Jump to content

ADA Amazonia in Melbourne?

bonsai

By bonsai
in General Questions/Discussions

 Share

Recommended Posts

bonsai Be nice I'm new here

bonsai

Posted
Posted

Hi, I've been looking for ADA Amazonia here in Melbourne and have been told there is no stock for 1 1/2 months! Does anybody know of a shop in Melbourne that has stock at the moment?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
jayc Shrimp Guru

jayc

Posted
Posted

Does it have to be ADA Amazonia aquasoil?

 

I find Cal Aqua Lab's Black Earth Premium better in many ways. And it's available.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
bonsai Be nice I'm new here

bonsai

Posted
  • Author
Posted

After bad experiences with two other substrates, I used Amazonia and have been very happy with it in my tank. It's now over one year old, has been washed of old roots and replanted twice. It hasn't disintegrated and still buffers my ph at 6. So you could say i'm impressed.

 

That said.... Can you tell me how long Black Earth lasts? It says it "slighly" lowers ph. Are we talking 6.8 of more like 6? In what ways do you consider it being better? I will be using it for shrimp, not planted. The google machine can't seem to find the answers!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
smicko Shrimp Breeder

smicko

Posted
Posted

For shrimp i would recommend benbachi soil. A few of the sponsors stock it but I would go through boss aquaria.

@Squiggle will be able to help you out.

Cheers mick

Link to comment
Share on other sites
jayc Shrimp Guru

jayc

Posted
Posted (edited)

After bad experiences with two other substrates, I used Amazonia and have been very happy with it in my tank. It's now over one year old, has been washed of old roots and replanted twice. It hasn't disintegrated and still buffers my ph at 6. So you could say i'm impressed.

That said.... Can you tell me how long Black Earth lasts? It says it "slighly" lowers ph. Are we talking 6.8 of more like 6? In what ways do you consider it being better? I will be using it for shrimp, not planted. The google machine can't seem to find the answers!

Understand your issues with quality.

Agreed that ADA Aquasoil is good.

BEP (Black Earth Premium) buffers to around similar to ADA, give or take depending on depth of substrate used.

In what ways is it better? Lower ammonia released during initial cycle. Still releases ammonia but much lower and slower. Which means shorter cycling period. ADA releases a ton of ammonia.

ADA releases a cloud of dirt/dust every time you move plants, BEP does not.

BEP doesn't disintegrate after prolonged use.

Plants love BEP. BEP is great for cherries.

Benibachi Fulvic soil is good as well. I use it to get pH lower, where BEP or ADA can't get down to.

I use Benibachi for my shrimps, CRS experimental tank where pH is 5.5.

BEP in my planted Amazonian biotope fish tank.

Edited by jayc
Link to comment
Share on other sites
bonsai Be nice I'm new here

bonsai

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Quality advice through experience. The internet needs more of that! Most info I found was just copy and paste from the manufacturer's site.

 

Thanks jayC and smicko!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
jayc Shrimp Guru

jayc

Posted
Posted (edited)

Aye. 

Advice that still leaves you the choice as the purchaser, but at least you are informed. Without forcing you to one product or another.   :thumbsu:

I'm not selling anything and don't profit from it. I give you the information for you to make your own mind up.

 

Wait for ADA aquasoil to be available again in the shops. Or choose Black Earth Premium for planted tank and cherries. Or Benibachi for Crystals and Taiwan Bees. Just use less Benibachi to minimise pH drop.

 

It doesn't mean that Benibachi is no good for plants, however. Plants still do well in lower pH with Benibachi.

 

What type of shrimp are you aiming to keep?

Edited by jayc
Link to comment
Share on other sites
smicko Shrimp Breeder

smicko

Posted
Posted

As jayc said it comes down to what shrimp your interested in.

You have to put some pics up as your setting up the tank, we all love pics lol.

Cheers mick

Link to comment
Share on other sites
bonsai Be nice I'm new here

bonsai

Posted
  • Author
Posted

jayC - No plants this time except for anubias, java fern and moss. I currently have a small colony of snow whites, but most look like goldens to me. I plan on going down the Taiwan Bee path. I kept CRS and red cherries  a few years ago when that was all that was available,

 

smicko - I'll start a new thread with pics when I get the energy. I just got home from work and I am exhausted!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Join Our Community!

    Register today, ask questions and share your shrimp and fish tank experiences with us!

