# Planted Tanks > Beginners' Corner >  How many times should i wash ADA soil?

## apitso

Hi
Recently I had decided to switch to ADA soil. But no matter how many times i wash the soil, it is still milky and dirty. Is it normal? i have not put into the tank yet.

Thx.

----------


## valice

You should never wash your ADA soil.

----------


## apitso

but the water is very dark and milky....almost muddy looking.
would the filteration be able to remove the "muddy water"?

----------


## Biotopeshop

> but the water is very dark and milky....almost muddy looking.
> would the filteration be able to remove the "muddy water"?


The soil has broken down. The fastest way is to let the particles settle for a few days and top up with a fresh layer of ADA soil, to prevent further agitation. As a seller, we always tell our customers not to wash the soil to get the best results.

Best regards

----------


## Aeon

Did you disturb the soil while filling up water? Just let the heavier soil gradually sink and the murkiness in the water can be cleared with a few weekly water changes. If the soil, like Thio has said, broken down, then top up with new ones. Fresh Aquasoil should be airtight, almost like vacuum sealed. If it has air, then a bit "lao hong".

----------


## valice

Also to add, you should see moisture in the bag.
That moisture keeps the soil fresh and prevents it from drying out and crumbling.

----------


## oblivion

> Hi
> Recently I had decided to switch to ADA soil. But no matter how many times i wash the soil, it is still milky and dirty. Is it normal? i have not put into the tank yet.
> 
> Thx.


you shouldnt wash it at all
its not supposed to be washed

just open the bag and directly pour into tank for use

think your washing broke down the soil and crumbled alot of the soil granules
now its of course cloudy 'cause the soil been mashed into mud by the washing
you can still use it as the bottom layer. but top up on top with fresh aquasoil

fill water slowly and carefully
if its still bit cloudy don;t do anything
just leave it and let the filter (make sure put mechanical filter media) do its work

----------


## jiahe88

Should not wash the ada soil just pour in and than use the ada plastic bag cover over the ADA soil and then direct pour in the water to the plastic bag. .will save you alot of time and faster up your refill water time and make the water more clear instead cloudy.

----------


## salexjared

Put a plastic bad or a sponge in the tank and pour water over it to fill the tank. This would minimize the disturbance to the soil and minimize the "cloudiness". ADA would take a while to settle down.

I recently setup using GeX and it does not cloud at all using the above methods. When I plant immediately with the tank half full, slight disturbance and cloudiness occurs which settles in a very short time.

For ADA it would be slightly worse but you need your tank to cycle anyway so waiting for a few days while the tank does its work is no big deal. Doesn't look nice at first but a few days later it should be fine.

So use the ones you "destroyed" as the bottom layer and top up with a new bag. Too bad....

Have a nice time scaping.

----------


## luenny

Just to add. ADA soil comes with instructions. Please read it for the soil can change the properties of the water in your tank.

----------


## jiahe88

Hope this picture will help you upz. .just top the water half and hour ago.

----------


## krabbie

Is this using GEX or ADA ?

----------


## valice

Given the colouration of the soil and the plastic bag, I guess is ADA. I might be wrong.

----------


## jiahe88

ya valice is ADA just setup today. .ADA amozonia.

----------


## Aquaculture

Think in your process of washing, you have drastically shorten the life of your ADA soil. The milky or dustiness you see is the initially part of of setting up the tank, unless you're very careful when pouring water. It would take a couple of hours for it to settle, like any other normal substrate. Unless you have a strong filter...

Ammonzia II claims that it will not cloud water but I haven't seen or heard about it being used so far and dare not remark about it.

----------


## XnSdVd

You washed granulated powder and you wonder why the water is milky?!  :Confused:  

It says right there on the bag not to wash the stuff. It's meant to simulate real river substrate which is basically mud. It comes in the form of little pellets so you can put it in the tank without getting it muddy, but after several months it breaks down into plain old soil. By washing you've accelerated the break down process. 

Also, ADA soil contains nutrients, why would you pay $40 just to have your filter remove it? Have you considered inert substrates like Lapis sand or marbles?  :Smile:

----------


## riccia

I remember reading the WARNING on the plastic bag saying *DO NOT WASH*.

