Jbl Aquabasis Plus And Jbl Sansibar, And Testing Strips Vs Solutions

[PsychoATCO]

Hi Everybody,
 
Not entirely new to fish keeping, but new to the concept of a planted aquarium.
 
I am getting a Juwel Vision 260 litre tank, and coming with it is JBL Aquabasis Plus. I plan to put JBL Sansibar black on top of that.
 
They claim that the sansibar black needs no rinsing, however in my (grit only) experience, everything needs rinsing. However the sansibar stuff is 0.2 to 0.5mm grains, so maybe it really doesn't?
 
I plan on having some Red Cherry shrimp and some small fish like neons, swordtails etc
 
Also, are PH testing strips from JBL as good as the testing solutions? Anybody have experience with these?
 
Thanks
Bryan

 

[Nordk]

In general dipstrips aren't very good, go with the liquid.

 

[snazy]

I am getting a Juwel Vision 260 litre tank, and coming with it is JBL Aquabasis Plus. I plan to put JBL Sansibar black on top of that.
 

 
Please don't spend money on either of these. That was the worse combo/substrate I've ever used and it wouldn't even grow my low tech plants that flourish in plain sand in all my other tanks.  I also suspected it caused the bacterial infection on my corys as 2 months after changing to this I dealt with sick fish, but that I can't really prove.
However, it's not worth the money. There are way better options than this for a planted tank.
After about 6+ months struggle I was only left with a few plants struggling for their life although I started dosing liquid carbon and ferts at some stage to try to remedy the problem, no success.
The few plants left were moved to another tank and recoverd within weeks and exploded in growth so I am certain that combo substrate is a no, no.  The sand is also way too fine for a cap on soil which probably caused one of the issues as the soil can't "breathe".

 

[PsychoATCO]

 one of the issues as the soil can't "breathe".
 

 
I thought that it might be the case. As I say the aquabasis comes with the tank so I don't have to use it...
 
However I have very limited options for a black substrate - the Sansibar seems to be my only option... Would it be OK on its own, or is the sansibar crap too?

 

[snazy]

It's a very fine sand from volcanic origin, so not a real sand. It compacts like a brick, totally different from the soft sand. I never saw my corys trying to dig their noses into it even once and they do even in coarse sand.  It looks greyish in the tank rather than black and it floats easily. I didn't like it at all after I put it in but that's a personal preference. It won't grow plants well either as it's inert of course.

 

[MBOU]

Personally, I prefer using JBL Manado, I don't have much experience with other plant substrates but Aquabasis and Colombo Flora Base have caused me nothing but problems. I also dislike covering plant substrate as makes it impossible to clean and if you disturb it, it mixes, though I am just clumsy lol.
 
Deep layer of Manado and a few JBL '7 ball' root fertilisers, especially if amazon swords etc and dosing of ferts depending on plants. I kept a heavily planted tank of low tech plants like swords, crypts, hygrophilas and vallis of various species with plenty of bogwood and anubias/java ferns on it with twin t5 lighting. I just dosed plant food and liquid co2 once a week and did weekly 50% changes and everything went crazy growing fast

 

[PsychoATCO]

Thanks for the feedback!
 
I'll check out Manado. I did see it at the LFS.