# Akadama users



## arc (Mar 11, 2010)

I realize there is another thread about Akadama but it is quite old so I'll just start a new one.

My Ada/Fluval soils(shrimp and plant) are over a year old now and all have lost their buffering abilities. I want to restart some of my 20g long tanks and wondering if anyone is still using Akadama and can share their experience with it? 

Thanks


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## splur (May 11, 2011)

You can get akadama here...?


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## arc (Mar 11, 2010)

Spring is coming soon so a lot of bonsai places are stocking it at the moment.


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## arinsi (Mar 14, 2010)

im interested in peoples experience with this too


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## arc (Mar 11, 2010)

So I went ahead and bought it. Not cheap though, the total was over just over $50 for 14L
Cheapest substrate I've found is the Fluval plant stratum(8kg or about 9L) for $35(tax in) at Lucky's aquarium. I love the colour of Fluval but its too light and can't buffer the water I have(even with a 75% RO mix)


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## ThaChingster (Feb 25, 2011)

You can get akadama at kim's nature goods up at markham rd and major mack


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## getochkn (Jul 10, 2011)

ADA or Netlea from AI works great too for crystals.


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## bigfishy (Jun 19, 2009)

Frank's Aquarium is using it!

Ask Frank about the details!


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## arc (Mar 11, 2010)

> You can get akadama at kim's nature goods up at markham rd and major mack


That's were I got mine(friend picked it up) but it's a long trip for me considering where I live.



> ADA or Netlea from AI works great too for crystals.


I've used both and they work but the cycling time takes much longer because of the ammonia leeching. The leeching effectively means even with a mature transplanted filter I'm going to have to wait months because I won't be doing water changes during the cycling. Netlea seems to lower the ph too low with my tap/RO water mix and I'm going to be using 100% RO(rematerialized) this time so its going to be even lower.

Trying to setup the tanks this weekend and get things started. Hopefully other people using it will post to compare notes

@bigfishy
any info on how Frank's tanks are doing? water parameters, using RO, stability and all that fun stuff?


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## splur (May 11, 2011)

My ADA new cycled in 3 weeks with a seeded filter. I guess longer than normal, but worth the wait.


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