CHEAP DIRT vs EXPENSIVE AQUASOIL: THE FINAL VERDICT!

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  • Опубліковано 1 січ 2025

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  • @jc13781
    @jc13781 2 роки тому +120

    considering that both soils worked equally well at growing plants, but one costs about 20x the price, i think it might be safe to give pond soil the win

    • @williammcdowell6257
      @williammcdowell6257 2 роки тому +20

      Yes, who wants to pay a ridiculous price for pelleted soil? And, if a tank runs for years rather than months, in my experience, the baked pellets turn to mud. And a capping off with horticultural grit keeps the soil/mud insitu at much lower cost than fancy gravels.

    • @Maxime-ho9iv
      @Maxime-ho9iv 11 місяців тому +3

      2 different soils aquariums dosed with same liquid fertilizer perform the same way, what a surprise.

    • @breadcrumbles5753
      @breadcrumbles5753 7 місяців тому +5

      ​Except, one costs 20x more than the other

  • @kojiokamoto9926
    @kojiokamoto9926 2 роки тому +47

    Hi Mark, I am a Japanese aquarist living in Australia. I am really impressed about what you do in this UA-cam channel!
    I am sorry if already other people have mentioned, but I was really interested in the iron level and the moss colour deference in the two tanks. Because I just knew as a knowledge that moss doesn’t show good colour in a water column with higher content of iron. Your experiment definitely proved this! Some people said in the comment that moss likes more phosphate, but I don’t agree to this because the reading of the two phosphate levels are not hugely different and also moss doesn’t consume too much nutrients in general anyway…
    In addition to how moss grow, you also mentioned tap water VS RO water. This also proved that the knowledge we have in Japan that moss grow nicer in soft water. I assume the tap water in Europe is generally quite hard. So there would be fair difference in mineral content between these two water.
    I hope you find this interesting⭐️

    • @kibawhitefang7176
      @kibawhitefang7176 3 місяці тому

      Thanks for this information. Quite interesting

  • @davedelgado708
    @davedelgado708 2 роки тому +40

    You allways mame very interesting experiments, Would be interesting to see a deep susbtrate (10cm) vs a shallow substrate (1cm)

  • @jackoghost
    @jackoghost 2 роки тому +18

    the best depends on you aquarium goals, if like to change your aqauscapes often, with fast results you would be better off with aquasoil, if you like to keep your aquascape long term beyond 2 years then dirted would be better,

  • @TheNafrest
    @TheNafrest 2 роки тому +11

    Hello, you have to try the method we use in Argentina. We use a combination of homemade substrate. We use laterite, sand and gravel. that small layer occupies 2cm of the aquarium floor and then we seal it with 4cm of gravel.
    Greetings from Argentina

  • @joshposhgosh11
    @joshposhgosh11 2 роки тому +22

    You definitely need to try dirt (dirt, gravel, sand mix) capped with aqua soil and root tabs. But that is a long, long term tank.

    • @Historyiswatching
      @Historyiswatching 2 роки тому

      How come? Is that order specific?

    • @thomaxtube
      @thomaxtube Рік тому +5

      @@Historyiswatching yes it keeps the nutrients away from polluting the water column., yet available to plants, check “father fish” for specifics: In short 1inch of organic pond or potting soil with or without root tabs. Capped with minimum 2 inch of sand to provide anoxic bacteria where to live, below, topped with chosen gravel for decoration when desired, plant roots in the sand layer not deeper not to burn the roots with nutrients.
      This way the always undisturbed soil & sand layer becomes a natural filter and CO2 system for the tank.
      And it won’t need water changes as long as it isn’t over fed food&fertilizer.
      Namaste 🙏

  • @saifsaiful9596
    @saifsaiful9596 2 роки тому +9

    dirted soil with aqua soil caping has fantastic experience with me.. it works really great...

    • @thesolaraquarium
      @thesolaraquarium 2 роки тому +2

      Same here - been doing it for over a year and its fantastic.

