Schultz's Aquatic Soil

[meili.harrison]

I found several 10lb bags of these at Home Depot today on sale for $5/bag. I bought a bunch thinking I can always return it if not good. I was thinking of starting a 29 gal planted with this as an alternative to eco-complete. I don't like that it is not a dark substrate, but it is much cheaper. Anyone tried using this before and if so, how effective is it? Should I use by itself or mix with sand? Any opinions?

[rich311k]

I have used it. I have a 29 with it. I like it and seems to do well, but it is very light it can be hard to get plants to stay down initially.

[meili.harrison]

I heard that it gets heavier over time. Is it better to put some larger gravel / small river rocks over it first until everything grows out? I have some extras.

[rich311k]

Interesting idea. I just used it straight I have not added anything, come to think about it. It is much better now about holding things down. My corys love to root about in it.

[Rainbowmama234]

Does anyone mind telling me the color of the soil when wet. Does it have a natural look to it?

Thanks

RM

[Ozymandias]

i think it's sort of grayish

[rich311k]

Mine is light brown in color.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b65/rich311k/cory17-2.jpg

It is the substrate in this shot.

[Ozymandias]

well I've been proven wrong, i could be thinking of something else

[meili.harrison]

I opened a bag and checked it out, when wet, looks pretty natural to me. It is just like rich311k's picture. I think it would look good. I will probably top up with some gravel until the plants establish themselves and the substrate gets denser. Will post pics of the project then. Probably start next weekend.

I think I'm gonna have extra bags cos I bought 5 x 10lbs haha! Maybe if it looks good, I might do it on both my 29 gals.

[Rainbowmama234]

Thanks for the picture, it does look really natural. I think I'm going to give it a try in my 20 :)

RM

[Easydoesit]

mine looked kind of like rich311s, but it had more of a reddish to it.. like a terracotta pot color or something. it reminded me of the grand canyon.
i agree, it was hard to keep the plants rooted. i had a 50gallon-rated HOB in a 10 with the schultz as a substrate and where the water came out of the filter... the soil stuff got blown away and left a bare spot on the bottom.
it does get heavier in time, but i didnt give it too much time b/c i ended up taking down my 10.
its not bad though, i liked it overall.
good luck!

[fishorama]

That looks different than I thought, I like it. I may try it too but maybe I'll soak it in a bucket first. How long before it gets heavier would you say?

[RockysDad]

I had a 10G with this substrate. I thought it was just okay. If you can soak it about it week that should help with its inital "lightness". Also it can be dusty so you also might want to rinse it a lot before you stick it in your tank otherwise you'll have a cloudy tank until all the dust settles down. I was not impressed with the color but thats just my opinion. I prefer a darker substrate.

Let us know how it goes...

[meili.harrison]

I think it takes quite a while to get heavier and denser. I read in other forums that putting larger size gravel or rocks on top works great until plants get rooted and the substrate gets heavier.

[Easydoesit]

yeah i had my 10 set up with it for almost a month.. the stuff was heavier by then, but i think it would get even heavier.
it was dusty too. i just ran a powerhead with a sponge and did 2 50% waterchanges and it was pretty clear after that.

[Ranger]

I've used it before and it worked great. It's made of fullers earth and has a great Cation Exchange Capacity. Not as much iron as laterite or fluorite but for the cost savings you easily can supplement the iron. See here http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/plant_substrates.php
My next new tank is a 75g and I already bought bags of the Shultz’s and Fluorite to mix together, so I get the best of both.

[Rainbowmama234]

Ranger can I ask what color fluorite your going to mix the Schultz with? I was planning on doing all fluorite in my 65, but the cost is about 100-120 which is a bit much. If I could mix the two that would be great.

[jmhart]

For a charcoal colored inert inexpensive substrate, look for Charcoal Soilmaster Select(less and less availabe) or Turface.

I have original flourite mixed with Charcoal SMS in both my tanks. You can see how it looks in the link to my 45g planted in my sig, towards the end of that thread.

Shultzs, Soilmaster, and Turface cannot be compared to substrates such as Flourite, Aquasoil, and Eco-Complete. Their composition may seem similar, but the minerals found in Shultz, SMS, and Turface are not bio-available. They are inert. You have to add nutrients into the water column. The high CEC of these inert substrates means that over time, they will absorp nutrients out of the water column and hold them in the substrate for root-feeders. I emphasize over time.

These are excellent alternatives to the higher priced nutrient-rich substrates, and as I mentioned I use SMS in addition to Flourite. But don't be confused when you see a report like the one Ranger posted.

[Ranger]

jmhart,

What is confusing about my "report"?
Aren't you basically saying the same thing with a little additional detail?

rainbowmama,
I will be using the brown/red, the one that Shultz’s most closely matches

[jmhart]

What I'm saying is that comparing the compositions of substrate X against Y doesn't mean much if X is bio-available and Y is not. They could have the exact some composition, but if one is bio-available and the other isn't, then it's comparing apples to oranges.

And to that point, Eco-Complete, Flourite, and Aquasoil are bio-available substrates, whereas SMS, Turface, and Shultzs are not.


So I wasn't trying to discredit the information you provided, but rather point out an important piece of information for anyone that read it.

[Ranger]

As a point of meaningless debate, you can compare anything.
You made a meaningful comparison in that one has bio available nutrients and one does not.
Which, by the way, is what I mentioned about the iron.

For those interested in the topic:
Shultz’s , as jmhart stated, is an “excellent alternatives to the higher priced nutrient-rich substrates” and will grow plants very well and even better when mixed with other substrates.
Hope that doesn’t confuse anyone?

[jmhart]

For those interested in the topic:
Shultz’s , as jmhart stated, is an “excellent alternatives to the higher priced nutrient-rich substrates” and will grow plants very well and even better when mixed with other substrates.
Hope that doesn’t confuse anyone?


And that's exactly why I use 50/50 SMS and Flourite.

[Reddog80p]

The shultz I have looks alot smaller, and like Easydoesit said it's looks more terra cotta colored. I plant all my pond plants in the stuff. It is very light, I top all the plants with pea gravel.