How to use Aqua Soil

The Aqua Soil series are widely used popular substrate materials for aquatic plant layouts. Although they are highly effective for encouraging the growth of aquatic plants and acidifying water, these soils may present a particular challenge during the initial set up period. This article introduces effective ways to use the Aqua Soil series.

Why should I use Aqua Soil for substrate?

In Nature Aquarium, substrate is considered an especially important key element for its environment, and various efforts have been made to improve its quality. As a result, a number of products such as Power Sand, Bacter 100, and Clear Super were born. Previously, aquatic plants were planted commonly in the gravel for aquarium fish (mainly marine sand) and it was difficult to grow aquatic plants well due to the lack of nutrients. Therefore a number of methods were developed to mix nutrients into the gravel. However, the developed materials tended to decay in the substrate or leached out to the water column and degraded the water quality. Its use often resulted in cloudy water or a significant algae growth, and it was difficult to maintain an aquatic plant layout. Then we focused on the functions of soil microbes. The problem was overcome by enabling the soil microbes to function in the substrate as they do in a natural ecosystem. This made it possible to maintain an aquatic plant layout for a long period. The key to success was a large number of microorganisms that emerged from Bacter 100, the organic elements contained in Power Sand. The natural soil in which plants grow in the wild contains a large amount of organic elements and microbes. They encourage the growth of plants and help the plants absorb the nutrients from their roots. Nature Aquarium substrates incorporate the mechanism found in natural soil. In the early days the substrate was produced by combining Power Sand and marine sand. When the Aqua Soil series was launched later, Aqua Soils became the main substrate materials. This is how the current substrate system, which combines Power Sand and the Aqua Soil series, was established. The raw materials of the Aqua Soils are natural soil. Using them in the substrate allows us to grow aquatic plants in close-to-natural conditions. Natural soil contains various elements made up of clay, minerals, and organic elements. Their colors and characteristics vary depending on the type of elements and their proportion. Various types of soil exist around us such as black dirt, reddish soil and yellow ocher. Each has its own body, water holding capacity, and ability to grow plants. For example, plants grow well in black dirt because of its rich organic content and excellent water holding capacity, whereas they do poorly in yellow ocher because of its low organic content and poor water holding capacity. The organic matter in soil is very important since it becomes the food for soil microbes and encourages them to multiply. The microbes break down the organic materials and turn them into nutrients in a form that aquatic plants can absorb.

The characteristics of various Aqua Soils

There are four types of Aqua Soil in the Aqua Soil series currently. Each has its own color and characteristic, and you can select the proper type depending on an application and the tendency in water quality. Although you can choose one based on its color to suite the image of your aquatic plant layout or your preference, the particle size and the way aquatic plants grow are different from one to the other. We offer two types of each variety of Aqua Soil: a normal type that is suitable as the main substrate and a powder type that is suitable for applying a thin layer over the substrate. They have the same raw materials and characteristics.

Amazonia
This is an Aqua Soil made from black dirt rich in organic elements and various nutrients. Organic elements contained in the soil are made up of mainly accumulated dead plant matter that was broken down by decomposers such as soil microbes. Therefore, the soil is rich in ammonia nitrogen that is produced in the process of the decomposition of organic substances, and organic acids such as humic acid and acetic acid that result from the decomposition of plant materials. Aquatic plants grow well in this substrate since these elements encourage the growth of the roots of aquatic plants and at the same time produce an environment in the substrate in which nutrients can be absorbed easily by the roots.

Amazonia II
This is the newest Aqua Soil that is equipped with the excellent characteristics of other Aqua Soils. The raw material is black dirt, but the composition ratio of its constituents such as organic elements and clay is different from Amazonia. Therefore, its color is somewhat browner. Some reddish brown elements inside granules may be exposed occasionally, but it doesn't affect the growth of roots because the softness and air permeability of the substrate still remain the same. Although it is not superior to Amazonia for its ability to grow aquatic plants, it contains organic acids and nitrogen in a good balance that encourages the growth of the roots of aquatic plants, and aquatic plants grow well in it. This is a substrate material that does not lead to the discoloration of water caused by humic acid, which will be explained later.

