# Has anyone tried Microbe-Lift Aquatic planting media?



## Reef2plants (Jan 24, 2011)

Just curious if anyone has seen this stuff. Picked up a 15lb bag for 14$ It looks like a light grey Flourite. Also claims to have bacteria seeded. Set up a little 10 gal powered by natural sunlight to test it.
Curious about others experience as well


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## helen123 (Jul 14, 2011)

Hi sir, I am curious. Do you have the picture?


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## Reef2plants (Jan 24, 2011)

http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=12275
Ill try and get some quick pics of the tank up soon. It seems to behave a lot like florite. Its MUCH cheaper than most commercial substrates out there. Gonna try capping MTS with it soon.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

This is very interesting. It is as far from the useless, but popular Fluorite as it can be. This "Microbe Lift" could be a perfect substitute for AquaSoil.

Google "Montmorillionite" or "Smectite". The two things that struck me were the fact that has a huge CEC (apparently 2x the CEC of other clays). It could be capable of sequestering nutrients from the water very efficiently. Meaning that it could be more effective than AquaSoil in sucking food from the water and providing it to the roots. The question is how willing is this "Microbe Lift" to give the nutrients to the roots. Does it hold them tight and does not let them be used by the roots.

The second thing that struck me was that the material contains a bunch of minerals and traces. Seems like the perfect substrate. Apparently it can enhance the colors of koi fish and even be mixed with their food to provide these minerals/traces. This is the same thing, just ground up:
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=10852

One thing that worries me is that this is a material used in drilling for oil. I've used tons of it when I worked in the oilfield. It is a very soft material that swells and forms a completely impenetrable clay when under water. For a planted tank that means that it could compact very badly - making a substrate that is basically a wet clay slab laying on the bottom of the tank. I wonder if the best use would be to mix it with an inert substrate to avoid compaction and still use the high CEC + minerals/traces.

This material is interesting, very interesting, for a planted tank. But to see if it is indeed useful it needs to be used in a tank that is run the way ADA runs their tanks. With no nutrients in the water. This will show how beneficial the "Microbe Lift" really is for our hobby.

And to conclude - this material is nothing new to this hobby. Remember 10 years ago folk using cat litter as a substrate. It is the same thing, haha. But this type of materials are altered by man in a variety of ways and this "Microbe Lift" could be a little different and more useful than cat litter. Especially if used properly.

--Nikolay


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

Isn't is just the french name for turface?


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## ukamikazu (Jun 4, 2010)

Reef2plants said:


> http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=12275
> Ill try and get some quick pics of the tank up soon. It seems to behave a lot like florite. Its MUCH cheaper than most commercial substrates out there. Gonna try capping MTS with it soon.


It is nothing like Flourite and I love it! It's arcillite (highly fired montmorillonite as Niko correctly discerned) and zeolite, about a 70/30 mix. I used it on top of my MTS and it is very light and soft but not like Turface, it doesn't get airborne and is still burrower friendly. The CEC is insane. It stripped the calcium out of my tap water and sequestered the silicic acid from a new tank, so no diatoms! Even though it is light, it is very easy to plant in, it does grab stems pretty good. The first time I filled the tank with water, the next day I had to top it it up another three inches because it sucked up that much of the water into itself. So far as I can tell, it will not become a clay slab as Niko fears.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

This is very interesting! I've wanted to try cat litter as a substrate for a while, but the problem of finding a brand that has no clumping agents, absorbtion additives, and perfume has stopped me. It sounds like F&S sells another similar product for the same price.

I've played with unfired montmorillonite as a sealant for pond liners, and it is just as gooey and impermeable as Niko remembers. But if this product is fired, it should stay in solid granules for a long time.

Ukamikazu, how long has your tank been set up with this stuff? What kinds of plants have you grown in it? You mentioned that you used it over MTS (my favorite!)--do you also dose fertilizers, or is the substrate plus fish waste enough?

--Michael


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## ukamikazu (Jun 4, 2010)

Michael said:


> This is very interesting! I've wanted to try cat litter as a substrate for a while, but the problem of finding a brand that has no clumping agents, absorbtion additives, and perfume has stopped me. It sounds like F&S sells another similar product for the same price.
> 
> I've played with unfired montmorillonite as a sealant for pond liners, and it is just as gooey and impermeable as Niko remembers. But if this product is fired, it should stay in solid granules for a long time.
> 
> ...


I put 3.25" over .75" of MTS and it is growing plants very well. I have an unstoppable hedge of _Limnophila sp. 'Guinea'_, an ever expanding copse of _Ludwigia senegalensis_ and the widest, bushiest, most compact _Hygrophila odora_ I've ever seen. My _Bolbitis_ and Zenker Lotus are almost uncontrollable. The _Marsilea_ foreground is becoming nice and lawn like in this 2.5 month old Central African tank which is a 40 breeder. My coffee leaved _Anubias barteri_ blooms frequently, grows a new leaf every two weeks and has been once already (its roots do penetrate down into the substrate). _Crinum_ lilies will always be slow but the _C. calamistratum_ has no complaints and the Bacopa monnieri is even more weedy in this stuff which presents to challenges for plants to root in and is nice and fluffy so oxygen really gets down in there especially if you have good laminar flow.

By the way, I used this brand of pond soil, this is the arcillite and zeolite and I'm getting really good bang for my buck with it, http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=5163+5178+14264&pcatid=14264.

I have had no need to do any more substrate fertilization beyond some well placed but generous amounts of Osmocote, laterite, dolomitic lime and muriate of potash. Of course, uneaten food, mulm and PPS Pro help a lot but I don't think the arcillite is anywhere near saturated yet. No algae problems to speak of either except for some very small clado spots on the Bolbitis which the _Sicydium_ gobies keep mowed.

Here's a shot from 30/07. It looks very different today.









Of course, it has since grown in even more and the Bacopa became enough of an invasive that I took it out. I'll see about updating my journal at http://www.aquaticplantenthusiasts....a-general-what-i-did-my-4th-july-weekend.html. It's been just over a month since my last update so I should get on that this evening.


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## ukamikazu (Jun 4, 2010)

I forgot to mention something. That link to that arcillite/zeolite substrate, I only needed about 3/5 of the big 25 pound bag to give me 3-4 inches of depth and that's with a pretty high slope in the back and I was able to sell the rest plus another full bag to another hobbyist in town so a li'l dab'll do ya.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Thanks for all the info!

Just so everyone is clear, there are two products under discussion here, both sold by Foster and Smith.

Ukamikazu uses Pond Care Aquatic Planting Media. This is the highly fired montmorillonite and zeolite, about a 70/30 mix.

Reef2plants originally asked about Microbe-Lift Concentrated Aquatic Planting Media, which is 100% montmorillonite, but otherwise very similar.


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## dstrong (Feb 13, 2011)

Wow +1 on the clear-up Michael. I was going to ask until I got down to your post. =D


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## Reef2plants (Jan 24, 2011)

Good to hear everyone! So far I am having excellent results in my no tech setup with the 100% clay media. I wish I never bought flourite! This stuff is very easy to plant in, doesnt cloud the water when disturbed, and sinks right back into place when it is disturbed. Loving it so far. This stuff is CHEAP too


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