----------


## Ah_ZhaN

I do try soaking the ADA soil in a pail of clean water for sometime to remove some debris before...But of cos, you can jolly well skip this part like what most people had suggested, because I also find it quite redundant after all.  :Razz:  
Just bear in mind that, never rinse the ADA soil with water of high pressure or force.  :Wink:  

Nevertheless, topping up of water with ADA soil as substrate, be it first hand or used, should be done as gentlely as possible. *Dripping* water onto a plastic sheet at a slow rate of output is much likely to have best result.

----------


## apitso

sigh...
i think the only way now is to top up with other gravel or sand and use the ADA as a base fertilizer. 

There is still hope just need to improvise on the landscaping. 

Thanks guys for the info.

----------


## krabbie

> sigh...
> i think the only way now is to top up with other gravel or sand and use the ADA as a base fertilizer. 
> 
> There is still hope just need to improvise on the landscaping. 
> 
> Thanks guys for the info.


Bro ... don't take it too hard ... part and parcel of learning ... juz like a novice mahjong player will have to be "bao" once or twice at least.  :Smile:

----------


## XnSdVd

> sigh...
> i think the only way now is to top up with other gravel or sand and use the ADA as a base fertilizer. 
> 
> There is still hope just need to improvise on the landscaping. 
> 
> Thanks guys for the info.


No worries man, just let it settle for a few days then run the filter ADA soil contains a coagulant that makes the water crystal clear. Here's what you can do:

1. Turn off the filter and lights(to prevent algae blooms)
2. Let it settle for 24 hours
3. Get a small amount of ADA and sprinkle it over the "damaged" stuff
4. Wait another 24 hours
5. Turn on the filter and begin cycling the tank. 

It might be a good idea NOT to buy from the shop that sold you the bag in the first place. No sense in giving this guy extra sales for the sub-standard service he provided  :Mad:  I'd recommend Biotope(After 7pm) or Eco-Culture if you want *&#$%ing excellent service from hobbyists who really know what they're talking about  :Wink:

----------


## Biotopeshop

> No worries man, just let it settle for a few days then run the filter ADA soil contains a coagulant that makes the water crystal clear. Here's what you can do:
> 
> 1. Turn off the filter and lights(to prevent algae blooms)
> 2. Let it settle for 24 hours
> 3. Get a small amount of ADA and sprinkle it over the "damaged" stuff
> 4. Wait another 24 hours
> 5. Turn on the filter and begin cycling the tank. 
> 
> It might be a good idea NOT to buy from the shop that sold you the bag in the first place. No sense in giving this guy extra sales for the sub-standard service he provided  I'd recommend Biotope(After 7pm) or Eco-Culture if you want *&#$%ing excellent service from hobbyists who really know what they're talking about



A little off topic..thanks to XnSdVd for your recommendation. You can come anytime from 12 noon to 9 pm. It is just that I am at shop after 7pm.

Best of luck to your tank. Do feel free to post your progress.

Thio

----------


## apitso

Hi

Updates.
got the ADA soil in control. A few more water change and think should be fine. 

A pic to show how the new setup would look like. :Smile:

----------


## illumnae

that's a very nice setup apitso. congrats on getting the cloudiness under control =) are you going planted or is that going to be a pleco tank?

----------


## Aquaculture

If its a pleco tank, won't it stir up the substrate and cause it to be cloudy again? But overall, your setup has potential to go both ways  :Smile:

----------


## apitso

it not a pleco tank. would be a planter, maybe with nanas, crypto low light plants etc. 

thanks guys for the advice on the managing the soil. 
Talk to the boss of one of the LFS, he said he has a soil called magic soil that is better than ADA, won't cause cloudiness and would get the tank up and running in a day or 2. According to him seems to be getting more popular with hobbyist. True?

----------


## XnSdVd

Never heard of the stuff but I wouldn't trust any product named "magic" anything... Doesn't seem very professional... And the boss of this LFS probably hasn't even read the back of the ADA bag.