Africana
This Aqua Soil is made from reddish soil. Although its organic elements and nitrogen content are not as high as Amazonia, it is far superior to marine sand in its ability to grow aquatic plants. It lowers the pH of water easily and has an excellent ability to adjust water quality.

Malaya
This Aqua Soil is made from somewhat yellowish brown soil. It contains the least amount of organic elements and nitrogen among the Aqua Soil series. Its ability to lower pH is the highest and it enables you to maintain acidic water quality easily.

Aqua Soil and water quality

All four types of Aqua Soil have the ability to lower pH of water. Since KH (carbonate hardness) is also reduced as pH decreases, using Aqua Soil for substrate produces acidic soft water close to the water quality of rivers in a tropical rain forest. Because of the water quality that Aqua Soil enabled us to achieve, it became possible to grow aquatic plants that had been difficult to grow such as South American stem plants in the family of Tonina. Lower pH and KH allow more free CO2 gas to stay in the water column and creates an environment in which aquatic plants can easily conduct photosynthesis with only a few exceptions. While the nitrogen contained in Amazonia can feed aquatic plants directly, Amazonia’s ability to turn the water soft and acidic also encourages aquatic plants to grow indirectly. Marine sand was often used as a substrate before Aqua Soil was introduced, but it did not possess the ability to lower pH and KH. As a matter of fact, it raised them in some cases. Japanese tap water is often slightly alkaline and contains some carbonate. It is difficult to lower pH and KH with water changes if marine sand is used. In the case of Aqua Soil, natural organic acids from the soil lower the pH, neutralize alkaline carbonates at the same time, and maintain a soft acidic water quality. In addition, Amazonia is rich in humic acid that is also contained in the black water of the rivers in the tropical rain forest. However, it does not have a strong ability to lower the pH. Although humic acid does not dissolve well in acidic water, it tends to leach out into the water column and stain water yellow or brown if there is a lot of carbonate and alkaline materials in the water. As stated earlier, Japanese tap water is generally alkaline and its carbonate content is not zero either. In some areas of Japan, the KH value of tap water is very high and the pH value may be quite alkaline at around 8. If such alkaline water is used to do water changes for an aquarium with Amazonia, humic acid tends to leach out and discolor the water. If the pH and KH of your local tap water is high, the use of Amazonia II can reduce this discoloration of water. It is because the ability of Amazonia II to lower pH is highest after Africana and Malaya and its humic acid content is not as high as that of Amazonia.

How to take care of an aquarium with
Aqua Soil in the initial set-up period and some precautions

