I have a 9l bag that’s over ten years old. I’m saving it in case I ever go back to a tank that isn’t epiphytes only.
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ADA Amazonia Pro
- Thread starter JayP
- Start date
Awesome. i have a 15 year old bag of Original Amazonia powder type sitting on the shelf. I asked about Amazonia pro and response was it was similar to original Amazonia. So yea probably saturated in ammonium and requires the full daily water changes daily for a week or two.
Yes, to some extent. Power Sand is intended to create a friendly environment for long-term stability. If you will be uprooting often, you will pull it up into the top and it will become a mess over time.
However, if you intend to have a sizable amount of aqua soil over it, I think the impact of uprooting is minimal.
Depends on the plants, any larger plant will quickly extend into the powersand and create an issue with mixing on uprooting. For what it’s worth i stopped using it after one time. I discussed this long ago with Barr and he confirmed it is not needed for healthy optimal plant growth. Maybe @Dennis Wong has done some science on this and can explain. After 15 years of successful layouts I can confirm this is the case. To me being able to do proper maintenance and when it is time to breakdown Im able to reuse the aquasoil without picking out white pumice stones. Hope that helps.
I thought this was why people started putting power sand into bags so that it wasn't pulled up when they pulled out plants. I know it wasn't 100% fool proof but did pretty good.
I thought about this before, but heard on the forum that long rooted plants might be difficult to get out of the bag and will end up making a mess.
Power Sand is composed of pumice stones, charcoal, bacter 100, peat and, presumably, tourmaline. At least that is what it was way back when.
The combination is supposed to provide a good environment for the growth of beneficial bacteria and ideal pH for nutrient cycling. The peat adds organic compounds including humic and fulvic acids. It has a high CEC for nutrient cycling.
ADA uses it, as do the Brazilians, even in their contest tanks. It can be done. Yes, there will be mixing when you pull up plants. Is there negative impact with that? I have not seen any and ADA/Brazilians don't seem to mind either. I've had A LOT more problems trying to keep the decorative white sand from mixing with the aqua soil and not turning green over time.
My setups are for the long term and I'm not changing the aquascape very often. I find that the Power Sand works well for me. I've used ADA's and also DIY. YMMV.
That said, if you are planting mostly stems and will be pulling out the bottoms often, you may want to skip the Power Sand. As @Jeff Miotke mentions, you can have a great tank without it.
The combination is supposed to provide a good environment for the growth of beneficial bacteria and ideal pH for nutrient cycling. The peat adds organic compounds including humic and fulvic acids. It has a high CEC for nutrient cycling.
ADA uses it, as do the Brazilians, even in their contest tanks. It can be done. Yes, there will be mixing when you pull up plants. Is there negative impact with that? I have not seen any and ADA/Brazilians don't seem to mind either. I've had A LOT more problems trying to keep the decorative white sand from mixing with the aqua soil and not turning green over time.
My setups are for the long term and I'm not changing the aquascape very often. I find that the Power Sand works well for me. I've used ADA's and also DIY. YMMV.
That said, if you are planting mostly stems and will be pulling out the bottoms often, you may want to skip the Power Sand. As @Jeff Miotke mentions, you can have a great tank without it.
Looks like Amazonia Pro is now available through Aqua Forest Aquarium online for $63.99 per 9L bag.
"Carefully formulated to recreate the characteristics of the original ADA AMAZONIA formula, AMAZONIA PRO provides a natural, stable substrate that serves as an excellent structural foundation for aquatic plant roots"
As an aside, the ADA Madeira Sand is also available, with more varied grain size and texture than either La Plata or Colorado sand.
"Carefully formulated to recreate the characteristics of the original ADA AMAZONIA formula, AMAZONIA PRO provides a natural, stable substrate that serves as an excellent structural foundation for aquatic plant roots"
As an aside, the ADA Madeira Sand is also available, with more varied grain size and texture than either La Plata or Colorado sand.
- Thread starter
- #30
I haven't read all the page on the Amazonia Pro, but these comments caught my eye....
"For best results, cover AQUA SOIL AMAZONIA PRO with a 0.4" ~ 0.8" (1~2 cm) layer of AMAZONIA Ver.2."
"For best results, cover AQUA SOIL AMAZONIA PRO with a 0.4" ~ 0.8" (1~2 cm) layer of AMAZONIA Ver.2."
*Not recommended for beginners or first-time Nature Aquarium hobbyists. The rich organic composition could cause algae blooms if not used properly.
- Thread starter
- #33
JayP
Valuable Member
During his masterclass, Homma-san said the same about algae for inexperienced users with Pro. He also covered the Pro with a layer of Version 2, but specifically the version 2 "powder".
I think an odd way to have a product.
Use some of our old product as your base layer?
Use some of our old product as your base layer?
Maybe I am mistaken, but to me it just seems that ADA relabeled their old Amazonia version 1 to pro ? It seems to be a smart business move, especially if the pro is more expensive than version 1 and 2
I made a similar comment a few posts back.
I'm interested in trying it. I have 15L of APT Feast I've been sitting on to try, but might be fun to be one of the first people to use this to grow some glorious algae.
Yah, what I found worked for me is to find one persons work you liked and replicate that. For me that is atleast currently Dennis wongs work and since he doesn’t recommend a substrate system and does recommend replanting (not necessarily weekly which sounds extreme), I have stuck to not using a substrate system. Maybe will venture out to another system at some point in time, and try a nature scape ada style. @Art do you have any rotala stem plants ? How long do you go without replanting ?
After my experience (n=1) with APT feast in my no tech bowl, similar to Rocco; I am slightly less concerned about rich aquasoil. I think it is simple fact of - are you ready to do daily to multiple times/week massive water change for 1-2 months. If you are then I think the risk of algae might easily be avoided.
I'm with you. I think you have to fill them full of plants and do multiple water changes at first. Then you can back down on the planting after the initial ammonia tidal wave has subsided.
Yah exactly, the plants get a huge boost of growth initially.
I used to think folks at green aqua/horizon and MJ/Dennis were wizards but now realize they are mere mortals with the ability to do all the water changes and the time/patience/experience to hold things steady to harness the power of the initial boost of growth but avoid algae.
