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Is This the Same As Schultz' APS?

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jimscott

jimscott

Tropical Fish Enthusiast
I couldn't find Schultz' APS but a nursery that specializes in pond stuff was recommended by a several people. They didn't have Schultz' APS. either, but had this brand:

Picture004-17.jpg


I repotted many of my pings into this and when the pots hit the water there was this fizzing noise and I could see "smoke" emanating from the pots. Is this normal.... or did I just sentence most of my ping collection to death?
 
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fizzing can occur if air is trapped inside the rock crevices, happens all the time when dealing with rocks of that nature like lava rock. if it has all those crevices and pores to maximize surface area, you can bet that there is air trapped. that being said, im betting you didnt even submerse your rocks underwater. take a small sample, pour a little vinegar on top of it. fizzing will tell your it's calcareous which may/may not be harmful to your pings.

the whole "pre-colonized with beneficial live ie: nitrifying bacteria" idea worries me though.
 
You mean that smoke was in the air or in the water ?
If there was actually coming smoke out of them that sounds to me like some chemical reaction.
 
i dont understand why it would do that though---it says neutral pH, so whatever the smoke is, it's not an acid-base reaction. a metal would give you that kind of reaction if you poured water all over it. O.o


as a tropical fish hobbyist, you know always to rinse and wash the substrate before using it (unless directed not to)
 
Should be fine, but YMMV. I get the same thing all the time working with fresh or dehydrated APS. I've found that fresh APS needs to be "seasoned" by keeping it moist for a week or two before using with Mexipings. If you plant them in it too soon, it causes them to rot away. Just personal experience haha. You always have backups growing, so hopefully you can spare a few for experimentation with the new mix.

On a random side note, I've been growing succulents (Crassula and Sedums) in 100% APS without any seasoning required. Those plants are allowed to dry pretty thoroughly before rewetting, though....
 
The beneficial bacteria is my concern, especially if they are nitrogen fixing bacteria. Otherwise the material is the same as Schultz's - Fullers earth and silica/quartz:

http://www.microbelift.com/files/7012/6928/1356/MSDS-CON-AQUATIC-PLANTING-MEDIA.pdf

Do they sell it without the bacteria?

Edit: looks like it is nitrogen fixing bacteria:

http://www.microbeliftshop.com/Microbe-Lift-Aquatic-Planting-Media-Aquatic-Plant-Products-sc-20.html
Pre-Colonized With Beneficial Bacteria! All Inert Ingredients!

No Fertilizer, Compost, Peat or Pesticides! 100% Natural Minerals!

Kiln Fired!

  • Ideal when potting aquatic plants
  • Retains oxygen
    [*] Enormous surface area perfect to colonize beneficial nitrifying bacteria
  • Allows mixing any ratio of loam to planting media
  • Nontoxic to plants
  • Will not break down, float or cloud pond water
  • Safe for all fish and aquatic life

Contains no nutrients
Click to expand...
 
Those bacteria only work if theres ammonia to convert into nitrite and nitrite to convert into nitrate.
And you get ammonia from rotting organic materials.
Without all of that the bacteria just die.
 
I know that... at least in the saltwater world... any type of substrate/sand that is marketed to contain any beneficial bacteria is BS. The conditions in a closed bag are not the proper ones to keep anything like that alive, especially if it's been on the shelf for any period of time. So I have a feeling that this is probably the same case here. If you want to be extra careful, however, all you should need to do is let the media dry out for a day or two under the sun to kill any aquatic organisms that were once living in it.
 
FWIW, I've used 3 different brands of APS, all of them "smoked" the first time you watered them... not sure of the process but it appears mechanical somehow. It only does it on initial contact with the water

It doesn't do it after the first time, or at least after there is some moisture present

I'm a big fan of the stuff :)
 
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Av8tor1 said:
FWIW, I've used 3 different brands of APS, all of them "smoked" the first time you watered them... not sure of the process but it appears mechanical somehow. It only does it on initial contact with the water

It doesn't do it after the first time, or at least after there is some moisture present

I'm a big fan of the stuff :)
Click to expand...

That's exactly what happened - intial fizz. It's the morning after and they don't look any worse for the wear. Hopefully, nothing will change for the worse.

I recently re-arranged my grow rack such that the sundews are closest to the glass windows and the butterworts are set back in. Unfortunately, they can't all get a front row seat! I just took these pictures this morning:

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Picture004-18.jpg


---------- Post added at 10:05 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:01 AM ----------

I just deleted some pictures from the album and the Sarracenia flower is being displayed instead of the tray. It'll correct itself eventually!
 
The "smoke" is ceramic dust forced out of pores by osmotic/capillary pressure as the clay hydrates. If you let a lot of it collect on a moist surface, it's like very thin wet clay. It does that the first time it's wetted, and then if you let it get bone dry and handle it for a while, it'll do it again to a lesser degree when it's exposed to water again.
Scared the crap out of me the first time.
~Joe
 
Haha I remember the first time I used APS I rinsed a huge bucket of it. To say the least I was very surprised at the explosion of dust that followed!
 
Yup, APS and some other materials put out a fizzing sound when the water goes in.
I put a mask on when rinsing it.
The fine particles do appear a bit like smoke.
That is my very unscientific explanation.
With good light most pings are hard to kill any way.
I might try some potting soil in a mix with a hardy mexi ping.
Good luck with that new mix.
Peace,
Zero
 
LOL the "smoke" was dust billowing up I wouldn't worry about it. My succulents smoke every time I water them, it's the nature of this sort of media whether it's Shultz APS clay or NAPA Floor Dry DE - DO NOT USE NAPA ON CPs ONLY SUCCULENTS. When these medias have dried totally and are then rewetted they'll "smoke". Spraying the surface before submerging will keep the puffs of dust down which is good cos it's not really great to breath it, I always taste dust when I'm done watering the succulents since I go 2-4 weeks between watering and they are bone dry in 3 days.
 
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