Aqua Soil Amazonia Ver 2 (9L)

Plants are thriving. Full planted tank running for over a year, barley have to add any extra additives and plants keep growing and look great.

My plants picked up immediately after I poured the whole 9 liters of this stuff over the existing inert substrate in a 75G tank. The crypts in it were stunted and other plants were not super happy either. After adding this stuff, the crypts melted a few old leaves but immediately started new leaf growth and quite fast too. All plants began to look better and the moderate brown algae bloom in the tank disappeared on its own in the process.It did lower the tank PH some in the beginning, but not excessively. It dropped from 6.5 to 6.1. Then it gradually recovered to where it was before in a month or so. I poured it in after a light rinse (if you press hard on the granules, they crumble into dust). It did not cause any clouding in the water column. Given this was an established planted tank, there was no ammonia or nitrite spike at all. There was a slight nitrate increase from 5 to 15ppm, which was easy to revert with a few water changes. I had underestimated the significance of a good substrate and I wish I tried adding soil sooner. It would have saved me some struggle with growing plants.

The best aqua soil there is. I bought 3 bags for my OASE scaperline 90cm tank. Used all 3 to create a slope to the back for depth in my aquascape. Having the rest of the ADA substrate system would be nice but I just used crushed lava rock in media bags and then put Amazonia over it. Having the root tabs is nice because it still gives lots of nutrients but its a smaller release of nutrients all at once. Compared to the previous version of Amazonia I would say this has less nutrients but also causes way less issues with algae and if needed can be recharged with root tabs. I definitely prefer V2 vs V1 Amazonia. It is a little pricey but compared to other products it is much better and substrate is the foundation of your aquascape so I think it is worth spending the extra $$

Great size for the money and the consistency of the granule size is just perfect!

Works well but definetly releases ammonia!

Great soil for planted aquarium. I bought it multiple times already. Definitely not cheap but good guarantee quality. Only bad part is it took a long time (wks) to treat to remove the ammonia to a safe level so be careful.

First, this is the product is amazing. However:A WORD OF WARNING TO NEWER HOBBYISTS: this aquasoil does two things you may not have expected. First, it will temporarily cause an ammonia spike in your water column for the first couple weeks to a month. During this temporary period, it will not be safe to house fish or shrimp in the aquarium. Do test your water frequently when first setting up an aquarium with this product. This is not a flaw in the product, it is helping cycle your aquarium which is necessary to safely keep fish and other aquatic animal life. It will eventually cycle, be patient.The second thing this aquasoil does is pull down your KH and PH significantly. Aquasoil is often used in combination with CO2 injection which will further pull down your PH. This is fine, but please be aware that you may have a significantly lower KH content and PH level then if you used an inert substrate and you should either stock the tank with animals that thrive in lower KH/PH or have a plan to raise the PH/KH content.With that out of the way, here's my review: I have some of the more finnicky plants in my aquarium (Utricularia graminifolia, dwarf baby tears, monte carlo, and half a dozen species of bucephalandra) and they are all thriving due to a combination of this aquasoil, CO2 injection, and liquid fertilizer. It is definitely a pricier aquasoil but it is absolutely a quality product. I have made the mistake in the past of buying cheap substrate and it showed in my plant growth. I would recommend this to anyone who is committed to the planted tank hobby.

This substrate was very easy to plant in. With great results. Fish are thriving. A bag arrived slightly damaged and I felt uncomfortable using it. I notified the seller. They immediately responded and gave me a choice if either another bag or a refund. They worked fast. I also revamped my 16g Biorb. I replaced the filter and light and substrate. Used this substrate along with a simple but large sponge filter. The tank took time before it was ready for fish of course. Was in no hurry. I waited to plant too until about the one month mark. I did water change about once or twice a week in the beginning and only half or so.