Aquario Neo Soil for Plants

A two-layer volcanic aquasoil that buffers your water gently acidic and feeds root growth straight from the substrate — gives new plantings a solid start without needing liquid ferts (fertilisers) dosed on day one.

A substrate is the material covering the tank floor, and an aquasoil is a substrate that actively shapes water chemistry rather than sitting inert. To buffer is to hold water chemistry at a set point — here, gently acidic on the pH scale (below 7 is acidic, above 7 is alkaline).

Aquario Neo Soil for Plants is a volcanic aquasoil built in two layers: a lighter brown core wrapped in a darker, micro-porous outer shell. That outer layer is doing most of the work — its surface hosts beneficial bacteria (the helpful microbes that break down waste) and keeps adsorbing pollutants — making them stick to its surface — for the life of the substrate, rather than just buffering hard for the first few weeks the way some simpler soils do.

It's noticeably lighter than typical soil substrates, which makes it easier to handle and reshape mid-scape (partway through laying out a design). Once it's in the tank it buffers pH toward gently acidic and feeds plant roots directly, so new plantings get a solid start without needing liquid ferts dosed from day one — though as plants establish and mature, most tanks will still want to bring in the liquid Neo Solution range rather than relying on the substrate alone.

Choose Normal (a coarser ~3–4mm grain) for general aquascaping (designing and planting the tank's layout) and larger tanks, or Powder (a fine ~1mm grain) if you're after the compact, natural look nano aquascapers — hobbyists who scape very small tanks — go for. Both come in 3L and 8L bags — as a rough guide, weigh up tank footprint and how deep you want the layer before you order, since coverage varies with layer depth.

• Two-layer volcanic aquasoil: lighter brown core, dark micro-porous outer shell
• Continuously adsorbs pollutants and hosts beneficial bacteria — not just an initial buffer
• Buffers pH gently acidic; feeds plant roots directly from the substrate
• Normal grain (~3–4mm) for general use; Powder grain (~1mm) for nano aquascapes
• Available in 3L and 8L, Normal or Powder