Schultz's Aquatic Soil

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Easydoesit

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Mar 17, 2008
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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

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Jun 28, 2006
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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

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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...
 

Easydoesit

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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

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Jun 20, 2001
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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

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Aug 30, 2006
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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

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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

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Jun 20, 2001
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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

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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.
 
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