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Profile Plat Soil/Black Magic Sandblasting Sand ??
Hello All,
I have been keeping tropical fish, most currently Discus, for some time now
with only average success in keeping plants. So I have been reading the APD
for some time and have decided to take the plunge and build a 75g planted
Discuss tank ! (Oh no what have I done). I've definitely been bitten and
my wife thinks the plants in my Discus tank look nice but now she won't talk
to me anymore. I told her I'm "building up to reef tanks" so I can raiser
her some pearls !? Oh well she will be "saved" soon enough. On with the
questions and one comment.
Q1: While in my Home Depot searching for, you got it, sandblasting sand, I
stumbled across "Professional" Aquatic Plant Soil from AIMCOR (Buffalo
Grove, IL) called "Profile" in the pond section. Anyone heard of it, used
it, or have any comments/recommendations about it's use in planted aquarium
? The package indicated that it could be used for "all kinds of aquatic
plants", meets some kind of NASA requirements for hydroponics medium on
shuttle flights (maybe it's crushed moon rocks!), and (most interestingly),
"holds and exchanges nutrients for the roots of aquatic plants". It seems
to be some sort of kiln fired mineral blend that contains thousand of
internal and external pore spaces that will hold water and nutrients. It
seems pretty inert, not a chemical (I thought everything is made from
chemicals), it's not a fertilizer, and non toxic (to what? Home Depot
employees ?), and has no effect on pH.
I got so excited I paid 7 bucks for it and here I am. (maybe a little buyers
remorse happening here?)
Has any one looked at the CEC on this stuff ??
How much would one use if one where to use it ?
How should I mix it, with sand, vermiculite, 5% organic material, worm
castings ?
How much wood could a woodchuck chuck ... oh sorry.
HOW HOW HOW...this sounds like a Timber Wolf convention...sorry.
Q2: All I could find for sandblasting sand is "#1240 Black Magic" which is
some sort of coal slag. I found this stuff in a tools rental place (my
reasoning was if you rent sandblasters you must have you know what). It
looks to be more course than sand and just the right size for a top
substrate layer, maybe too sharp for algae/scavengers, but it's got this
great jet-black color that would look real cool, maybe mixed with white
sandblasting sand. Will this stuff just make one big carbon filter across
the bottom of the 75g ? (I can hear the flames now). Your thoughts on it's
use......covering my space-age crushed moon-rock lateriate with Red-Art clay
balls, kitty liter, worm castings, Liliponds, Osmicote, PMDD concoction...
of course.
Comment: This list has been very informative and fun read. Thanks to all
for their effort and knowledge. One day I may figure this all out.
Tom Brennan
Brennans at ix_netcom.com