ADA soil and sand

[iwantdiscus]

Hi everyone, I am new to this site but have been in aquariums since '73. Have planted tank now and a small saltwater tank as well. I have always loved Discus and now am planning a 120 tank fully planted just for them. My question is, does anyone here use ADA Aquasoil and the bright mixed together? I really don't want a dark substrate or background, which is why I am having the back of the tank sandblasted for a frosted appearance. But, all the "gurus" I have talked to around here say don't use a smaller grain on top of the Aquasoil as it will fall down in between and get mixed up anyway. I have seen the tank on here from SoCal, janimma, I think is her name and was wondering if she has this problem .........Love this site, can't wait to get started.....thanks.....jeff

[kenhappen2u]

Welcome to simply Jeff.....i am sorry i can answer your question , but i wanted to welcome you to a great site and people now that you got your feet wet .....tell us about your set up and what kind/strain of discus you are going to stock your tank with ... with a 120 gal you should be able to house atleast 10 -14 juvi discus without any problems... just keep up with WC (water changes ) and feed juvi's often. Welcome back to the hobby !

Ken

[scolley]

Jeff, the gurus are right.

How do you find the big pieces of popcorn when the bag get's low? You shake it, and the big pieces come to the top. Everyone knows about that, and substrate works the same way - disturb it and the big pieces come to the top.

I've got both ADA AS and ADA Bright Sand in my 180g now. And I put the AS in shallow pots, plant the plant, and then cover the AS with bright sand. These are NOT stem plants that have to be periodically replanted, but permanently rooted plants like crypts and swords. So I never touch them except to trim an old leaf. The soil is never disturbed. And STILL some of that AS works its way to the top.

And that's a drag because the rest of the tank (not the shallow pots) is 2-3" deep in ADA bright sand. So I wind up having to periodically siphon up the top 1/2" of all my sand and sift it to remove the AquaSoil chunks. It is a PITA.

But I knew this would happen going into it - having permanently rooted plants in pots minimizes the problem. But to plant a whole tank with Bright Sand over Aquasoil is a mistake that, if you make, you'll probably be real sorry you didn't listen to the gurus.

Good luck deciding.