# Aquatic Substrate that can be bought from Home Depot



## baboo_jenge (Apr 6, 2007)

Hi, I am planning on setting up 25gal with heavy planting.
But then again, i don't want to spend huge amounts in eco complete.

Now, i know people use some soils bought from Home Depot or some other franchiase.

If anyone knows something about it, please let me know.

I'd like to know the brand and the name of the product.

Thanks alot~!


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

The name of the product is Shultz Aquatic Plant Soil. It works relatively well. It's actually better at holding nutrients than Flourite. It does have a downfall though as it's very light and floats around easily in strong current or if you have spirited fish. I think it costs around $9.00 / 10 lb. bag.

The better option might be to find a local Lesco (www.lesco.com) that either carries or will order you Prochoise Soilmast Select in the charcoal color. It's about $18.00 for a 50 lb. bag.


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## bencozzy (Jun 2, 2006)

schultz has a aquatic soil, its crap as a stand alone IMO.

you could go the el' natural route, use a soil, organic should work(anything without additives, i.e. ferts, moisteners, pesticides, etc.) and cap it with a gravel with a 2-3mm size(pool filter sand or soilmaster select would work great and be cheap)

i got my soil(peat humus) from lowes was something like a $1.00/50lbs, got my soil master from lesco was a little under $18.00/50lbs, and i got pool filter sand at meijers $9.00/50lbs.

HTH
ben


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## EcoGeek (Jun 26, 2007)

My local Lesco supplier just quoted me $9 for a 50 lb bag of the red stuff.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

I have been reading that the red SM is not the same stuff as the charcoal SM. I don't know why that would be the case, but as far as I know only the charcoal has been found to be a good substrate. You can do a very cheap substrate by buying pool filter sand and mixing in river silt with the bottom half of the substrate and topping it with just the sand.


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## baboo_jenge (Apr 6, 2007)

I live in Toronto, Canada.

I dun think Lesco is up here....


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## dhavoc (Mar 17, 2006)

try oil-dri from walmart, 3-4 bucks for 25lb bag. its made by the same company as soil master select and is pretty close in color also, though its more of a gray than black. its in the auto section.


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## baboo_jenge (Apr 6, 2007)

... is it safe to use?
i also have shrimps too


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## bencozzy (Jun 2, 2006)

im using the sms red, seems to be working so far it is listed as montti-what ever clay on the bag.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Bencozzy, A few people think the red SM leaches something into the water that changes the KH. Your experience is what I would expect.


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## dhavoc (Mar 17, 2006)

no problems as far as i can see besides the lower kh and ph. had a couple of tanks cycling with nothing but mosses and oil-dry and they both had teeming populations of copepods (a sign of good water conditions) and hydra that are feeding on them. dont know where the hydra came from as i havent seen any in over a year in my other tanks, but they are more of an eyesore than anything else.


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## bencozzy (Jun 2, 2006)

hmmm thats interesting hoppycalif. i did notice kh dropping pretty severe the first week to ten days but added in some aragonite and crushed coral and that took care of the problem. its been running for three months now.

its just from the clay having a high CEC or CEV value correct?(why sms in general causes the kh drops)


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## Blacksunshine (Aug 11, 2006)

nothing wrong with shultz. I'm using it in my high tech. great growth yadda yadda yadda. the only down side is its color. its light tan. And its cost. vs alternatives like SMS and pro league. 
Soilmaster select is much better but if you don't have a lesco around you will have to find another company that carries it. you can also check out Turface Pro league Grey. if you contact the company they can point you in the direction of your local distributors. www.turface.com If you have any baseball field supply yards around you. (you probably have at least one) they should probably stock one of the products mentioned.


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## Endler Guy (Aug 19, 2007)

hoppycalif said:


> I have been reading that the red SM is not the same stuff as the charcoal SM. I don't know why that would be the case, but as far as I know only the charcoal has been found to be a good substrate. You can do a very cheap substrate by buying pool filter sand and mixing in river silt with the bottom half of the substrate and topping it with just the sand.


It happened to me with the charcoal. My KH went from 300ppm to 60 by the time I caught it a few days later. Maybe it's the newer stuff in general? I got it back up to 120 with baking soda and crush coral.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Endler Guy said:


> It happened to me with the charcoal. My KH went from 300ppm to 60 by the time I caught it a few days later. Maybe it's the newer stuff in general? I got it back up to 120 with baking soda and crush coral.


I hope some of our chemistry experts can explain how this can happen - SMS is just baked clay, so it isn't obvious how it lowers the KH. Of course, low KH has been found not to be a problem for planted tanks, so maybe the solution is to lose the KH test kit.


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## ingg (Apr 8, 2007)

I have Shultz in a 26 bowfront, and it seems to work as well as SMS does, I see no difference between them.





SMS plunged my KH when I set it up, too, I controlled it with baking soda until it stabillized.

This was charcoal.

I wasn't using pressurized co2 at the time... but isn't it a problem for co2 injection? Hard to use a PH controller if you have no KH left, yknow?


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## Blacksunshine (Aug 11, 2006)

hoppycalif said:


> I hope some of our chemistry experts can explain how this can happen - SMS is just baked clay, so it isn't obvious how it lowers the KH. Of course, low KH has been found not to be a problem for planted tanks, so maybe the solution is to lose the KH test kit.


Agreed. I added some SMS to a tank that already had some eco. Rinsed it put it in and done. Didn't see and negative effects on the livestock or plants. I didn't bother to test kH. (didn't have a test kit t the time anyhow)


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## rs79 (Dec 7, 2004)

I use a half inch of manure from the grovery/garden store with 4-5" of playbox sand from home depot.

Cost about $17 to do a 50 gallon tank.

I've been using this for about a decade.


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