# How do they make aquasoil round?



## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

I was wondering, how do they make the aqua soil pellets so round? What process yields that? I'd like to try the same thing using soil, then bake it to harden and see how it works.


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## Yo-han (Oct 15, 2010)

Zie post #8http://www.aquaticplantenthusiasts.com/substrate/4499-nutrient-rich-planted-substrates.html


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## TAB (Feb 7, 2009)

yep. tumbled.


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

Zapins said:


> I was wondering, how do they make the aqua soil pellets so round? What process yields that? I'd like to try the same thing using soil, then bake it to harden and see how it works.


Not hidden by a cap? Sounds like an organics issue...


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

I was thinking of screening out the larger organics, adding more clay as a binder and then baking it to keep it together.


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## Fishfur (Oct 17, 2013)

Might be a fun experiment but I suspect you won't get what you're hoping for from garden clay or a home oven. Maybe if you have a kiln ? 

You may get lumps that seem hard enough, but they'd dissolve relatively soon once wet. Most clay products of this kind are fired at quite high temperatures, like Turface and similar things such as Schultz Aqua Soil.. particular types of clay carefully fired to become permanent ceramic products.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

I do have a kiln at home.

Also, what do you guys think aquasoil is made from? I'd bet it is made from regular old screened top soil with clay binder nothing special.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

I thought Amano personally rolled every grain chanting "Ommmm". Don't tell me I'm wrong now.

AquaSoil is another bunny from the pointy hat of the great illusionist. I and only I like to believe that it is made specifically, personally for Mr. Amano himself and he shares some with ADA. Like the large format color film that Fuji made only for him because he had some ancient large format cameras or something. That part is true because in an old AquaJournal I saw the fridges where the film was kept and I have no doubt there was film in there, not sushi and wine leftovers. But the AquaSoil exclusivity is something else.

Some years ago I really tried hard to find out what exactly is the magic AquaSoil so I can replicate it at home, sell it to all the budding world class aquascapers (all of whom have today proven themselves over and over again by creating astonishing works of art and still having time to post valuable advice on the forums) and generally drive Amano to poverty. You could not buy AquaSoil in the US at that time. I stumbled on a Japanese website that described a process of making a special soil meant for use on some huge modern pyramid-like building. The soil had to have many specific properties one of which had to do with the fact that you cannot run sprinkles like an American on a turf laid out on the slope of a pyramid. There was a drawing with conveyor lines and what not explaining how the soil was made. Beats me why but it was in English. Oh how exciting...

Anyway, you guessed it already - the name was "Aqua Soil".

Hope I didn't make you discover in a flash that you had a bit of a conspiracy theorist inside you. Judging from observations on the randomness English words used on Japanese T-shirts there was a considerable chance that the soil meant to grow plants on pyramids could have been called something like "Victoria's Secret", "Huggies", or "Crisco".

The tumbling you all mention could be substituted by vibration. But who cares?


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Well the stuff isn't made from moon dust, it has got to be regular soil. Everything has quality control so I don't think they were looking for magical soil properties. Pretty sure it just needs a certain percentage of clay in it to hold it all together that is probably what they were looking for.


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## Yo-han (Oct 15, 2010)

_"Made of natural black soil, the soil encourages the growth of aquatic plants. In some cases, however, one of the active ingredients of Amazonia, humic acid, may leach out into the aquarium water and stain the water yellow."

_So it's made from Japanese black soil. This soil is richer in nutrients than any other soil at the market. But Amano mentioned the soil used to make aqua soil is running out. So Amazonia will need to be changed and not for the better...

I don't think you can find the exact formulation. If you want anything close, Tom Barr is probably a good person to ask. He once mentioned he can probably make something very similar, but it won't be any cheaper than ADA so he saw no market for it.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

Phil Edwards actually had a substrate made with properties exactly just like AquaSoil if not better. Because remember, as a whole the planted tank enthusiasts in the US find AquaSoil to be bad because it works agains their determination to use it in ways that it as not meant to be used. Phil had that stuff made somewhere in 2009 I think. Like everybody else I have zero doubt that Barr had invented that process even before it was invented so what's the point to ask him if he is great anyway.

Few months ago there were some folk in Europe that had issues with their batches of AquaSoil. Letters to ADA went unanswered. Rightfully so! Between that and the childish videos of how to make a beautiful planted tank meant to attract more newbies to the hobby and keep them being newbies I really must be stupid to believe that it is all about anything else but money. Hope no one else is like me.

You cannot say that AquaSoil is better than another rich substrate. But it gives you an easy start - not everybody wants to make mineralized soil, mix dog excrements (like one guy here with an amazing tank did), and play with mud. Ukamikazu here has been working on strapping up a hell of a mix which you can get from him and not have to procure 50-100 lb. bags of weird substances to make your own. Or you can follow his receipe if you are so inclined:
http://www.aquaticplantenthusiasts.com/substrate/4256-new-recipe-procedure-mineralized-topsoil.html

Is that soil better than AquaSoil? If it performs consistently then "yes" because that cannot be said for AquaSoil any more. But if you have (or follow) a holistic approach in which you run the tank as a system with interacting parts you can use any substrate you want. A great, proven example of a such an approach is of course EI. It takes care of everything for you as long as you do minor adjustments using gram scales. You can even use commercial substrates labeled "for planted tanks" with it.

All of what I wrote has to do with the original topic - how they make AquaSoil have round grains. I assure you.


