# Schultz Aquatic Plant Soil



## snickle (Apr 8, 2007)

Okay, my 10G is one its way to being planted and has been claimed by my wife as her fish tank. The plants and cleaning are mine, the fish are hers 

So I ripped out he substrate and used Schultz Aquatic plant soil from home depot. $6.73 for a 10# bag. I used about 2/3 of the bag. Actually I used too much, I may need to remove some.

First note: Rinse first. Kicked up a cloud of dust in the water and in the air when I dumped it in.

Looks: I like it (Will post pics after I re-plant. Looks natural to me, I wish I had used this in my 90G. (Actually I have a bag in there as well, but lots of other gravel as well.)

Planting: Very easy, just heavy enough to hold the plants down.

Why: It is finer than normal aquarium gravel and not as messy or expensive as the high-tech soils. It also has a decent cation exchange capacity, which should promote growth of rooting feeding plants.

I'll post some pics once I replant and I'll give a review in a while.


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## Jdinh04 (Oct 7, 2004)

I am using it in my 50g. Its a nice substrate but there are better options out there. The only reason why I have it was because it was the only affordable substrate I could buy when I was first introduced into this hobby.

From now on, I will probably use ADA Aquasoil unless I am doing a really large tank, that is probably the only exception.


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## snickle (Apr 8, 2007)

I am using the ADA Amazonian in my nano and so far I am not real fond of it. I will give it sometime and see.


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## Homer_Simpson (Apr 2, 2007)

I am experimenting with Schultz Aquatic Soil in my 2.5 gallon Nano. My observations: certain plants seem to do better in it than others. Hyrophilla corymbosa compacta and the aquatic banana plant(Nymphoides aquatica) doe excellent in it and require constant trimming of new leaves. Ambulia(Limnophila sessiliflora) does really well in it also and also requires frequent pruning of new growth. Java fern(go figure), believe it or not did not do well in it even though the roots were tied to a rock and placed on the substrate. Java moss does not seem to do well in it either. I have found that anubias, java moss, and java fern seem to do better with Seachem fluorite. I am currently setting up a 5 gallon hex nano with alternating layers of seachem's fluorite and schultz aquatic soil Pictures will follow in the future. And yes for those who are wondering, I was able to rule out other variables(lighting, co2 injection, use of fert, excel, etc.,) that could account for differences in the way different plants grew in both substrates and the only thing that it finally boiled down to was differences in substrates.


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## snickle (Apr 8, 2007)

Interesting. Both the Java Moss and Java Fern Feed from the water column, not the substrate, hence why they are not buried. That they do better with flourite implies to me, not enough trace elements in the water column. So they are taking the trace from the minimal contact with the substrate and what little leaches into the water column from the flourite.

How do you fertilize this tank? Are you adding any traces to the water column?

BTW: Not questioning your approach, just trying to get a better understanding of the dynamics.



Homer_Simpson said:


> I am experimenting with Schultz Aquatic Soil in my 2.5 gallon Nano. My observations: certain plants seem to do better in it than others. Hyrophilla corymbosa compacta and the aquatic banana plant(Nymphoides aquatica) doe excellent in it and require constant trimming of new leaves. Ambulia(Limnophila sessiliflora) does really well in it also and also requires frequent pruning of new growth. Java fern(go figure), believe it or not did not do well in it even though the roots were tied to a rock and placed on the substrate. Java moss does not seem to do well in it either. I have found that anubias, java moss, and java fern seem to do better with Seachem fluorite. I am currently setting up a 5 gallon hex nano with alternating layers of seachem's fluorite and schultz aquatic soil Pictures will follow in the future. And yes for those who are wondering, I was able to rule out other variables(lighting, co2 injection, use of fert, excel, etc.,) that could account for differences in the way different plants grew in both substrates and the only thing that it finally boiled down to was differences in substrates.


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## Homer_Simpson (Apr 2, 2007)

snickle said:


> ...How do you fertilize this tank? Are you adding any traces to the water column?...


Both test tanks were fertilized using Seachem Fluorish Comprehensive and Fluorish Excel. The Java moss and Java Fern(both plants are from the same source) growing in the Seachem Fluorite are doing fine and growing but in the Schultz Aquatic Soil they are both turning brown and dieing, with no new growth in over a month. At first I thought that this may have to do with the use of Fluorish Excel as some have posted that their java moss seems to suffer when they use fluorish excel. But on second thought, this does not explain why the java moss and java fern seems to be doing well in the tank with Seachem fluorite where which is also being dosed with fluorish excel. I have read that Schultz aquatic soil, unlike fluorite, is known to absorb chemicals like a sponge and leach them back into the water column. Although Schultz aquatic soil is phosphate free, some with high tap water phosphate levels have posted that over time they have run into problems, even when they have changed phosphate neutral water, and attribute it to the fact that Schultz aquatic soil may be intially absorbing and storing all available phosphates no matter how small and then leaching it back into the water in mass amounts, creating all kinds of problems. This is just what I read(I am still trying to find the google link and post it) and am not saying that it is true. If it is true, then perhaps the same thing happens with and water column fertilizers used(i.e., they may be absorbed by the schultz aquatic soil like a sponge, only to be leached back into the water column in mass quantities in a rate too great to be utilized by the plants, leading to major long term problems like algae blooms). I am not dissing schultz aquatic soil as the majority of my plants are doing well in it, it has an excellent CEC rate(better than fluorite), and you really cannot beat the price if you are on a tight budget. I am still new to planted tanks and these are just my observations and what I have read.

