I went to Aqua Forest Aquarium today, and walked out with 2 boxes full of ADA substrate, an ADA catalog with instructions on how to lay it down, and the International Aquatic Plants Layout 2009 book for inspiration.
The two bags on the left are Amazonia Powder, the two on the right are Amazonia, and the one in the middle is Power Sand. This is what the Aqua Forest Aquarium employee recommended for me to fill my 46 gallon tank and have enough to create a good slope.
Here’s my 46 gallon’s humble beginnings in its new location. I have a Hydor undergravel heater, so that goes in first.
Now that I’ve gotten my hands on the “ADA system,” I can see why it works. Power Sand is mostly granulated peat and is used to create a small layer across the bottom of the tank. The granulated peat serves multiple purposes at the bottom of the substrate. First, its large granules help prevent substrate compaction which can lead to anaerobic pockets that produce sulfuric acid. I used to think that anaerobic pockets were a myth, but after this tank was running for about 16 months with Flourite it began having problems, so I’m happy to hopefully not have to worry about that anymore.
The Amazonia and Amazonia Powder are actually more like granulated soil than gravel. Amazonia Powder has a really small granule size that allows for ground cover plants to grow very fine roots, and Amazonia has a medium granule size which suits deeper rooting plants. Amazonia II has also been introduced recently, and from reading the catalog, it’s main distinction is that it lowers the pH of your water more than Amazonia. I’m using Amazonia because I’ll also be injecting CO2 into this tank, but in my 29 gallon tank I’m going to use Amazonia II. The catalog also talks about Bacter 100, which is a fine dust filled with bacteria that will jump start the ecosystem in your soil.
