Onyx Sand

[RTR]

The Seachem substrates are high porosity, high CEC. They can grab and hold minerals from the water for easy access by plants. They do not come pre-fertilized other than with large amounts of iron which is part of their nature. Inexpensive gravels lack that CEC.

Write Greg Morin (owner and CEO of Seachem) and ask, don't take my word for it.

Seachem substrates are well worth their price - I do use them and am quite pleased with them, but I know better than to think that they are by nature or by addition pre-marketing, "fertile". That is quite simply not true.

 

[aquatic-store]

Even using this product I thnk it would be wise to still fert your plants. the suggesti

marc
Http://www.Aquatic-store.com

Co2, Plants, Substrate, Filters, Heaters, UV and moreons above are true!

 

[125gJoe]

..more than just Iron...

Here's what's in Onyx Sand, and what makes it a great substrate - regular gravels don't have this....


There is more than just iron, see below:

Onyx sand (ppm) Element
10.27 Ag
822.5 Al
51.91 As
4.45 Ba
0.2907 Be
197500 Ca
11.82 Cd
3.632 Co
10.14 Cr
4.295 Cu
2876 Fe
417 K
115400 Mg
43.01 Mn
6.419 Mo
135.1 Na
7.103 Ni
284.2 P
30.46 Pb
20.64 Sb
103.2 Se
159.2 Si
62.77 Sr
42.31 Ti
753.3 Tl
7.457 V
22.81 Zn

(Element breakdown courtesy - SeaChem...)

 

[NJ Devils Fan]

I do the same thing that Joe does, use root tabs and liquid ferts.

 

[Heady]

The 100 gallon with Onyx sand, set up 12 hours ago, is still really cloudy. The Eheim 2028 has been running the full 12 hours. When will it settle? Should I do a partial water change or will that only make matters worse?

The Onyx was rinsed as best we could in buckets with a showerhead and good old fashioned elbow grease, but apparently it wasn't enough...

 

[125gJoe]

Heady, do you have Diatom filter? A partial water change will help some..

 

[Heady]

No diatom filter. I would do a partial water change, but I'm worried about kicking up the silt that's already settled...

 

[bmarcus]

onyx buffers your water to like a 7.2-7.5

 

[99RedSi]

Originally posted by bmarcus
onyx buffers your water to like a 7.2-7.5

What if your pH is 7.3 and KH is 10 (already buffered fairly well)? Will it make the water very hard?

Thanks

 

[NJ Devils Fan]

Heady, when all the dust settled in my tank from the Onyx sand, I put my gravel vac right into the sand and it sucked up the dust. The actual sand went back down. That is the best way to get the dust out. Now, just about four months since I set up everything, I am still getting a little bit of dust during my vacuuming. But, you don't notice anything after a few times.