# ADA Soil Problem- time oriented!!!!



## Thekid (Aug 3, 2010)

So i bought some plants yesterday which i was planning to put in a tank i would set up later. As soon as i added water to the tank it clouded up like mud and it been like that since, while the plants have been waiting in a bucket the whole night and day. Can anyone help me? Ill post pictures soon!!
This is what the tank looks like now.







This is how is how I've kept my plants almost 24 hours.







all the best,
Stefan


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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

I haven't used ADA but I don't think it would hurt the plants to be in the cloudy water with a heater & light. It's probably better than an unheated bucket, in my uninformed opinion. I've kept plants in buckets for a couple of days without harm, although hornwort struggles.


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

Thekid said:


> So i bought some plants yesterday which i was planning to put in a tank i would set up later. As soon as i added water to the tank it clouded up like mud and it been like that since, while the plants have been waiting in a bucket the whole night and day. Can anyone help me? Ill post pictures soon!!
> This is what the tank looks like now.
> View attachment 7483
> 
> ...


Hello Stefan.

Try to siphon as much of the water out as possible (all if you can) and then slowly refill the tank without disturbing the ADA. You may have to more than once. This is is usually the quickest way to remove the fine particulates in the ADA.

Best regards,

Stuart


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## Thekid (Aug 3, 2010)

Thanks for the reply, easier said then done though as I'm using buckets apposed to sink siphon 


CRS Fan said:


> Hello Stefan.
> 
> Try to siphon as much of the water out as possible (all if you can) and then slowly refill the tank without disturbing the ADA. You may have to more than once. This is is usually the quickest way to remove the fine particulates in the ADA.
> 
> ...


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

I sit a bucket on the frame of the tank and siphon water back into the tank allow the water to flow over a plate laying on the surface. It's how I do water changes in my tanks (all have ADA as substrate except for my 10 gallon with Fluval Stratum). It can be labour intensive, but it minimizes the disturbance of the substrate.

Respectfully,

Stuart


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

I just had a dish when I poured the water in and then ran my filter. After 1 hour, all was clear, but then my tank is only 8 gallons.


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## Fansons (May 20, 2010)

I have no ADA experience, so really can't help you. Like previous post said, do water change, if your filter is good enought, it should clear in a day or two. We have the same size of tank and I am running a fluval 205 and Eheim 2217 at the same time.

You can cut a piece of sponge and cover your hose when doing water change. Plants in the bucket is fine, if u want to put a heater, add more water, and place the heater on the bottom, or leaf might get too hot and burn if too close to the heater.


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

You can add QuickClear to flocculate the water and filter it with filter floss. It should clear up overnight, then remove and dispose of filter floss and you should be good to go.


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## theinnkeeper (Sep 12, 2011)

A canister filter or hob filter should clear that up


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## AdobeOtoCat (Dec 10, 2011)

I added used ADA to my tank recently. I made the mistake of not washing it and drying it out before I added it to the tank. I added the water very carefully but there were still very very fine ada (in the form of dried up mud) in the whole thing. My tank went milk white. I tested ammonia for 3 days straight and it was at 0. I decided to get crystal clear AP (aquarium products). I did a 50% water change. Followed by 25% wc everyother day. Now with 4 days counting with following the instructions of 1drop/gal every 24 hours, it is still a bit murky. I'm guessing it'll clear up on Thursday at the earliest. Note, be careful not to change too much water. Change water as if you would do the cycling process, since the cloudiness will eventually subside in 2-3 weeks (mine was already cycled, so you might either get a combination of excess fine ions and bacterial bloom for the ammonia.). ADA needs to be fish less cycled by itself due to the sudden spikes of ammonia. So yup. In a sense, don't worry about it. Also, leave the plants in bucket. You can't do any landscaping in murky water, but do it when you feel that you can just get enough vision to scape. Do take notice of the water will become murkier once you stick a plant in. This is what I experienced very recently. Best of luck.

p.s. the reason to plant it asap is to suck up the excess nutrients to prevent algae growth. Either that, you can leave it in the bucket with no lights on the tank.


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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

How's it going, Stefan?


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## serhiobc (Jan 9, 2012)

Is far as I know if you leave the ADA soil to dry out it may cliud your water. As soon as you take it from the pakage you should plant it and fill it with the water the same day otherwize it will cloud your water. I read this in the Aqua Journal the other day. Also if you are using the powder type soil which is intended to be place on the sourface of the regular aquasoil for cosmetic looks purpose that can make the water cloudy.


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## liquid_krystale (Dec 13, 2011)

I went through the exact same thing you did, Stefan. I made the mistake of just pouring the water in (albeit gently), and was rewarded with an incredibly muddy tank. I was told to let it just settle, but almost a week later it was just as murky. 

I had to change out 90+% of the water, then use a siphon to stir up the surface 0.5 inch of substrate to remove any mud sitting on the surface layer of ADA that would've flew up to cloud the water again when I put water back in. Afterwards, I put a plastic bag on the surface and very gently poured water into the tank so that the flow was extremely diffuse. I repeated this once every 2-3 days, and could see the water clear up visibly after each water change. I also used filter floss and a 5 micron filter bag to polish the water, and changed the filter floss every day because it was so clogged up with mud.

The problem is that the particles are so small that most times they bypass even the 5 micron filter. I was told by several fish stores that the binding agents were not recommended, but they didn't tell me why.


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## grizadams_7mm (Aug 29, 2011)

when we did our tanks with the ADA we had a similar problem. We just packed our filters with filter floss and a couple days later it was all cleared up. When adding water I just hold a small plate under the water flow and fill er up nice and slow.


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