# Mineral Rock?



## Quiet Professional (Feb 2, 2011)

Does anyone use the mineral rock sold on the shrimp lab? Is that the stuff referred as shrimp "crack"?


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## johnny313 (Apr 15, 2011)

i do. I was told the minerals seep into the water as well as the shrimp picking at it. my shrimp dont eat it....


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## GeToChKn (Apr 15, 2011)

Ya, they're mostly just to add lots of small trace minerals back to the water. If you use RO water and add something back to boost the gH, you're just adding calcium/magnesium basically to boost the gH, and there is nothing else in the water, so the mineral rocks add small amount of probably 100 different minerals in small, time released doses.


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## johnny313 (Apr 15, 2011)

I have one in my 40B with cherries and 5 other tanks have no mineral rock. I see no difference.... thats my opinion though!


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## GeToChKn (Apr 15, 2011)

johnny313 said:


> I have one in my 40B with cherries and 5 other tanks have no mineral rock. I see no difference.... thats my opinion though!


Are you using tap water or pure RO water?

I have none BTW. lol.


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## johnny313 (Apr 15, 2011)

for the cherries I use tap water mostly. once in a while I use RO with that RO right powder.
all of my other shrimp tanks get only RO


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

I've seen a difference when I used it and when I didn't. The babies survival rate is higher. I didn't test it its jsut something I noticed.


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## go9ma123 (Oct 5, 2007)

I have used japanese mineral rocks. They can be put in as layout and it's kind of like shirakura white powder made into rock. I have them in few tanks and I can't 100% sure of improvement of shrimps but, I guess it did help something...


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## Gnomecatcher (Sep 8, 2011)

I'm not sure what the ones on the shrimp lab are made of, but I believe most of the time when you buy a "shrimp mineral rock" it is montmorillonite. The Shirakura white powder is made of pulverized montmorillonite rock. You can buy edible montmorillonite for much cheaper in bulk and just dose it into your water, if you really want to. Montmorillonite may also be called calcium bentonite.


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## deaf123 (Dec 14, 2011)

I've used it before.
My shrimps seem to have shinier shells when they have it.


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

Gnomecatcher said:


> I'm not sure what the ones on the shrimp lab are made of, but I believe most of the time when you buy a "shrimp mineral rock" it is montmorillonite. The Shirakura white powder is made of pulverized montmorillonite rock. You can buy edible montmorillonite for much cheaper in bulk and just dose it into your water, if you really want to. Montmorillonite may also be called calcium bentonite.


I feel I should interject something here and state that dosing powdered montmorillonite is much different than having a bound and steady source of it inside of the tank. Powdered montmorillonite (or calcium bentonite) is dissolved instantly into the water column, and a mineral rock is a steady source of minerals which dissolves very very slowly. If you dose montmorillonite into the water column, the TDS and GH will rise every time it's dosed. This can be curbed by only dosing at water changes. If you dose willy nilly or between water changes, the GH will climb steadily every time it's dosed. 

That said, the mineral rocks not only lend to a nicer, shinier, thicker shell, healthy molts and solid coloration, they also help polish the water.


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## Jaggedfury (Sep 11, 2010)

Aren't 100% natural Calcium Bentonite (Montmorillonite) Clay carries a pH value of 9.7?


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

Probably, however at the amount put into a shrimp tank, it doesn't raise the pH at all.

I sell a montmorillonite product, and the dosage recommendation doesn't raise the pH or GH. 

Sure if you add a TON of montmorillonite the pH of the water will change, but by that time you have defeated the purpose of adding these trace minerals.


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## Gnomecatcher (Sep 8, 2011)

mordalphus said:


> I feel I should interject something here and state that dosing powdered montmorillonite is much different than having a bound and steady source of it inside of the tank. Powdered montmorillonite (or calcium bentonite) is dissolved instantly into the water column, and a mineral rock is a steady source of minerals which dissolves very very slowly. If you dose montmorillonite into the water column, the TDS and GH will rise every time it's dosed. This can be curbed by only dosing at water changes. If you dose willy nilly or between water changes, the GH will climb steadily every time it's dosed.
> 
> That said, the mineral rocks not only lend to a nicer, shinier, thicker shell, healthy molts and solid coloration, they also help polish the water.


I understand, when I used the term "dosage" I meant according to what was needed. Not like dosing ferts, where you expect them to be gone in some amount of time without or without a water change. No, I meant adding a bit with each water change. I just would prefer powder to the rock, since I can know exactly how much is going into the water. Also, I have heard of people adding a layer under the substrate to polish the water, as you have stated.


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## GeToChKn (Apr 15, 2011)

Gnomecatcher said:


> I understand, when I used the term "dosage" I meant according to what was needed. Not like dosing ferts, where you expect them to be gone in some amount of time without or without a water change. No, I meant adding a bit with each water change. I just would prefer powder to the rock, since I can know exactly how much is going into the water. Also, I have heard of people adding a layer under the substrate to polish the water, as you have stated.


I use Mosura old sea mud powder which has lots of trace minerals and dose a small bit after a WC. It is also recommended when setting up a new tank to dose a bottle of it under the subtrate, then you don't have to dose any in the water for about 6 months or so.


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## Gnomecatcher (Sep 8, 2011)

GeToChKn said:


> I use Mosura old sea mud powder which has lots of trace minerals and dose a small bit after a WC. It is also recommended when setting up a new tank to dose a bottle of it under the subtrate, then you don't have to dose any in the water for about 6 months or so.


I'm not sure that old sea mud and calcium bentonite are the same thing, but they have similar qualities. Have you noticed anything different when using old sea mud? I am interested to hear other people's experience.


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