  • Must Read SKF Articles

    Shrimp Disease and Treatment
    Tibee, Taitbee, Pinto, Mischling, F1, F2

  • Tropical Fish Forum
    Discus Breeding Guide
    Discus Disease and Treatment Guide

  • Posts

    • sdlTBfanUK
      Shrimp molting before eggs are hatched

      By sdlTBfanUK · Posted

      I would hazard a guess that perhaps those eggs were unfertilized and thereby unviable? Did the eggs change colour, usually yellow to grey as the yolks used up, or any eyes in the eggs. Is your water ok, using RO remineralised and the parameters in range, as I have heard others say that if the water isn't good it can 'force' a molt? How is it going overall, do you have a good size colony in the tank, you may have reached 'maximum occupancy' as a tank can only support so many occupants.
    • beanbag
      Shrimp molting before eggs are hatched

      By beanbag · Posted

      Hello folks,  The current problem I am having is that my Taiwan bee shrimp are molting before all their eggs have hatched.  Often the shrimp keep the eggs for 40+ days.  During that time, they lose about half or so, either due to dropping or duds or whatever.  Shortly before molting they look to have about a dozen left, and then they molt with about half a dozen eggs still on the shell.  Then the other shirmp will come and eat the shell.  These last few times, I have been getting around 0-3 surviving babies per batch.  I figure I can make the eggs hatch faster by raising the water temperature more (currently around 68F, which is already a few degrees higher than I used to keep it) or make the shrimp grow slower by feeding them less (protein).  Currently I feed Shrimp King complete every other day, and also a small dab of Shrimp Fit alternating days.  Maybe I can start alternating with more vegetable food like mulberry?  or just decrease the amount of food?
    • ngoomie
      Shrimp and meds containing gentian violet

      By ngoomie · Posted

      Yeah, cancer risk was a thing I'd seen mentioned a lot when looking into gentian violet briefly. I kinda just figured it might only be as bad as the cancer risk of malachite green as well, but maybe I should look into it more. I've been doing a pretty good job of not getting it on my skin and also avoiding dunking my unprotected hands into the tank water while treating my fish at least, though. Maybe I'll just not use it once I'm done this course of medication anyways, because I know a store I can sometimes get to that's pretty distant carries both malachite green and methylene blue, and in pretty large quantities.
    • jayc
      Shrimp and meds containing gentian violet

      By jayc · Posted

      Can't help you with Gentian Violet, sorry. It is banned in Australia violet for potential toxicity, and even possible cancer risks. I thought it was banned in Canada as well. At least, you now know why there isn't much info on gentian violet medication and it's use. But keep an eye on the snails after a week. If it affects the snails, it might not kill them immediately. So keep checking for up to a week. Much safer options out there. No point risking your own life over unsafe products.
    • ngoomie
      Shrimp and meds containing gentian violet

      By ngoomie · Posted

      Hello! I have a tank that currently does not contain shrimp, but does contain neon tetras which I am currently treating for Ich, as well as some bladder snails. Shrimp will be a later addition, likely cherry shrimp but I'm still doing research just to be sure. Initially I'd intended to buy some sort of Ich-fighting product that contains malachite green after doing a decent bit of research on it, most of which indicated that it should be shrimp-safe so I'd be good if I ever needed to use it again once shrimp were actually introduced (though I should note I'm aware shrimp can't get Ich, I'm more wondering in case the tetras could get Ich again, or something else that responds to similar medication). I ended up not being able to find any MG-containing products without either having to travel quite far or wait multiple days for delivery (which I was worried could lead the Ich to be fatal), and ended up picking up 'Top Fin Ick Remedy', a product that contains gentian violet which is a triarylmethane dye like malachite green. The bottle has two slightly differently worded warnings about its use with invertebrates ("not recommended for" and "not safe for" respectively), but when I'd been researching malachite green, I'd also heard of products that contain MG but not any other ingredients that would be harmful to inverts still being branded with warnings that they could be harmful, just as a "just-in-case" since the manufacturer didn't test it on any inverts, and I'm wondering if maybe it could be a similar situation here. I'm having a very very hard time finding information about gentian violet's use in fishkeeping at all though, it seems currently extremely uncommon. What I will say though is that I'm on day 2 of treating my tetras with it, and the bladder snails seem just fine -- in fact today I noticed what looked to be a bladder snail that appeared to be newly hatched (because of its size) that I hadn't seen before that was zipping around the tank without issue. But obviously, shrimp are not snails, and bladder snails are also notoriously hardy little guys, so what I'm seeing right now could easily be totally inapplicable to cherry shrimp. It might even be inapplicable to other species of snails, for all I know. Has anyone else here ever used anything that contains gentian violet in a tank that actually does contain shrimp? Were they okay, or should I make sure to not use it once shrimp are added?
×
×
  • Create New...