Nick Zarlinga
Aquarium Biologist
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
216.661.6500 ext 4485
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-nanfa_at_aquaria.net On Behalf
Of Al G Eaton
Sent: Monday, February 03, 2003 7:47 AM
To: nanfa_at_aquaria.net
Subject: RE: NANFA-- That whole sandbed thing.
Its all a product called Profile, commonly used as a
soil amendment for ballfields. You can save a ton of
money by finding profile at a garden store,
landscaping store, etc that sell it in bulk. I had to
hunt for awhile to find it but, eventually you can
find a source thats about 20-40% the cost of the
schultz one. Its a wonderful fracted clay with great
ionic carrying capacity. Used by itself it wont grow
plants very well, because its essentially inert. You
have to add micronutrients and macronutrients to make
it work. Because of its ability to bind the ions to
the fracted clay, it is able to present the nutrients
in the state that plants can use them. I have a small
tub pond that uses it. If I don't feed the plants
regularly they languish.
I ran two ten gallon tanks side by side using the same
types of plants, lighting, etc. One tank had Profile
and fertilizer and the other just Profile. There was
a dramatic difference between the two tanks, with the
fertilized Profile proving to be as good as Fluorite
in growing plants. The drawback to profile is its so
light, you can't really sculpt with it and its hard
initially to keep plants rooted. The color is also
kind of drab with uniform particle size, but if you
have enough plants to cover the aquarium bottom, the
drabness becomes a non-issue.
Its been about 18 years since I tried growing plants
in sand. Back then I saw a dramatic spurt in plant
growth and then a die-off (eventually) of the plants
at the root base. MTS might be helpful there. Its
worth another experiment though. I am quickly running
out of enough bright lights to run all the tests :-),
so that test will have to be put off until I can get
more adequate lighting.
Klaus
--- Jeffrey Fullerton <tcmajorr_at_westol.com> wrote:
> A couple months ago I started experimenting with a
> product from Shultzs
> called "Aquatic Plant Soil". It's a clay product
> sort of like a course
> grade of kitty litter- except that it does not
> disolve in water and get
> mushy but stays in a gravel like form. I've been
> using it in pond
> baskets for growing milfoils and other submerged
> plants and also as a
> soil amendment for terrestrial plants in the
> greenhouse!
>
> I am now contemplating it's use as a substrate in
> aquaria and possibly
> in the greenhouse pond. The color is sort of a
> reddish tan that looks
> like natural clay so it might make a great natural
> looking substrate. It
> allows water (or air in the case of terrestrial
> plants) circulation
> which is good for roots.
>
> There is also a product called "clay soil
> conditioner" which may be the
> same thing for possibly a lower price. What I've
> been getting is about
> $6 a bag from Busy Beaver- which is probably enough
> to cover the bottom
> of a small tank- 10 to 15 gallons.
>
> May have to give it a try.
>
> Jeff
> /"Unless stated otherwise, comments made on this
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> / reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American
> Native Fishes
> / Association"
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> / For more information about NANFA, visit our web
> page, http://www.nanfa.org
=====
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-- /"Unless stated otherwise, comments made on this list do not necessarily / reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes / Association" / This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes Association / nanfa_at_aquaria.net. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get help, send the word / subscribe, unsubscribe, or help in the body (not subject) of an email to / nanfa-request_at_aquaria.net. For a digest version, send the command to / nanfa-digest-request_at_aquaria.net instead. / For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org /----------------------------------------------------------------------------- /"Unless stated otherwise, comments made on this list do not necessarily / reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes / Association" / This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes Association / nanfa_at_aquaria.net. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get help, send the word / subscribe, unsubscribe, or help in the body (not subject) of an email to / nanfa-request_at_aquaria.net. For a digest version, send the command to / nanfa-digest-request_at_aquaria.net instead. / For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org