Hi!
I thought some of you could benefit from an experiment I made. Actually, many people tried it and we all got crazy results so why not you? With the kind of growth we can get using this, I still wonder why nobody know about this.

If you are looking for a new substrat for you planted tank, this is something to try!

This is quite simple.
For a 15 gallon tank you will need some ultra find pink clay from ArgileTZ (a 273 g box will do), some play sand and a geotextile.
If you want, why not add 2g of KNO3, 7g of MgSO4, 0,5g of Stim Root#1 and 5ml of Flourish phosphorus from Seachem. I got good results with and without fertilizer (but I love fertilizers ).

Simply mix your pink clay and the fertilizers with some water to make a tick mud. Then, pour the mud on the bottom of your tank.

The clay we use here is a find powder that could mess your water if anything happen to the substrate. to reduce the risk of leak, you can put the geotextile on top of your mud (I don't). Make sure to make small holes in it so the roots can go through.
Finally, add a tick layer of sand (wash it before!).

That's it, your substrate is ready

I had a tank with that substrate for almost 2 years. I got great results and no problem with it. Just make sure to not move the plants to mush. The more sand you use, the better it is. If you have to move the plants, do it slowly! You don't want that pink stuff in your water. If plant's roots are to long, just cut.

What's in that pink clay from ArgileTZ?
- SiO: 50,9%
- Al2O3: 32,4%
- Fe2O3:4,4%
- CaO: 0,32%
- MgO: 0,3%
- Na2O: 0,007%
- K2O: 2,6%
- TiO2:0,007%
- P2O5: 0,2%

If you check this post, you'll see some pictures of what you can expect. Sorry that post is in French.
You could translate the page with the google translation tool to read the full experiment. I think it's worth it.

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My blog: AquariumsLife.com