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## kwheeler91 (Jun 2, 2009)

I don't know if you ever got the info you were looking for but I might be able to help a little. I too wanted to make my own aquasoil. After all if it was rocket science it would be even more expensive than it ready is.

My idea for a recipe was using mostly earthworm castings and a little laterite. You could imbelish a little but I would think that's about all you need and it would be cheap. Maybe add some mts and sand depending on the weight and consistency of whatever the castings and laterite mix turns out to be but I didn't want to use mts if possible to reduce the work load and keep things simple.

There is a website out there describing how oliver knott has his aquasoil made, albeit the translation is a little rough. Once its in the grain form it was baked at 400 degrees for however long then again for 200. Its been a long time since I read it but I'm sure you could find it to see what it said. 

I would think getting those grains would come from the right level of moisture in the mix and then maybe pushing it through a screen or something along those lines to get it down to a smaller size and then rolling it around to round them out. since we don't have large industrial tumblers at our disposal, Maybe fashion a tumbler out of a big metal tub like an old dryer barrel or stock pot etc and put it over a fire to heat it? That's a bit of a diy but might be worth a try if you have the time and money. If i could afford it I would definitely give it a go.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Interesting, thanks. I'll have a look around for the article you mentioned.

I'm definitely not going to be making large quantities of the stuff, it is more of a pet project to test out a few ideas than anything.


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## 2ManyHobbies (Sep 11, 2007)

Old thread question- does anyone have more insight on this? So many new companies out there making soil it seems there has to be more information how it is made. Wish some were made domestically.


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## ukamikazu (Jun 4, 2010)

2ManyHobbies said:


> Old thread question- does anyone have more insight on this? So many new companies out there making soil it seems there has to be more information how it is made. Wish some were made domestically.


First, I have this weird vision that when someone replies to an old thread, that their should be a ritual of some kind.

1. Light black candle at midnight during the full moon.

2. Recite this spell:


```
Elder gods dark and dread, resurrect this ancient thead!
KLAATU!  BARADA!  NIKTO!
```
3. Clap hands once.

4. Include a popular meme from the era of the thread as a sacrificial offering.

5. Wait with bated breath.

Second, I remember this era. I remember my own attempts at Aquatic Plant Enthusiasts which is sadly forever offline. I caused a brief stir, an interest. My ego was sated then. I was young and foolish.

The enhanced soil I engineered was only fertile for a couple of years. To me that represents a failure. Following Diana Walstad's research brought me closer but there are still unresolved issues regarding continuing fertility past a year or two and building anaerobic pockets in the soil.

Then I remembered someone. Namely our ancestors of almost 250 years ago. They used deep substrates. And they worked well. I have come to find out that both Diana's science and some classic aquarium keeping can get us over this hump.

The man to see, to learn from is Louis Foxwell, better known as Father Fish. He has a recipe that maintains fertility for almost 3 years. After that, using the soil as a septic system, mulm finally makes it down to be reduced further and fertility is continued. Indefinitely. A permanent substrate, balanced perpetually and low to no maintenance. This is in't new. Just temporarily forgotten. It means a thick soil layer, 2-3 inches caped with another 2-3 inches of either sand or a calcined clay like Safe-T-Sorb. If you cap with sand, fish can be added immediately. If you cap with STS, you need to cycle like normal. Both have been working well for me. It sounds scary, but I strongly recommend it.

So, get Diana's book, read it, understand it then go with open mind, a beginner's mind, to Father Fish and just absorb it all. He's got 70 years experience so enjoy him while he's still among us. I hope the man makes it past a 100 because we need him desperately.

https://www.youtube.com/c/FatherFish/videos

Here's his recipe which I transcribed from one of his instructional videos as best I could:

```
Per 10 gallons
__________________________________________
3 cups Peat Moss
2 cups Potting Soil
2 cups reduced Manure (Black Cow brand)
Mix
__________________________________________
4 tablespoons Ironite
2 tablespoons Lime
1/4 cup Blood Meal
1/4 cup Bone Meal
1/8 cup Osmocote
1/8 cup Organic Fertilizer
1/8 cup Epsom Salts
1/4 cup Calcium Carbonate
1/4 cup Diatomaceous Earth
1/4 cup Sodium Bicarbonate
1/4 cup Powdered Lime
1/8 cup Mulm
1/8 cup Liquid Iron
Mix
____________________________________________
Add water until muddy
Install
Cap
Fill
```
Or, you can buy the additives, not the soil, enough to make 23,100 cubic inches (100 gallons) of substrate at https://getgills.com/product.detail/2050 from him. It helps him, his brick & mortar store and his assistant Thomas.

I hope this helps. I think it will.


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## NotoriousENG (Dec 24, 2020)

I was curious about what Ironite was and googled it, sounds very interesting but I saw that there is/was some issues with high arsenic content? That seems like it could be a concern or is it not used at a high enough concentration to matter?


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## ukamikazu (Jun 4, 2010)

NotoriousENG said:


> I was curious about what Ironite was and googled it, sounds very interesting but I saw that there is/was some issues with high arsenic content? That seems like it could be a concern or is it not used at a high enough concentration to matter?


An excellent question! It depends on the source but arsenic is also bioremediated by plants and will be trapped as a largely inert salt in the substrate layer. As always, use your own risk profile. There are other sources of iron or, as Diana reminds us, leave out iron sources altogether since it seems to cause toxicity in plants if too abundant.

The method is flexible like that.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

I was more interested in the mechanical processing method of creating small uniform pearls of soil than recipes. I assume the pearls are partially fired for a short time to prevent breakdown into powder.


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