# ADA Aqua soil



## Bella24 (May 6, 2015)

Hey guys, i was thinking about planted tanks for my betta. I did some research and found ADA aqua soil. It seems like the soil is not ok for all fish so i wonder if its ok for betta fish? And they said that the soil release ammonia, how can i get rid of that? Do i need to prepare it ? I also heard that it will lower your ph, but my water is soft so i guess that my ph is also low. Will it lower my ph even more? Do you have any substrates sugestions that will be easier on me? Thanks a lot


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Not sure why it would be not good for all fishes? It's just soil. Yes, it will leech ammonia so you can mineralize it. You can look at this for more info or just google it: http://visual.ly/how-mineralized-soil-substrate

But it can be fairly easy to combat the ammonia that it releases; you'll be able to plant it immediately and so the plants should help out if you have some fast growing ones. And then adding a seeded filter to your aquarium to insta-cycle your tank will help as well. And the last is just to test your water and do water changes when you need to.

Soil will release some tannins so you will see your water become tea-stained but that's an easy fix if you don't want it; just do water changes. I also have low pH and the soil will lower your pH but not a terrible amount. It's workable. You can counter by using Crushed Coral or Cuttlefish bones.

I use this stuff: http://www.bamaplants.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=40_42&products_id=89 it's already processed and mineralized for you so it's super easy, just plop in and add your sand layer over top and boom, you're done!

If you don't want to mess with soils but still want beautiful plants, I recommend looking into Eco-Complete or things like Fluorite and you can mix sand in it if you want or gravel, whatever your heart desires lol. You'll have to use root tabs for your more demanding plants like Amazon Swords but that's not a big deal at all; they're pretty easy ^_^


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## Bella24 (May 6, 2015)

Thanks for your reply. I decided to get flourite( if i can find it) because they seems to be easier for me. \(~_~)/


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