish in cycles before by dosing ammonia and lots of water changes, but I feel it would be easier with a heavily planted tank. Maybe add 5 tetras every couple of weeks. I’d also try to run a seeded filter if I could find someone to cycle it for me

I don't think you need to dose ammonia, the plants will do just fine. Test the water every few days to see if there's ammonia to worry about, chances are there will be none, not in a 75G tank with plants and some small fish.

 

[Oli]

Sounds like a plan. Of course there is the question of if I decide to use aquasoil and the ammonia that comes with that. However the more I read about it, the more problems I come across. The tank will be 70% Epiphytes so no need for aquasoil. The root plants will be predominantly amazon swords and Valisneria. I’m thinking I could just crush up a load of root tabs and scatter them around the back of the tank under the sand and gravel substrate

 

[TNG]

I never use aquasoil so other members can comment on it. I wouldn't worry too much about fertilising either at this early stage, but if you'd like to, you can just push a root tab down near the roots, I don't think it's recommended to crush it up.

 

[Oli]

I only thought to crush them up into a powder in order to cover a greater surface area. I guess I could break them into halves or quarters in order to cover the back of the tank? Or do you think compromising their structure would result in the overdosing of fertilisers? I guess they are designed to release nutrients slowly. I do see MD fish tanks on YouTube often crushes API root tabs in a pestle and mortar and scatters them underneath the substrate as a powder

 

[TNG]

I guess they are designed to release nutrients slowly.

I agree with your statement above.
I'd follow API's instruction rather than YouTubers'.

 

[Wills]

If you can seed the filter with some mature media and use aquarium soil you are providing the ammonia source it needs to stay alive and grow. If you add the plants straight away you'd need to do water changes to stave off algae but if you get them growing you could add stock slowly like you said but I'd wait till the ammonia from the soil has gone.

If you can get products that don't release ammonia like the root tabs could be a good option too it just depends on how you want to do it.

Wills

 

[Oli]

I am a bit torn on what to do. Aquasoil seems great for plants, but the headache of ammonia as well as the unnatural look of it puts me off. I like the idea of mixing sand and fine gravel to achieve a natural look, and rolling with some root tabs. However debate amongst how well they work, the consistency of which they release nutrients. Having said all that, considering it’s only Amazon sword and Vals, I’m sure they would be fine with root tabs

 

[Colin_T]

Don't waste your time with aquarium plant substrates, they cause more problems than you want. In addition to that, most aquatic plants take in the majority of their nutrients via their leaves. Sword plants, Crytocorynes and Aponogetons do take in nutrients via their roots and leaves and these types of plants will benefit from root tabs. The other plants will be fine with a liquid aquarium plant fertiliser.

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If you have an aquarium plant substrate and a tank full of plants, you won't be able to cycle the filters. The plants will use up any ammonia that is released by the substrate. If the plants don't use all the ammonia, then the filters will have to develop colonies of beneficial bacteria to break it down.

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If you do a fish in cycle, you do not want to add any sort of ammonia. The fish in cycle relies on the ammonia produced by a small number of fish to get the filter bacteria going at a low level. When more fish are added, more ammonia is produced and more beneficial filter bacteria grow to use it.

If you have a heavily planted tank, set it up and let it run for a week or two, and when the plants are growing (you will see new growth), then add some fish. The fish will produce ammonia, which the plants will use and the filters will collect gunk.

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Do not crush up plant fertiliser tablets. Just leave them intact and put them under plants with big root systems (swords, crypts, aponogetons).

 

[Oli]

Hi Colin, thanks for the great answer.

I think deep down this is the reassurance I was looking for and method I wanted to go for!

Regarding substrate I definitely want sand. Purely cosmetic. Again I will be getting some sort of aquarium sand from the store, I’m not too bothered about pinching pennies with pool filter sand or anything.

I have come across the debate of plant growth in sand. I was debating mixing the sand with some very fine gravel. My thought being that one, it would give a more natural look to the tank. And two, it may be a bit better for plant growth. I understand that gravel and sand doesn’t really mix, but if I could source some coarse sand and some finer gravel, the two could mix quite well together?

 

[Colin_T]

Don't use 2 different substrates in the same tank. The finer/ smaller substrate always works its way down between the bigger articles and you have problems with anaerobic pockets. Just use sand or gravel.

Unless the pet shop has brown sand, just use play sand from Bunnings. Most pet shops either buy in the sand from a supplier and bag it up themselves, or they buy it prepacked. If you can find out the supplier (it's usually written on the bag), you can sometimes go to them and buy it direct.

https://www.bunnings.com.au/richgro-20kg-play-sand_p3022506