----------


## Jaffar

I bought my magic soil from lfs. It turns cloudy initially but after running the filter and changing the water, it subsided on the second day.

I think a number of enthusiast buy the magic soil for keeping CRS.

----------


## |squee|

Getting off topic. Let's keep it clean people!  :Smile:

----------


## Aeon

Sorry mods, I can't help it... Fantasy products.

Magic Soil: Won't cloud water and plants grow 10 times faster
Magic Filter: No need to do water changes anymore.
Magic Food: Fish become very red and immune system better.
Magic Liquid: Removes Chlorine and heavy metals, provides essential iron for plants, does not contain phosphates or nitrates, kills algae and no need CO2 anymore.
Magic Light: Special purple "Ultra-Bio-Spectrum Gold Extreme" technology, brightest in the world, only 1W needed for 4 ft tank.

Taiwanese like to invent such products LOL!

----------


## XnSdVd

LOL indeed... i don't suppose they also have magic fish and plants in their magic tank that exists in the magic world in their imagination  :Razz:

----------


## Tetra Lover

> it not a pleco tank. would be a planter, maybe with nanas, crypto low light plants etc. 
> 
> thanks guys for the advice on the managing the soil. 
> Talk to the boss of one of the LFS, he said he has a soil called magic soil that is better than ADA, won't cause cloudiness and would get the tank up and running in a day or 2. According to him seems to be getting more popular with hobbyist. True?


Well, I would attest to the claim by the boss of the lfs on magic soil. I bought magic soil for my planted cum crs tank. I achieved crstal clear water within 1-2 hours and it has little ammonia. Imagine one of my cherry and low grade crs can survive in the tank 3 hours after I put in the soil!  :Surprised:  

Definitely one of the products i recommend for all bros.

----------


## zenscape

> Well, I would attest to the claim by the boss of the lfs on magic soil. I bought magic soil for my planted cum crs tank. I achieved crstal clear water within 1-2 hours and it has little ammonia. Imagine one of my cherry and low grade crs can survive in the tank 3 hours after I put in the soil!  
> 
> Definitely one of the products i recommend for all bros.


Did you cycle the tank at all? 

There are time tested and safe old school approach in this hobby and thousands of hobbyists had attested and adopted it religiously for decades. No short cuts and no cutting corners. Just plain diligent labour and let nature takes it own course. But if there are really some advanced technologies in the 'magic' soil that you can simply put the soil, water and critters at one go starting from Day 1, and the critters are happy with it without suffering ammonia spike, it is something new for us to learn.  :Grin:

----------


## betta_luRver

So this means that woth ADA soil, no base fert is needed?? Can I plant plants in the ADA soil then top the tank up with water like how it is done with normal gravel + base fert?

----------


## riccia

typically you do not need base fertiliser with ADA Aquasoil. however, ADA recommendation is to use ADA Power Sand with ADA Aquasoil.




> So this means that woth ADA soil, no base fert is needed?? Can I plant plants in the ADA soil then top the tank up with water like how it is done with normal gravel + base fert?

----------


## XnSdVd

> So this means that woth ADA soil, no base fert is needed?? Can I plant plants in the ADA soil then top the tank up with water like how it is done with normal gravel + base fert?


Yes, in fact that's what most of us do just that.

----------


## betta_luRver

Ok, I'm planning to replace my substrate (black quartz + base fert) with ADA Amazonia.. Roughly how many litres of ADA Aquasoil do I need for my 24 gallon JBJ Nanaocube tank?

----------


## StanChung

What are the dimensions of your tank in inches/centimeters? I presume it to be about 91 liters tank.
Calculation
Average the soil height of 5cm in front and 10cm at the back =7.5 cm/~3inches
Presuming tank base is (45x45cm) X soil height(7.5)/1000=15.18 Liters.

1 big bag of ADA Amazonia = 9 liters.

So you need 2 bags with 3 liters to spare for later touch ups!
ps. please start your oown thread regarding the matter.  :Smile:

----------


## AquaObsession

if you have already done so, i would suggest a few water changes to get your water clean again, and then you be patient and let all the dust particle settle down. 

Cheers, |Christophe

----------

