Anyone here know the buffering capacity of Ada Amazonia Normal? I know that it lowers PH and KH but am not able to find out how long this lasts for anywhere online. Thanks in advance for the help.
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I use ADA Amazonia extensively in my planted tanks. I treat it like a hot mess girlfriend. It sure is amazing, but I don't trust it a bit. I always give it at least a month to stop leaching ammonia. I had some really bad fish kills early on when using it. Live and learn. As far as its buffering capacity, it really should not be used for that, as like you said, it is only temporary. If you really truly want softer water, then RO is your best bet. If you inject CO2, then the aquasoil will play a smaller part, as it won't be "used up" as fast.
I haven't use it my self but fellow planted tank aquarists report alge outbursts due to leaching during first month or two.
So if you plan to use it with discus don't put it right in the tank . Give it a month or two without discus.
Yes I have my tank completely set up with no fish in it. I have the same exact tank bare bottom with a sponge filter and heater I might raise my discus in until full grown and then move them to the planted tank. I just have not decided yet.
The tank has been set up and filled with no ammonia spike for 3 days now. I wonder if plants from my other tanks that I placed in there have some BB on them which is preventing the ammonia?
Last edited by kiwdahc; 02-15-2016 at 04:27 PM.
Raising them BB separately from the display tank for a couple of months would be also what i would do .
That way your display tank will also stabilize and mature , just like your discus will.
Its highly possible if you did add big ammount of plants ,that they carry benifical bacteria on their surface with them .
Not that big of an amount, But they will be completely spread in and dense within 3 months. This pleco is hiding inside the log, I am monitoring the ammonia 2-3x a day to make sure there are no spikes for his safety.
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Last edited by kiwdahc; 02-15-2016 at 07:53 PM.
People say planted discus tanks are unnatural. I wish I could figure out why the Amazon is so muddy...with that bare glass bottom it has.
Considering it leaches ammonia, you could use a small amount for filter cycling. Ada is probably expensive, but some more cheaper brand could be used.
That looks like a Gold Nugget Pleco! Which # is it? What are you feeding?
Looks good!
Sorry for the slow response. It is a L018, I feed it mainly algae wafer and zucchini/cucumber. I give it bloodworms about once a week as well.