Is laterite red I mean really red?

[dearis]

Hi there, where I was working away this week (in the Otways for those who know Australia) in a rain forest a cleared patch of land. I was pouring 5 cubic meters of concrete (we were buggered lol) but in between trucks I got talking to another bloke (who incidentally has fish) and he mentioned there was 8 different soil types so i had a wander over the job site and found some really red rich looking clay and wondered if it was laterite and how I tell and how do i prepare/use it? I was thinking of going ADA Amazonia but was just curious if what I saw was laterite and how I identify it in future. Regards Darren

[Mick John]

G'day Dearis, yeah mate it could be. The red colouring generally indicates the richness of Iron content. I'm pretty sure that there are test kits you can buy to test these things. I'm in Cairns and there is Laterite up here. We're quite lucky really considering people around the World pay top dollar for such things. If you chose to take some just use it as a base layer and then your gravel on top. Well that's all I do anyway. The layer of Laterite only needs to be half an inch or so thick but I guess that depends on the strength of the stuff. You can also keep some aside like dried pieces that you may wish to add down the track if you see any Iron deficiency occurring (yellowing of leaves). Make sure when you add the water to the fish tank that you use a plate or something to stop the water from churning up your substrate so just run the water softly otherwise you'll end up with a mud pool! And if your ever syphoning later on careful not to suck up all your laterite through the gravel. Hope this helps. Cheers.http://www.thefishtank.com.au/forums/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Woodsy]

Yep, you should be able to find some latterite out your way Darren, I know there's a heap out where they're doing the Melton bypass. It looks like red clay, and is awesome for your plants ;)

[Global Aquatics]

Hi guys,

I'mout in the north west of Melbourne near you guys, and as you know laterite is prevalent in the soil all around here. dearis, if your driving down Ballarat Rd towards Melbourne there is a good spot with really deep red soil that i used to source my laterite from. It's near Bacchas marsh in those steep cuttings in the road. You can see a real deep red in the sides of the mountains. There's an slip lane that takes you down to the creek.

The thing with laterite soil is that it's hard to work with when your first setting up, and when your pulling your tank down. The in between is fine, but that's short lived as it leaches into the water too easily thus is extracted bit by bit every water change. I used to get a good year and a half out of it, maybe 2 years.

Aqua Soil is a new product by Up Aqua that we'll be distributing shortly, that is a good performer. Its similar to ADA power sand. Put a layer of it on the base of your substrate. It forms no cloudiness to the water, and it breaks down slowly and lasts approx 5 years. When the granules break down and no longer exist, you know its time to replace. I don't want to spend a year designing a mature aquascape only to have 6 months before i need to pull it down and replace laterite. The good thing with this kind of granule soil is that it sinks, so even if you ran out after 4-5 years, you can easily put some in a cake decorating cream dispenser thingo and inject it in your sand without disturbing your tank. I wouldn't dare do that with laterite soil... :)

Cheers, Adam .

[Doug Osborn]

My first post here: I'm setting up a new 6' * 30" * 24" tank, and want it planted. After reading a few online and magazine articles I thought I'd try the laterite, peat moss, gravel layering method.

In in Melbourne's western suburbs, which is on the eastern edge of a large lava plain. Since reading about laterite and keeping an eye out I've been noticing red clay soil everywhere!

This is near the new Palmers Rd extension onto the Princes Fwy, Point Cook (Vic). The middle (red) soil seem laterite-ish to me. It's certainly clayey (as most of our soils here are). Any thoughts?

Cheers,
Doug

http://dougosborn.net/misc/img_5309a.jpg

[GoGuppy]

Any thoughts?


http://dougosborn.net/misc/img_5309a.jpg

It sure is red..:D

[Woodsy]

That's what you're after chief, save yourself a fortune!
A quick note on clay soil in the aquarium though - low pH can release heavy metals from clay and silt, so it pays to know the history of the site if you're collecting for yourself. If it's old industrial land, you don't want it.