Thank you for the reassurance. I have found a mistake in what I
purchased though. I was after Profile CLAY soil conditioner, which is
essentialy the same as what I purchased but in a larger grain size.
What I have is Profile soil conditioner, same product line, but from
what I gather not as large of a particulate size as Profile CLAY soil
conditioner or Aquatic conditioner. I was looking for a pebble sized
substrate to add on top of 3/4" onyx substrate that is very dense and
sand like. The substrate I added is kitty litter in size, larger than
sand, but not pebble sized. Maybe I will search further and add a
20-30lbs of the pebble sized conditioner as a top coat to keep the
plants down easier. I do have a hard time keeping stem plants down in
onyx sand and I feel I might have the same problem with kitty litter
sized substrate (even though I've mized the two).

Before I add anymore of what I have I will search for the substrate
with a larger particulate size. From my understanding they are the
same product, just different particulate sizes and I want the pebble
sized for decorative effect and to hold the plants down better. I
don't mind having sand, kitty litter sized fired clay, and pebble
sized fired clay; so I'm not fretting a big deal about it. It just
took so long to find Profile at ALL, but I emailed Profile & Schultz
and gave me the product # so I can ask a local manager at a store to
order it for me regardless, which I think I will do.

Any comments on the size of the profile I have now? Comments,
suggestions? Or am I doing okay, other than having onyx sand, profile
the size of kitty litter, and not the pebble sized profile I was
hoping for?

Thanks again for the comments and help.

(redled) wrote in message ...
Yes this is the right stuff. It probably would have been easy to find if
it were spring time. One tip though...Although it is a great substrate, and
cheap, too, it is very light and doesn't hold down plants well until they
start to root. In one tank I used 1" of sand on top (I didn't like the color
of profile) and it was very easy to plant, and none of the plants ever floated
out of the substrate. I decided the color was fine for another tank, though
and I didn't use sand. For the first week I was constantly replanting plants
that floated to the top. Not a big deal, but nonetheless something to
consider.

The profile I'm using is 1-2mm in diameter, probably the same as you have. I
don't remember the exact name. I know its a pain in the ass, but I would want
the profile to be the bottom layer in my tank. Since you only have 3/4" in
there its not a big deal. I used laterite in the bottom layer of mine, as I
understand that profile doesn't have that much usable iron in it, despite the
red color, but it's probably not required. Use root tabs if you find you need
it later. I used half the reccomended amount of laterite in the first 1" of
my substrate, but I have a feeling even that wasn't needed as all my stem
plants turned a bright red color, even though they are supposed to be green,
according to tropica. Though, it looks great and they grow fast so I'm not
complaining! Trim the roots so they're 1-2" long before you plant, if the
plants have roots already. They will establish themselves faster. If they
don't already have roots, cut the bottom inch off of stem plants before you
plant, same effect. For like a week they will want to float away on you but
once you get past that they'll stay rooted, and indeed are hard to unplant.
All my plants have 6"+ roots now, and they are very hard to uproot. Good
luck!

In article ,
(Allen Smith) wrote:
Thank you for the reassurance. I have found a mistake in what I
purchased though. I was after Profile CLAY soil conditioner, which is
essentialy the same as what I purchased but in a larger grain size.
What I have is Profile soil conditioner, same product line, but from
what I gather not as large of a particulate size as Profile CLAY soil
conditioner or Aquatic conditioner. I was looking for a pebble sized
substrate to add on top of 3/4" onyx substrate that is very dense and
sand like. The substrate I added is kitty litter in size, larger than
sand, but not pebble sized. Maybe I will search further and add a
20-30lbs of the pebble sized conditioner as a top coat to keep the
plants down easier. I do have a hard time keeping stem plants down in
onyx sand and I feel I might have the same problem with kitty litter
sized substrate (even though I've mized the two).

Before I add anymore of what I have I will search for the substrate
with a larger particulate size. From my understanding they are the
same product, just different particulate sizes and I want the pebble
sized for decorative effect and to hold the plants down better. I
don't mind having sand, kitty litter sized fired clay, and pebble
sized fired clay; so I'm not fretting a big deal about it. It just
took so long to find Profile at ALL, but I emailed Profile & Schultz
and gave me the product # so I can ask a local manager at a store to
order it for me regardless, which I think I will do.

Any comments on the size of the profile I have now? Comments,
suggestions? Or am I doing okay, other than having onyx sand, profile
the size of kitty litter, and not the pebble sized profile I was
hoping for?

Thanks again for the comments and help.

(redled) wrote in message
...
Yes this is the right stuff. It probably would have been easy to find if
it were spring time. One tip though...Although it is a great substrate, and
cheap, too, it is very light and doesn't hold down plants well until they
start to root. In one tank I used 1" of sand on top (I didn't like the color

of profile) and it was very easy to plant, and none of the plants ever
floated
out of the substrate. I decided the color was fine for another tank, though
and I didn't use sand. For the first week I was constantly replanting plants

that floated to the top. Not a big deal, but nonetheless something to
consider.

__
"Insert witty comment here."
-John