I’ve been extremely impressed with the 9L Tropica Aquarium Soil. The grain size is perfect for planting and keeps stems and carpeting plants securely in place without constantly floating back up. My plants settled in quickly and started showing healthy growth within days.
The soil gives the aquarium a really natural, high-end aquascape appearance and works brilliantly with dragon stone and wood layouts. Water clarity was excellent after setup and the substrate feels very nutrient rich compared to standard gravel.
I also noticed plant colours becoming much more vibrant, especially greens and reds under LED lighting. It’s ideal for anyone wanting a lush planted aquarium without needing multiple substrate layers.
One thing to be aware of is that it does affect water chemistry slightly in the early weeks, so regular water changes are important at the start, but that’s completely normal for active aquasoils.
Overall, a fantastic substrate and definitely worth the money

Great product received perfectly packaged.

Top quality product and delivered super fast! Thank you.

Can’t recommend this highly enough as a plant substrate. My dwarf hair grass (even pre CO2) loves it.

Perfect for my plants!

Bought on recommendation, was a bit worried about putting ‘soil’ in the tank. Put it in as per instructions, needn’t have worried. Plants were easy to put in with tweezers and the contrast with the dragon rocks and plants look amazing! Wish I’d binned the gravel a lot sooner, my tank looks amazing! Thank you for your recommendation and advice, it’s been very much appreciated!

Great product, easy to plant into, didn't seem to mess the water. The plants look great and so does the final look of the tank, definitely worth the money

My first time doing a planted tank all plants are thriving in this soil recommend it

Excellent aquatic soil in which my plants seem to be thriving.

Does tend to get moved around because of the flow from the circulation pumps.

Nice product. Easy to use, stays together well, no need to rinse. Long term durability has been excellent.

re- scaped my tank and used this and it really looks brill, have made hills and slopes with it and looks really good, plants doing well!

Love the texture of this soil, looks cracking and my hair grass is already shooting out runners. Very happy

Good advice from the staff at AE, plants have settled in to the set-up very well and all looks good!

I really like this aqua soil, it looks great in the tank and brings out the colours of the plants a treat. A little pricey, but you only buy it once. I purchased 2 x 9L bags for my 3ft tank and I think I will need to buy another 3L bag. Just to give the roots more room to set.

I only got a slight ammonia spike after adding this to my my already established tank. Plants are doing well (although I also add other fertilisers and route tabs). My only criticism is that it\'s quite light and can be easily disrupted (I have half sand half soil substrate, and the sand always has bits of soil on it / covering it!)

I\'ve used this substrate a few times now. It looks beautiful - very small grain size, dark brown/black colour. Does not break down or cloud. Plants seem to enjoy it.

This is a lovely substrate and really picks out other features added to an aquarium as well as also supplying nutrients to living plants. As it is more comprehensive nutritionally than most other substrates it is the first choice for me when setting up a scape (I was pleased to know it comes in a chocolate colour) but prefer black for contrast.

The soil I ordered was out of stock despite the website saying there was one left but Richard upgraded me to this one, which is actually a better soil for what I needed it for!

I’ve been extremely impressed with the 9L Tropica Aquarium Soil. The grain size is perfect for planting and keeps stems and carpeting plants securely in place without constantly floating back up. My plants settled in quickly and started showing healthy growth within days.
The soil gives the aquarium a really natural, high-end aquascape appearance and works brilliantly with dragon stone and wood layouts. Water clarity was excellent after setup and the substrate feels very nutrient rich compared to standard gravel.
I also noticed plant colours becoming much more vibrant, especially greens and reds under LED lighting. It’s ideal for anyone wanting a lush planted aquarium without needing multiple substrate layers.
One thing to be aware of is that it does affect water chemistry slightly in the early weeks, so regular water changes are important at the start, but that’s completely normal for active aquasoils.
Overall, a fantastic substrate and definitely worth the money

Great product received perfectly packaged.

Top quality product and delivered super fast! Thank you.

Can’t recommend this highly enough as a plant substrate. My dwarf hair grass (even pre CO2) loves it.

Perfect for my plants!

Bought on recommendation, was a bit worried about putting ‘soil’ in the tank. Put it in as per instructions, needn’t have worried. Plants were easy to put in with tweezers and the contrast with the dragon rocks and plants look amazing! Wish I’d binned the gravel a lot sooner, my tank looks amazing! Thank you for your recommendation and advice, it’s been very much appreciated!

Great product, easy to plant into, didn't seem to mess the water. The plants look great and so does the final look of the tank, definitely worth the money

My first time doing a planted tank all plants are thriving in this soil recommend it

Excellent aquatic soil in which my plants seem to be thriving.

Does tend to get moved around because of the flow from the circulation pumps.

Nice product. Easy to use, stays together well, no need to rinse. Long term durability has been excellent.

re- scaped my tank and used this and it really looks brill, have made hills and slopes with it and looks really good, plants doing well!

Love the texture of this soil, looks cracking and my hair grass is already shooting out runners. Very happy

Good advice from the staff at AE, plants have settled in to the set-up very well and all looks good!

I really like this aqua soil, it looks great in the tank and brings out the colours of the plants a treat. A little pricey, but you only buy it once. I purchased 2 x 9L bags for my 3ft tank and I think I will need to buy another 3L bag. Just to give the roots more room to set.

I only got a slight ammonia spike after adding this to my my already established tank. Plants are doing well (although I also add other fertilisers and route tabs). My only criticism is that it\'s quite light and can be easily disrupted (I have half sand half soil substrate, and the sand always has bits of soil on it / covering it!)

I\'ve used this substrate a few times now. It looks beautiful - very small grain size, dark brown/black colour. Does not break down or cloud. Plants seem to enjoy it.

This is a lovely substrate and really picks out other features added to an aquarium as well as also supplying nutrients to living plants. As it is more comprehensive nutritionally than most other substrates it is the first choice for me when setting up a scape (I was pleased to know it comes in a chocolate colour) but prefer black for contrast.

The soil I ordered was out of stock despite the website saying there was one left but Richard upgraded me to this one, which is actually a better soil for what I needed it for!