DETAquarium Posted August 30, 2016 Report Share Posted August 30, 2016 Hey ShrimpSpot! I wanted everyone's opinion on the buffering longevity of the substrate you currently use or have used. I originally always used ADA Amazonia, which seemed to buffer extremely well for a long period of time, normally at least 2 years. Recently I noticed many of the newer or subpar substrates seem to lose their buffering ability much sooner, some even exhausted over the course of a year. This most certainly could be because I use RODI water and allow the substrate to buffer the PH back down. BUT that is what I have always done whether I used ADA or some other soil. Now that I need to replace 4 of my shrimp tanks substrate because of the exhaustion of substrate I have felt I need to revisit ADA Amazonia. What are your thoughts, and experiences? Thank you! DETAquarium Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricM Posted August 30, 2016 Report Share Posted August 30, 2016 I think 18months - 2 yrs is pretty standard expectation for soil life when you only use RO water. Which is the right way to do it. Which soil are you replacing? We have a couple SL-Aqua Nature Soil tanks well into that range now with no signs of the PH rising. I had decent luck with controsoil, tank was around 14months before I took it down to make room for more SL tanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DETAquarium Posted August 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2016 Controsoil has lasted a year or just over. Same results when I used UP Aquasand in the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brolly33 Posted August 30, 2016 Report Share Posted August 30, 2016 Do you add KH when remineralizing? I would think high KH would "wear out" soil buffering faster, but I have not done the experiment.Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DETAquarium Posted August 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 No KH added. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted August 31, 2016 Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 I'm using UP aquasand, and it has been doing well for 3+ years. Of course, it has no nutrients for plants. EricM 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uriel RT Posted September 1, 2016 Report Share Posted September 1, 2016 for me Controsoil ran out of at around 11 Months, was not happy to lose shrimp because of that PH spike. Brolly33 and Soothing Shrimp 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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