Should we start a new experiment? Or keep this one going? Everything I'm using for this experiment (affiliate links) Tank US: bit.ly/3qE968B EU: bit.ly/3S0rJ2J Light US: bit.ly/3dVYmPQ EU: bit.ly/3D7RAB1 AQUARIO NEO SOIL US: bit.ly/3Hopkda EU: bit.ly/3fxvcHp FLUVAL STRATUM US: amzn.to/3fqiKJr EU: amzn.to/3SruUQL WIO WETLAND EONIAN EU: bit.ly/3Ci1uPv 🚨Watch this next!🚨 Inspiration playlist! kzfaq.info/sun/PLrlvf56gZy-ipL3105SdfKsUBrMUSttoh CO2 buying guide! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mq-GpdVi3rmXo4k.html How to SETUP your CO2! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/p7l4jZd3l7atYqM.html Simple fertilizer dosing! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/f8V7dbKGspe2iIE.html 👉🏻Cool Aquascaping T-shirts: mosscotton.com/ Code: mjaqua10 👉🏻Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to my KZfaq channel: KZfaq.com/mjaquascaping 👉🏻 Use Code ''MJAMSTERDAM'' for 10% off Fzone products #plantedtank #aquascape #mjaquascaping

I'm a chemist and for a quick experimental set up this is genuinely impressive.

Number 2 for me! Internodal distance looks good and all round health and colour looks excellent. Interested to see Fluval stratum compared head to head with Tropica soil and Ada Aquasoil with and without CO2. There’s your next 6!

I think would be interesting to go ahead and add co2 in selected top 4 aquarium...

it would be interesting to see this experiment again with more heavy root feeder like carpeting plants, crypts and swords. also im really surprised the root tabs caused the most nitrate and not number 6.

It would be great to see a runoff between the Fluval & the Pond Soil in full Walstad method tanks!

Keep it going. You have so much experience with all different sorts of aquariums, your opinion on just which substrate might be better in which situation would be very helpful. I’m going to set up two large aquariums in the near future, I’d love to have an idea going in what would be the best substrate for what I want to do. Thanks for your terrific videos!!

Such an underrated channel. Usually channels with videos of this level of production have many more subscribers, but I imagine it’s just a matter of time :)

That's a huge amount of growth difference. Perhaps for the next one you could try soil's and us the walstad method.

i think we should also consider the plants in the middle of each tank getting more light then the ones on the outer side since they have 2 connecting led sides and the others only have 1 side, which could be also a factor of to much light to much algae orso

Man you have the best channel. Idk why you have so few subscribers for this quality. I love love love that you use scientific method, you get straight to the point with no personality selling and you’re really talented with this hobby. You have to keep this set up going. Add more time then right before worse tank plants get to unsalvageable add co2

your timing couldn't have been more perfect. In the planning process of setting up 2 tanks right now with different requirements, had this exact question, watched part 1 yesterday, and here you are today. Thanks so much!!

I think you should start again, but keep the fluval and tropica and put them up against some other brands/mixes. Like a tournament. Like others have mentioned, I think you should try and control the lighting more to make it more consistent across all the tanks. Using black plastic dividers or something.

I was definitely looking forward to your results! Thank you for doing this experiment.

I would love to see you keep it going for a while longer. As someone who had her first aquascape in June and then had to move, I'm still setting up my new one. I use fluvall stratum and I'm gratified to see that it is performing well so far. I have never had nitrates, nitrites, or ammonia at high levels.

Keep them going. Add 1 or 2 white cloud minnows or similar to each tank and add a little maintenance as you would with your other tanks. Fascinating experiment.

Keep it going, at least through the 3 month mark. I think that's a good amount of time to see how it's going to perform longer term. 2 weeks, things are still settling down to an equilibrium. Great info!

Thanks Mj for this fine work. 👍🏻

Great experiment! Thanks so for your hard work!

The way capped dirt works is the nutrients leaching slowly into the water. Too thin layer of sand (soft gravel) and nutrients cause algae calamity. With recommended 2"/5cm thickness the nutrients seep slowly and the plants need to reach nutrient-rich levels with their roots. So the plants won't grow fast from the start, but over the months that would change. As the experiment goes, I think #4 wasn't capped properly and #6 may see some issues in the 1-2 months, but maybe not. Aquasoil also falls apart after some time. I'd say the best substrate would be thick bed starting with rich soil, thick layer of sand, some aquasoil and thin capping of sand. That is if I were to start a large planted aquarium going for years. For nano-tanks I'd go with pure aquasoil.

Thank you for the comparing. Very useful information.

Now i know which soil I will buy for my next tank - FluvaL Stratum. I got no idea why i did not see this video before, but I love results with this tank. Awsome colours and health of all plants, almost no issues with algae and fact that lack of CO2 is not making a mess is huge win for me. Thanks for this video. I plan to rescape my tank in ner future, so this will be way to go. Now only design is left to choose and I am not best designer lol.

I love these kind of experiments. No other creator is doing it.

most underrated channel! keep up the good work

Great experiment. Thank you for sharing MJ.