Regards


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## mistergreen (Mar 3, 2007)

I'm using shultz's stuff. It's ok. It's affordable which is a plus.
I wish they come in a different color.

If you can find Espoma's aqua soil, get it. It's a nice grey. I've only seen pictures.


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## snickle (Apr 8, 2007)

Soilmaster Select comes in dark grey and red. IT is about the same thing as the Schultz stuff.

Personally, I like the color of the Schultz.



mistergreen said:


> I'm using shultz's stuff. It's ok. It's affordable which is a plus.
> I wish they come in a different color.
> 
> If you can find Espoma's aqua soil, get it. It's a nice grey. I've only seen pictures.


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## snickle (Apr 8, 2007)

Homer,

I would expect any of the no nutrient bearing porous substrate to act like a sponge to a point. Flourite has nutrient in it so it absorb less until its own supply is exhausted, 1-3 year according to SeaChem.

I thought I had, was to rinse the Schultz and then place in the aquarium, fill with water until a couple inches above substrate and then dose a micro nutrient solution at 3-4 times the recommended dosage for tank volume. Wait a couple of days stirring whenever you get a chance. This would let the soil absorb good nutrients, blocking some of the absorption of others. After a few days, fill the tank and stir. Wait a few hours and do a 90% WC. The fill and proceed as normal.

I expect that would give you a substrate with lots of micros, and very few macros. The macros will need to be dosed and build over time. No different than Flourite.

Thoughts?



Homer_Simpson said:


> Both test tanks were fertilized using Seachem Fluorish Comprehensive and Fluorish Excel. The Java moss and Java Fern(both plants are from the same source) growing in the Seachem Fluorite are doing fine and growing but in the Schultz Aquatic Soil they are both turning brown and dieing, with no new growth in over a month. At first I thought that this may have to do with the use of Fluorish Excel as some have posted that their java moss seems to suffer when they use fluorish excel. But on second thought, this does not explain why the java moss and java fern seems to be doing well in the tank with Seachem fluorite where which is also being dosed with fluorish excel. I have read that Schultz aquatic soil, unlike fluorite, is known to absorb chemicals like a sponge and leach them back into the water column. Although Schultz aquatic soil is phosphate free, some with high tap water phosphate levels have posted that over time they have run into problems, even when they have changed phosphate neutral water, and attribute it to the fact that Schultz aquatic soil may be intially absorbing and storing all available phosphates no matter how small and then leaching it back into the water in mass amounts, creating all kinds of problems. This is just what I read(I am still trying to find the google link and post it) and am not saying that it is true. If it is true, then perhaps the same thing happens with and water column fertilizers used(i.e., they may be absorbed by the schultz aquatic soil like a sponge, only to be leached back into the water column in mass quantities in a rate too great to be utilized by the plants, leading to major long term problems like algae blooms). I am not dissing schultz aquatic soil as the majority of my plants are doing well in it, it has an excellent CEC rate(better than fluorite), and you really cannot beat the price if you are on a tight budget. I am still new to planted tanks and these are just my observations and what I have read.
> 
> Regards


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

I have been using it in all my tanks for ten years. For larger tanks than a ten gallon, its more economical to buy it in 40 pound bags under the name Schultz clay conditioner. Same exact stuff for around 15 dollars for 40 pounds. It is very light weight so mix it with gravel and the plants will stay put better until they become well rooted.



> I have read that Schultz aquatic soil, unlike fluorite, is known to absorb chemicals like a sponge and leach them back into the water column.


Where did you read that? Its called cation exchange capacity, the ability to attract positive ions, such as minerals that plants use. Thats a good thing. Flourite does this as well. Schultz may have a higher CEC rate than Flourite. It does not "leech" back into the water. It makes these nutrients available to plants... A GOOD THING! Besides, Java fern and moss absorb nutrients through their leaves from the water and you are not supposed to plant Java fern in the substrate. If the rihizome gets cut off from oxygen it will rot.


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## Homer_Simpson (Apr 2, 2007)

Robert Hudson said:


> Where did you read that?


I am still trying to find the link. Once I find it I will post it. The mistake I made was not bookmarking the link when I first came across the information.



Robert Hudson said:


> Besides, Java fern and moss absorb nutrients through their leaves from the water and you are not supposed to plant Java fern in the substrate. If the rihizome gets cut off from oxygen it will rot.


I never did bury the java fern rhizome and java fern moss into the schultz aquatic soil. Both were tied using fishing line on a piece of flat rock and placed on the substrate. Again, the javafern was not buried or even positioned under the rock. This is the same way it was placed on the fluorite substrate. The one on the Schultz substrated gradually darkened(turned almost totally black) while the one on the fluorite continues to thrive. I removed the darkened one off the schultz and placed it in the other tank on top of the fluorite to see what would happen. The darkened one sprouted one small java fern leaf in 3 weeks. Perhaps, differences in the water(or something else in the water) between the two tanks may account for this. As I stated, I am still learning, I am not claiming that what I am stating is the God Given Truth. Just my observations, nothing else.

Peace


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## snickle (Apr 8, 2007)

Robert Hudson said:


> I have been using it in all my tanks for ten years. For larger tanks than a ten gallon, its more economical to buy it in 40 pound bags under the name Schultz clay conditioner. Same exact stuff for around 15 dollars for 40 pounds.


Where can I find the 40lbs bags? HOme depot does not carry them.


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