  • @tombarb2864
    @tombarb2864 2 роки тому +8

    Glad to see the conclusion of the experiment. Both methods seem similar. You mentioned reverse osmosis water…… one of the aquarium warehouses I visit sells reverse osmosis water. The hose from the storefront with its tap in the parking lot always has a long line of people filling their jugs. Our tap water here in Southern California is sooo hard and alkaline. Maybe I need to investigate further for my future 75 gallon tank plans …… 😎

    • @themarkerfairy1607
      @themarkerfairy1607 2 роки тому +1

      As a former Southern California resident, you’ll enjoy having it to drink for yourself as well! I actually installed one in our sink for drinking water, not just fish hahah

  • @williamaaronhicks2198
    @williamaaronhicks2198 2 роки тому +8

    Speaking of tank cycling (for the new experiment) and your ongoing experiments and cycling in general - perhaps an experiment that does a head-to-head comparison on which biomedias cycle most quickly, and create the strongest bacterial colonies, etc. to determine if ceramic vs sintered glass vs natural pumice are truly any better than the other are supporting microbial life. Does one support ammonia to nitrite conversion more quickly, or nitrite to nitrate more quickly? Could a conclusion be drawn that one type better supports anaerobic bacteria (if at all)?

  • @mr.solodolo3000
    @mr.solodolo3000 Рік тому +5

    I feel like something needs to be cleared up thats painfully simple but unfortunately being overlooked by so many. When you put aqua soil or any kind of nutrient rich substrate for a fish tank in you tank and then you do water change after water change and you have a tiny bioload and barely any biodiversity, every single water change you do you yourself are creating the nutrient deficiencies. So instead of diluting all your fertilizer and then buying more at 2x the price in liquid form to manually pump back into your tank to just dilute it again a week later with another change so you can pump more fertilizer.. i mean you see where im going here right? Its a bit redundant. You would never make tea, get it tasting just right and then start diluting it with water so you can add more tea bags and try to get it right again.. that doesnt even make sense. Put your tank together with plants substrate, rocks etc. and then leave it alone. No need to dilute your plants food. Water changes dont even occur naturally in nature, seriously. Just get your bioload and biodiversity balanced. Wish you all less maintenance everywhere. Cheers!

    • @brunopyck6369
      @brunopyck6369 4 місяці тому

      Finally, some common sense!
      It's amazing how companies have been able to recommend al this nonsense for years.
      I recommend looking into 'father fish', He gets it.

  • @williamwescott4213
    @williamwescott4213 2 роки тому +4

    Very valuable work, Mark. Thank you for undertaking it to benefit us all. What I'm wondering is whether this experiment doesn't lead to the conclusion that enriched substrate is not necessary at ll. Maybe there could be a comparison of dirt capped with aquasoil against sand or fine gravel with tabs or capsules of fertilizer embedded and both with liquid fertilizers from the start. Could be that the soil is only valuable for its mechanical properties of encouraging rooting by non-epiphytes and providing surface for microorganisms.

  • @vulnerablerummy
    @vulnerablerummy 2 роки тому +4

    i've tried propagating some rotalas and a number of other plants emersed using sands for constructions (they're pretty cheap but can be rock hard when dry) as substrates, early on the plants do struggle adapting and had small leaves, but after i sprayed hydroponic solutions weekly, honestly they grew as well as those that grew in regular fertilized dirt/aquasoil. i guess liquid ferts do matter a lot

  • @gavinmelton2470
    @gavinmelton2470 2 роки тому +6

    I would love to see your attempt at a homemade liquid fertilizer, you have really good DIY projects which is something a lot of high tech aquarium YT is missing.

  • @JuanSalazar-j316
    @JuanSalazar-j316 2 роки тому

    Here we are not only talking about personal preferences, but also about $$$. Thank you for this experiment, it showed us more than expected!!

  • @angryzombie8088
    @angryzombie8088 Рік тому

    Yes, indeed the growth in the dirt is much more vigorous. And yeah Aquasoil is more convenient & less messy to work with.