Nice video and good to see different soils and substrates work differently for a low tech setup. My guess would be due to the high ph in your water that was always lowered by your co2 usage in your other tanks, making it ideal for the plants. The pond soil + aqua soil could’ve better results due to the fact that the ph was lower and is favorable for plant growth.

I have a low tech tank so the information regarding fluval stratum was very helpful. Thanks!

Good work and very informative video. Appreciate all the effort you put. Thank you!

Very helpful test, I am looking to start a 10 gallon moderate to heavy planted.Looking to do low tech, so I think Fluval Stratum will be the way to go.This was a great help in seeing different setups and the results from each.

This is a huge help! Great information and interesting.

Appreciate all the effort and the scientific unbiased approach to the tests! As a next step you may compare Aquasoil and Fluval with different amount of light and CO2. Thank you for the great content!

This has helped me A LOT my resolutions for this year os to start a planted tank n I've been debating on what soil to get

Your videos are always the best man.. less talking and more things to show.. sometimes i don't understand the other KZfaqrs who always talk and explain things like we want to see their faces all the time.. we want results like yours.. good job man.

Very nice comparison. was looking forward the these results

Thanks for this experiment for making it easy for us.

Thank you for your time In doing this. Been on the fence about getting back in the hobby after a long time. Leds weren't around. Big changes. I was spoiled my buddy owned a pet store. Do some plumbing repairs did his ro system Work a Sat and would get everything in trade for cost. Enjoy your channel and appreciate your time

Keep it going! Great experiment!

That was was very helpful! Thank you!

This is a super cool experiment! Nice job :]

This was very helpful in moving forward with my tank, I bought the fluval soil and now I know what to expect, love this thank you ❤

This was very helpful. Thank you.

I have been using pond soil from brico for 2 years and my 60 liter Aquarium with no co2 and low dosage of nutrions are really awesome! In my experience it went really well with pond soil.

Keep it going, will be interesting to see what changes

Didn’t expect root tabs to be so nutrient rich. The fluval substrate looks perfect for low tech setups.

Give it some time; be fun to see the change in a couple weeks. Thanks for doing these tests!

This is so useful! Thanks 👍

Thank you very much for these experiments! Finally some facts in the neverending substrate wars!

Hope you kept this one going, love to see if the results change after months 3 and 4. After that duration, does the difference even matter or do they all start to level out? Which one causes the most work, most melt, etc.. Love the content, keep it coming.

Nice experiment! I would have added a cryptocoryne in each of the compartments. Just to compare a pure root feeder versus stem plants which receive most of their nutrients from the water instead of the soil.

Great experiment, keep them going. I learn so much from you. Greetings from Greece

I think it would be great to try this with RO water or distilled. It was great that you tested pH since that will affect certain plant growth too and I'm not sure what you're water is out of the tap. Obviously different aquasoils will lower the pH to differing levels, but it would be interesting to see how much that might have had an effect. Really great video!

Brilliant experiment! I really appreciate your methodology 👍 My suggestion for a follow up test: take results from 4, 5, 6, and now run similar setups with base layer of pond soil, but this time 1st capped with inert black gravel / 2nd with smaller amount of pond soil and capped with sand layer 3 times thicker than soil / 3rd keep same as original #6. Maybe you’ll find an even better substrate combo.

Interesting experiment! I would like to see you continue this experiment by trying to fix the issues with each tank.

Great experiment update

Perfect opportunity to continue your algea experiments!

I invested in a digital pH sensor and I will never go back to the chemical one. It is super accurate and easy as long as you care for it, basically don’t drop it or leave it dirty or anything. ❤ Great video, and I will definitely try your plant substrate method.

Please keep it going! This is so informative and applies to so many options. You are covering a lot of bases and we can make our own decisions depending how things turn out. I'm liking the Stratum tank, nice outcome and available here where I live. PLUS I really want to see what happens with your black worms? How big can THEY grow?😂

I must say man, I trust completely in your reading, incredible results aaaand work!!! Thank you so much for this, you're awesome man

im going to try the Fluval stratum. nice channel

Great experiment. Thanks

I think you should keep this going. No need for many major changes just keep it going with water changes and algae growth. I would like to see which substrate “exhausts” the substrate over time

Definitely keep it for another few weeks to see one more update.

I'm definitely going to recreate this with some UNS contrasoil. It's the most expensive substrate by weight I can find and I'm really curious as to how it really stacks up. So I'm very happy that you helped me narrow it down to other two comparison substrates instead of 6 or 7

I used aquasoil and fine round pebble sand. Had to clean the sand a lot though, but it's a dark colour with specks of other lighter colours. Looks like teeny tiny micro pebbles. Has worked fantastic. I cut the plants back weekly. No ferts and no C02 at all. The only issue is diatoms, no algae at all. But it's a shrimp and snail only tank and full of baby shrimp that graze on the diatoms, so guess that's great. It is a deep bed with red scoria at the bottom then the aquasoil and then the sand. I have to say the sand is so much easier to plant in that aquasoil, so glad I did it this way.

Continua con el experimento, es bastante interesante los resultados hasta ahora.