The Aqua Soil series is heat treated to form soft, somewhat moist granules in order to take advantage of the excellent characteristics of natural soil. The moderately soft granules of Aqua Soil are beneficial for aquatic plants for they do not hinder the growth of their roots. The roots of aquatic plants push granules out of the way and grow by breaking the granules eventually. Although Aqua Soil granules offer such merits to the roots of aquatic plants, a lot of fine dust may result from the transit vibration that causes granules to rub against each other or from drying excessively in storage. Such fine particles will cloud water if stirred up in the water column. If water should become cloudy when it is added after laying substrate and planting aquatic plants, leave the filter off and do a complete water change to get rid of the cloudiness before starting up the filter. Amazonia in particular contains a lot of organic matter. If its fine dust particles are sucked into the filter, free-floating bacteria and algae proliferate continually, and it becomes difficult to eliminate the cloudiness. While a slight cloudiness can be eliminated by a complete water change, if the water is very cloudy or some cloudiness remains after a complete water change, the clarity of the water can be improved by draining water with a hose while simultaneously adding the same amount of tap water with another hose for a while. Water sometimes becomes cloudy later on even if the water was clear right after adding it to an aquarium. For example, when Aqua Soil is exposed in the water column and the location of the water intake for the filter is set too close to the substrate or the outflow from the filter hits the substrate directly, the water can become cloudy. If this is the case, you should check the filter intake and outlet and adjust them as needed. We also learned of an incident that shrimp picked on the substrate when Aqua Soil was exposed to the water column and caused the particles to get stirred up resulting in cloudiness. In this case, cloudiness will occur less frequently as aquatic plants cover the surface of the substrate. We recommend that you plant sufficient amount of aquatic plants when using Aqua Soil as substrate. Since extra nutrients can leach into water if the amount of aquatic plants is small, plant an adequate amount of aquatic plants to prevent this as well. During the initial period after an aquarium is first set up when nutrients such as nitrogen can easily leach into the water from the substrate, frequent water changes at the rate of two to three times a week may be necessary. Once aquatic plants grow densely and start taking up nutrients actively, it is alright to reduce the frequency of the water changes to about once a week. Additionally, if Amazonia is used for the substrate, additional attention is required during water changes. As mentioned earlier, the humic acid contained abundantly in Amazonia tends to leach into the water if a high amount of alkaline substances such as carbonate is present in the water. The quality of tap water depends on the local area. If the pH of tap water is about 7.5 and its KH is 2 to 3, a small amount of humic acid leaches out and stains the water slightly. If the pH and KH values of tap water are higher than these values, special care is required. Amazonia II is recommended basically for such water. If Amazonia is already in the aquarium, treating tap water as described below can alleviate the discoloration of the water. First, remove residual chlorine with ADA aqua conditioner Chlor-Off or Do!aqua be-Fine. Although Brighty K also has an ability to remove residual chlorine, its use is not recommended in this case since it raises KH. In European countries where tap water has high alkalinity, RO/DI water filtration systems are often used for aquarium water. RO/DI systems filter out alkaline substances in water, which help the fumic acid to leach into the water. It also promotes Aqua Soils' ability of lowering pH and KH levels of water for a longer period of time. So, if you have high pH and KH in tap water, it's effective to use any Aqua Soil product along with a RO/DI water system.

Nature Aquarium Lab

Why do we need to use different types of substrate?”
Roots are very important organs which stabilize the balance of water plant and absorb nutrients for its growth.
In Nature Aquarium, we combine several different types of substrate materials and create the substrate suitable for the water plants.
Right now, Aqua Soil and Power Sand are two main materials.   Made of natural soil, Aqua Soil has four different types.
Each type has its own color and components.  The natural soil is rich in essential elements for the growth of plants, containing several kinds of nutrients and vitamins, and fumic acid.  They will leach into water and be supplied to the roots.
Amazonia is used most frequently in Nature Aquarium because it is made from black soil best suited for growing water plants.
Compared to the other types of Aqua Soil, Amazonia contains a lot of nitrogen and organic matter.
However, these elements leach into water depending on the quality of tap water used for aquarium and its filtering condition.
Since this may cause cloudiness of the water or stain the water yellow, it's recommended to choose Amazonia II, Africana or gravels based on the use and the water quality.

Adsorption ability of Aqua Soil
Heat treated natural soil - Aqua Soil, releases nutrients and has the ability of adsorbing phosphate.

Lab1

Characteristic of Aqua Soil series

Tap water

samples used in the Nature Aquarium Gallery show that it is slightly alkaline and contains little nitrogen and phosphorus.

Amazonia
It contains more nitrogen and organic elements that any other Aqua Soils.
Amazonia is also rich in organic acid, such as fumic acid and acetic acid.

Amazonia II
The amount of nitrogen and organic acid contained is less than that of Amazonia.
Yet, Amazonia II lowers the pH level of water easier.

Africana
Africana has a strong ability to lower the pH of water and contains nitrate nitrogen.

Malaya
Because of organic acid in the soil, its ability to lower the pH level is the highest among the Aqua Soil series.

The data was taken 48 hours after adding the tap water to each soil.



Lab2

The growth of plants in different types of substrate: Aqua Soil - Amazonia II and Forest Sand

We compared the growth of Grossostigma planted in Amazonia II and Forest Sand - Branco.
Made of natural river gravel, Branco does not contain substances which raise pH and KH of water, nor any nutrients.
Grossostigma growing on Branco showed slower growth than that of Amazonia II.
On the other hand, Amazonia II, rich in organic acids and nutrients, encouraged Grossostigma to grow rapidly.

Grossostigma was planted in Aqua Soil - Amazonia and Forest Sand - Branco

Grossostigma after 10 days