  • @dylanvisitacion8618
    @dylanvisitacion8618 2 роки тому +2

    With no real difference, I'll stick with aquasoil, simply for ease of use. Nice experiment, thanks 👍

  • @WifeOfTheBeast
    @WifeOfTheBeast Рік тому

    I'm sure you've heard of Father Fish. I'm curious if there are ways to make these things work even better with some of their ideas about returning the water to its natural state by adding in pond bacteria to keep the nutrient cycle in continuous motion. Then you can use any substrate, dirt and sand, or aqua soil indefinitely. I'm so new at this, you guys are the pros!

  • @carolh6959
    @carolh6959 4 місяці тому

    Thanks MJ for these invaluable experiments 😊
    I'm trying to decide on the substrate for a new tank myself and now I'm thinking of adding a % of aqua soil to pond compost I have and also a little addition of blood/fish/bone that I would normally use when planting (out in the garden), then cap it off with river sand.
    I don't use co2 but use good plant lights. I need this tank to stay insitu for a long time so really hope it works! 🙏 If I have to eventually, I'll add root tabs or liquid ferts..whatever is needed for good, healthy plant growth and of course for the long term health of my fish (especially my elders 😉) Thanks for this insight, I've found that even my own setup, with water, light and environment can really vary to other fish keepers and to sustain it, I've got to work with what is available to me longterm too.
    Have newly subscribed now, Carol (Ireland 🇮🇪)

  • @Taladrane
    @Taladrane 2 роки тому +4

    I'd be curious to see an inert substrate vs aquasoil when you have c02, high lighting and ferts dosed to the water column.

  • @jc13781
    @jc13781 2 роки тому

    wow the red only tank is finally starting to come along, nice! can't wait to see the next vid on it

  • @TheNanoAquariumGuy
    @TheNanoAquariumGuy 2 роки тому +3

    I think one can see the difference at the time of breakdown. Dirty is way messier, but atleast for me it has given me the nicer plant growth. I do also mix both very small layer of dirt (wormcasting is my preference) a small layer of sand and then aquasoil. The dirty replace root tabs.

    • @sh3nnanigans79
      @sh3nnanigans79 2 роки тому +4

      I recently set up a 40. The entire thing has 2 inches of dirt, 1 of aqua soil and 2 sand. And a huge 4” bank of gravel on 1/3 of it.
      This method gives every nutrient you could ask for, something for roots to grab onto and prevents the substrate from going anaerobic. And the extra aqua soil really helps the dirt stay at the bottom and not in the water column.

  • @Raven74947
    @Raven74947 2 роки тому +2

    I've been using the same eco complete substrate for about 7 years in one tank. I've taken it all out and thoroughly rinsed it several times. It has some coarse white sand mixed in now too. I add root tabs when I put it back. I learned the hard way that the root tabs are important, but otherwise it still works great. Been wondering if other substrates can be reused with the same success.

  • @MeanOldLady
    @MeanOldLady 5 місяців тому

    Yeah, I had a feeling these would bear out to be very similar as it's basically compost vs fertilizer-boosted cat litter (bentonite/green clay).
    I do planted tanks with compost from my yard + a teaspoon of moringa powder per 10 gallons mixed in. The compost is a mix of aged chicken manure + a mix of random wood chips. The compost is aged for a year before I add it to my raised beds or aquariums.

  • @aquarioturbinado
    @aquarioturbinado 2 роки тому

    Great video, I was suprised by the result as well. Here in Brazil the dirt tanks are ussualy associate with ammonia spikes and a lot of algae, congrats on another great video!

  • @marvinscotton8658
    @marvinscotton8658 2 роки тому

    Both tanks look fantastic. I enjoyed the videos.