An interesting follow up would be: How would you fix each tank (not changing the substrate) for example: how would you set the light, or dose nutrients, or ad co2, etc… to make each substrate work?

Thank you for sharing! ❤

I say keep it going for maybe another 2 or 3 months to see how the substrates do over the longer period. Very interesting experiment.

I'd like to see it continue mate. I'm also very interested to see the difference with added co2 injection to them as part of the test...

Great experiment! Thank you for doing this. I don't see a link to the aquasoil used in #6. Or am I missing something?

you did a lot of work

Keep it going for another month, the fluval stratum is the one I use. Of course it is the most expensive here in the USA

Great content and information. Learned a lot fast!! 🏋🏽☀️

Excellent experiment

Thank you so very much for this

Great channel and love to see these kind of tests. For me No. 2 is the prevered one and looks the most natural. Was hoping that you would also test the ADA aqua soil amazonia 2 Maybe you can add this one together with 2 other prefered soils (No 2 and 6) and start adding CO2

Excellent, thanks you for cool bendchmark idea, taking time to proceed.. and present nicely the result ;-) Definitly give a try to Fluval Stratum!

Great experiment, you help me decide to get the fluval soil that is available here in the states.

Epic video! Going to be adding some multipurpose compost to a tank and adding plants. Going to top it off with gravel, cheap stuff from the garden store, and cap with some decorative sand. Hopefully the plants will grow well and then I can add some livestock when the nitrates calm down.

Good start and good video. The thing with substrate is that in nature it is stratified and has a complex structure. The other thing is that plant choice is important. #6 did better because the substrate was more complex. Add a little clay to the bottom and some buried rock/gravel (not sand) structure, and it would win by even more and with more types of plants.

Thanks for this interesting experiment. I'm big fan of fugel Stratum

Your guess with the light coloured sand and more algae makes so much sense. So obvious that I never thought about that context 😀

I use Fluval for my plant cuttings. When I want to propagate some, I'll keep them in water until I see roots forming. After that, I add 1-2 TBSP. Never had algae issues.

I personally use stratum with a thin layer of gravel and sand to keep the tank looking bright. Stratum is also just incredible for terrestrial plant. I use a bit of it in all my terrariums and vivarium.

This is GREAT!!

Fluval stratum is good, I'm using it but the soil is quite light. Hard to plant if you shallow plant. Need to put more soil so you can push it in further.

Keep it going. I’d be interested in seeing the same test but with distilled water. This would help create a more neutral base for others to reference against.

6 is the winner. Brilliant observation about the light reflecting off the white gravel increasing illumination❤

I can't find aquasoil in my area so I used Fluval Stratum and I love it, everything grows very well, even a year and half later. Advice, put on a good 2-3 inches of substrate to let the roots sink in deep.

This substrate head-to-head test was EXTREMELY helpful. Something I think I might want to see is a reset. clean them all out, re-soil, and re-plant with new plants. And this time add some fish, shrimp, or something to put a small bio load on the tanks. Fish will also introduce a small level of CO2 as well I think. This may change results somewhat. Also less of those nutrient additives in tank 5. So far i'm excited about how well the Fluval Strata did as that is probably the easiest to find in my area.

Due to random variability, you need to replicate each test as a way to account for variation. Choose the two best, and replicate those three times each, thereby using all your six tanks.

Love your videos😎

Great experiment. Thanks for doing this. I do want to point out that there is a variable for which you didn't account. The middle chambers are getting more light than the side chambers. They get direct light from above and some from the lights above both chambers beside them while the side chambers only get light from above and one side. It is interesting that despite this, you still got the best growth in a side chamber.

This is a great experiment, I think the fluval is a surprise and the pond soil( is it the soil or the aqua soil topping, and which aqua soil disbuds use). Keep the experiment going putting the best 2 up against the market leaders ADA, Tropica, and Dennerle. You could also trial use of base substrates such as power sand.

been waiting for this video!! excited to see what the results are I'm towards the end and holy cow those weird worms in tank #5 are pretty gross... burn it with fire!!

Great experiment! Thx for doing it. Would also be good to know which substrate is most beneficial for keeping healthy fish with the least amount of water changes. 😅

Outstanding video/information. One question though. Is the pond soil a product from a supplier? Or is it actually where you’ve taken a bucket to a pond and got some of the substrate from the bottom of the pond?

Plz keep going. To me the stratum is looking the best. Which is what I like. Thank you for this experiment.

Mark is smart😉, really man I appreciate what you are doing and thank you so much for your time, money and effort you put into the hobby. As a future project I suggest a comparison of liquid fertilizers (particularly the hyped Masterline series which you are already using vs. Tropica etc.) while keeping all other parameters equal. Would you pls tell us the quality of water (carbonates, nitrates, phosphate) you are conducting the water changes with? Sorry if this has been asked before but I stumbled across your channel just a couple days ago. (At least I found the numbers for GH 9, KH 7 and pH 8 of your tap just now). Fascinating stuff you keep throwing out, thanks again mate and take care.

Top video cheers mate 👍🏽