L 'is a soil Akadama "draining", that is NOT a loam or loam FERTILIZED FERTILE.
It 'a kind of clay of volcanic origin, collected in Japan.
It 'a good substrate for the roots of the roots, is used in the art of Bonsai precisely because it allows water to wet it but without that you retain too much and create dangerous stagnation.
It costs much less than the ADA funds or Elos, more or less the funds of other brands, and a little 'more than just ghiano of quartz, also called "polychrome".
L 'Akadama is then a substrate that does not tend to compact, unlike clay, for example, thus ensuring an ideal oxygenation of the plant at the level radical. It can be found in the garden, and even in some shops in aquariums, especially those online, with 2 different sizes: medium and small. Little is to be preferred, the other gives the appearance of an aquarium "plowed field", in short, is not very natural ...
Even after years, unless you use very high thickness of the bottom, the Akadama not compact. Personally I had the exact same fund Akadama with a fraction of pozzolan, for about 6 years. :-O
Here we can clearly see the grains of earth, with some snail in the interstices ...
I changed just recently , to try to mix it with 50% of the "famous" Flourite, then I realized its been perfect after all these years where the bottom was higher than 7-8 cm, the most Deep had lost the original size, becoming almost sand, but it never really compacted, with its danger of the formation of anoxic zones (without oxygen).
But allow me to advise against the use of one particular layout in Akadama gradients, better then to put in the higher areas of the sponges (the classic blue with the larger apertures), also because the roots of plants do not need all the ' height to root for good. Even large sword plants with 8-10 cm are more than satisfied, so that is really going to uproot often exhausting.

Remember that the Akadama lowers the hardness of the water, whereby the first few days will notice the lowering of KH and GH, and then used more than normal tap water. The situation and tends to normalize within 2-4 weeks. It 's not something to sottavlutare, especially in combination with the use of carbon dioxide.

Adding fertilizer to the bottom to make it so a "fertile fund" for aquarium plants?
The possibilities are many.
Personally I have followed in the past the "old" system that provided under the akadama pozzolana, still under balls of Osmocote (slow release fertilizer) and placed on a dusting of charcoal, which is useful to "soak up" fertilizer (Osmocote the, exactly) and then dispose even more gradually to the aquarium.
If you think of starting already with many plants, this system is still valid.
Otherwise you can put under the bottom of Akadama fertile or hobbyist use of TABS, in practice the "big" balls of fertilizer product to be a bit 'all companies that sell fertilizers for aquarium. Between the 2 systems could indicate the first for those who want to use a higher susbtrato ... so is less than the risk of seeing "reappear" on the surface for the works of planting, pruning, etc..

The akadama be rinsed before being placed in the aquarium?
Absolutely YES!
It should be cleaned very well ... it is VERY dirty ... if not rinsed repeatedly you end the real SLUDGE first surface and then at the bottom of the aquarium, which will recur every siphon or movement of soil.

Bellini ... small, delicate, not so expensive now because not only the Chinese have copied the larger the beautiful products of the ADA.
Think you have 7-8 years ago a Neapolitan knowledge sleepers HAND realized one by one, Blow out, the beautiful glass CO2 diffusers, complete with a ceramic part for the spraying of bubbles of carbon dioxide.
Today there are many small and large companies who have copied or reinterpreted products of the ADA, which will be sincerely and perhaps even Japanese super-technology ... but they cost too much ... I think ... oltragioso the limit of disgusting ...
I bought my "China" in less than 20 euros ... those of the ADA will cost about 90 ... bah ...

Anyway ... you have the original or any copy of these or similar product, you can clean the ceramic part that is often covered with algae of the simple hydrogen peroxide ... hydrogen peroxide.
At least in theory ... because my IN PRACTICE ... it cleans very little white as new never returned, but in the end the important thing is to make his own micro-bubbles.

Happy to answer Rossano, who like many has come to the first "breakthrough" with aquariums, time to move to a larger pool, after the first aquarium.

Selling a used tank is not easy ... if hardly anyone wants to send around Italy, with the cost of delivery and the risks ... but a 80x40x50, such as the aquarium of Rossano, is not large, so as first aquarium is great for anyone, in fact better than trying to place a bigger one. At least that ...
In Rome with Portaportese is easy, try out EBAY, or Kijiji, and especially in industry forums. Even here on Acquariando anyone can write and his small space it can have, for sale to aquariums and accessories.

This is why many places on the terrace or in the garden their first aquarium , maybe turning it into a small cage, or holding each plants and small fish in our lakes and rivers (warm water) or a herd of live food, such as easy Daphnia, the Artemia have not and you can also try the Guppy, if we take large cichlids such as South American or African.