  • @sunaymukherjee7576
    @sunaymukherjee7576 2 роки тому +4

    Both has its pros and cons . Biggest pros of dirt will be its price while its biggest con will be the fact that you cannot move the plants around so easily . Aquasoil is costly but much better in terms of cleanliness and safer because its tried and tested for a long time

    • @shaon_rahman_khan
      @shaon_rahman_khan 2 роки тому +1

      This is true. There are workaround to it though. For example, pull a plant gently. Yes, with aquasoil you can just yank it out. But its still can be done with dirted tank. The only big issue would be, a heavy root feeding plants like Swords or Crypts. But a careful initial planning can take care of it. Another workaround is, to put dirt in mesh bag. That way, its lot less messier when pulling plants out.
      I used them both. As MJ said in the video, never really noticed a clear winner here.

    • @traumahealingandprevention
      @traumahealingandprevention 2 роки тому +1

      If we were to read a lot of the German aquarists with their aquatic vivariums, I am pretty sure that dirt is the oldest used substrate.
      I think repeating this experiment with out the CO2 might yield different results. Especially after a longer time period.
      I might be wrong, looks like only one way to find out🤷‍♂️

  • @Sp_K1984
    @Sp_K1984 2 роки тому

    About the moss, usually they prefer soft water. I water terrestrial mosses on my terrariums with sprayed distilled water and they do much better than with bottled or tap water. Maybe that extends to aquatic mosses too… great experiment, always wanted to see the difference between Walstad-ish methods and aqua soil!

  • @asifali007
    @asifali007 2 роки тому

    wow loved the dirt tank especially that red ludwiga

  • @ind3n
    @ind3n 2 роки тому +3

    I love gaby buppies

  • @MrBarclonista
    @MrBarclonista 2 роки тому +2

    you should try both in one tank, put divider in the middle of the substrate half dirt half aqua soil

  • @cprogress
    @cprogress Рік тому +2

    How far into the dirt cap do you put the plants. Do you put the plants just into the cap so the roots grow down into the bottom substrate?, or do you go through the cap and plant the plants directly into the bottom layer substrate?

  • @dawidgajek5987
    @dawidgajek5987 2 роки тому

    Hello
    I spent 200 euro for 27l of Amazonia Light and after a few months the aquasoil began to fall apart.
    The Ada dealer said that is ok cause its nature soil and sometimes IT happen.
    Maybe the problem has accuared due the poor storage.
    Im still Ada fan but i'm not suprise that people want to experiment with dirt cheap aquarium.
    Thanks for your UA-cam channel.
    Looking forward for the next topics.

  • @sjoer
    @sjoer 11 місяців тому

    I always use a small layer of potgrond for my aquarium!

  • @merlost1624
    @merlost1624 2 роки тому +3

    Tap water vs Osmose/RO water next?

  • @Joshua-uq9zw
    @Joshua-uq9zw 2 роки тому +2

    An experiment that would be cool would be to actually try out that theory of dirt + aquasoil to see if that is indeed the ultimate substrate

  • @asifali007
    @asifali007 2 роки тому

    please do a video on how much light is good in watts for steady growth in planted aquariums

  • @Whiskershaven01
    @Whiskershaven01 2 роки тому +1

    Which lights are on these 2 tanks please? Many thanks.both looks amazing

    • @MJAquascaping
      @MJAquascaping  2 роки тому +1

      Chihiros A II Series

    • @Whiskershaven01
      @Whiskershaven01 2 роки тому

      @@MJAquascaping thankyou.i am using a series on one of my tank but struggling with green algae? Any tips to get rid of it? Many thanks

  • @slinkyscapes8530
    @slinkyscapes8530 2 роки тому +1

    Mark, did you find planting into dirt was better ?, like had a better hold on the tiny roots.
    It’s certainly good for thought when you consider price, over here soil is 3-4 times more expensive than pond dirt.

    • @MJAquascaping
      @MJAquascaping  2 роки тому +1

      Planting into the dirted tank was easier because of the gravel! It's a lot heavier then aquasoil, so the plants just stay better.

  • @mac0771
    @mac0771 2 роки тому +2

    GABY BUPPIES, LMAO!!!

  • @D1ORogue
    @D1ORogue 2 роки тому

    You should try an enclosed ecosystem with some small fish and/or shrimp with soil as a substrate capped with medium sized gravel mixed with some aqua soil thinly layered between the gravel and a smal layer of gravel to hold the plants down. Plain aqua soil in my opinion poorly keeps plants down if you don’t use enough tbh

  • @JG-ej5gp
    @JG-ej5gp Рік тому

    The funny thing is that for me aqua soil is actually a lot cheaper than buying pond soil plus sand or gravel to cap it. Keep in mind im only setting up a couple of tanks and no more, so in the long term just getting a bag of aquasoil instead of all this other stuff is actually better for me.

  • @rickyabdullah4758
    @rickyabdullah4758 2 роки тому

    Great experiment 👍🏻

  • @FirasASalih
    @FirasASalih 10 місяців тому

    What about make a mix from dirt and aqua soil??

  • @Sinserg
    @Sinserg 2 роки тому +2

    That's exactly what I am going to do, dirt and aquasoil so that's the best of both worlds should work just fine right? 😅

  • @rociomena3150
    @rociomena3150 11 місяців тому

    Omg your plants are so beautiful. What are the names of the plants. Thank you!

  • @WTFENIGMA
    @WTFENIGMA 2 роки тому +1

    What is the plant in the corner looks like clovers far right

  • @ryanbarton6739
    @ryanbarton6739 2 роки тому +1

    Do you always cap your aquasoil with sand or gravel ? maybe that's why I have so much algae I didn't cap any of my aquascapes

  • @oxon8871
    @oxon8871 Рік тому

    But will the soil tank last as long as the aquasoil?

  • @xXIronSwanXx
    @xXIronSwanXx 2 роки тому

    The plants in the dirt tank are like "we're emersed now!"

  • @God_O_Lord
    @God_O_Lord Рік тому

    Tropica soil vs fluval soil vs ada amazonia v2 which is better?

  • @DRaquascapes
    @DRaquascapes 2 роки тому

    After about 6 months,dirt will deplete in nutrients... aquasoil will continue to absorb fertilizer. Capped Dirt (even capped aquasoil) is temporary.

  • @Aquagold.goldysingh1313
    @Aquagold.goldysingh1313 2 роки тому

    wow .. awesome results.. love red plants.. goldy

  • @jbmurphy4
    @jbmurphy4 2 роки тому +1

    Did you get all the baby guppies out?! I always have to get my kids to check my water siphon for babies after weekly water changes. There are usually a few babies that get accidentally sucked out.

    • @MJAquascaping
      @MJAquascaping  2 роки тому +1

      Yeah managed to get them all, also found a few in the filter when i cleaned it

  • @krisgoyette9938
    @krisgoyette9938 2 роки тому

    Awesome from both

  • @Knight636
    @Knight636 2 роки тому +1

    MJ how is the Fzone co2 regular holding up? I need one on a budget so your thoughts on it would be appreciated.

    • @MJAquascaping
      @MJAquascaping  2 роки тому +1

      Very good actually! I think I'm using it for almost a year now, never had any issues. Stable CO2 all the time.

    • @Knight636
      @Knight636 2 роки тому

      @@MJAquascaping Thanks for the update i will take a chance on one now.

  • @mdashegde123
    @mdashegde123 2 роки тому

    This tank is almost 2 months old? I remember previous CO2 and non-co2 expt on these two tanks

  • @victornaesens
    @victornaesens 2 роки тому

    What do you feed your oto’s? Btw very nice video! Every new video gets better and better 😍

    • @MJAquascaping
      @MJAquascaping  2 роки тому

      I sometimes feed the otocinclus ''spiruline tabs'' but I think they get most of their food from the dust algae on the glass and hardscape.

  • @bethanynicole871
    @bethanynicole871 Рік тому +2

    I vote to rename baby guppies to gaby buppies

  • @dariuspfitzner1712
    @dariuspfitzner1712 2 роки тому

    I like the experiment but note that in the dirt tank you planted into rock especially at the front. Scientifically you did not do an equal comparison.

  • @camryds
    @camryds 2 роки тому +1

    with liquid ferts, are you still using lean dosing method or are you dosing ei methods as well?

    • @MJAquascaping
      @MJAquascaping  2 роки тому +2

      Always lean

    • @camryds
      @camryds 2 роки тому

      @@MJAquascaping your lean dosing video was awesome -- Definitely love your vids man. nice work and very informative -- subscriber for sure!

  • @GoodSamaritan1972
    @GoodSamaritan1972 2 роки тому

    What is the temperature of the water on your tanks?

  • @thesolaraquarium
    @thesolaraquarium 2 роки тому

    Dirt with aquasoil works very well. I use 30% potting mix and 70% aquasoil.

  • @Mahonski101
    @Mahonski101 2 роки тому

    Both look fantastic. What ferts are you using?

  • @markjohnson7857
    @markjohnson7857 2 роки тому

    Mark, what liquid fertilizer do you use? Thanks! Love your video's. 👍

  • @AxelHekk
    @AxelHekk 2 роки тому

    Kan je een video maken waar je liquid C02 zonder C02 vergelijkt?

  • @TL13579
    @TL13579 2 роки тому +2

    If both substrates are equal in terms of plant growth, then dirt would be the clear winner due to economical reasons lol

  • @trcs3079
    @trcs3079 2 роки тому

    Hi MJ,
    They say moss should be the easiest to grow but I think I have been having trouble with one of my tanks with java moss. It came via mail and it was quite lush green but after a few days in my own tank, it's been brown. So I decided to use some seachem flourish maybe twice a week and added some root tabs for my carpeting plants. Im from Australia so we pay quite a premium for everything, or in this case almost 10 dollars for a 5x5cm of java moss. I've heard when java moss is submerged in a new tank, they will brown for a bit then "reshoot" new green rhizoids, is that true? Or is there any other methods I can do, besides co2 system since in Australia it'll cost around 300 - 400 for a standard which doesn't include a few things

  • @fenixangelzamo
    @fenixangelzamo 2 роки тому

    Maybe another video of dirt tank v aquasoil but with fertilizer from the beginning

  • @Joshua-uq9zw
    @Joshua-uq9zw 2 роки тому

    @MJ can you please try Liquid carbon? You tried the tabs, but the most normal form of co2 additives is the liquid one. Im expecting it not to work but still 🤗

  • @Rorther
    @Rorther Рік тому

    Aquasoil is fine for small aquariums. But going for larger aquariums, it turns out to be very expensive, so i would go for dirt.

  • @coloryourhome976
    @coloryourhome976 Рік тому

    Merci !

  • @mihaiciornei5648
    @mihaiciornei5648 2 роки тому

    I have a question, what kind of filtering do you use?

    • @MJAquascaping
      @MJAquascaping  2 роки тому +1

      In these tanks I use the Dennerle scapers flow external filter

    • @mihaiciornei5648
      @mihaiciornei5648 2 роки тому

      @@MJAquascaping tnk u

  • @ianbrown9578
    @ianbrown9578 2 роки тому +4

    Good Test! I like Aquasoil as you don't have to cap it with sand if you don't want to. But like you say dirt is fine if you use it well.
    Also your red(pink) Crypts are starting to look good. They are taking their time though! Very slow growing.

  • @arvinstarvin5929
    @arvinstarvin5929 2 роки тому

    nature finds its way.

  • @jacktinga3581
    @jacktinga3581 2 роки тому +1

    hi

  • @apss5736
    @apss5736 2 роки тому

    nice

  • @mikefritz4111
    @mikefritz4111 2 роки тому

    1 big difference is $ I can't afford aquasoil

  • @naudynaudy7940
    @naudynaudy7940 2 роки тому

    GABY Buppies... HAHAHA.

  • @gbaquascaping63
    @gbaquascaping63 2 роки тому +2

    Excelent honest video 👏