# Fluval shrimp substrate.



## BettaBoy (Dec 14, 2010)

Heard this stuff is ok,
But is it worth my 14 dollars?


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## t0p_sh0tta (Jan 24, 2008)

It works, but isn't at all necessary for shrimp keeping. I like the rounded appearance.


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## fishykid1 (Apr 5, 2010)

I'd rather have flourite black sand or some type of colorquartz(ceramaquartz) to show off the shrimp colors better.


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## cheaman (Jan 22, 2009)

Worth every penny if you are seriously keeping shrimp (anything over B-C grade CRS). Buffers ph very well and is as black as Eco Complete or Fourite. (ADA Aquasoil is quite grey in comparison). Also has the added benefit of being very good for plant growth.


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## t0p_sh0tta (Jan 24, 2008)

How much do you get for $14? For what it's worth, I've never seen grey Aquasoil. Mine is a rich brown color.


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## BettaBoy (Dec 14, 2010)

Maybe a small bag like a minture bag of dog food.


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## vangp (Nov 2, 2010)

Yep like a small bag of dog food, this stuff i see in all the fish stores that are close by.


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## gBOYsc2 (Dec 4, 2010)

Does anyone know the difference between the shrimp and the plant substrate that Fluval has put out? I am going to start a small nano soon and I was wondering which I should go with as ADA soil is not available here and probably too expensive to ship. It will be more about the plants but I do want to have shrimp. Is it all that necessary?


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## Option (Oct 2, 2010)

fishykid1 said:


> I'd rather have flourite black sand or some type of colorquartz(ceramaquartz) to show off the shrimp colors better.


Yeah, I use black flourite as well and love it. Especially for it's deep black color.

I'm not a big fan of the fluval shrimp substrate either, it's too brown for my liking and the consistancy is more course than fine.


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## Senior Shrimpo (Dec 4, 2010)

It's very cool and it put everything except my gH into perfect range, but my gH is extremely high here in PA so I'm going to start using Zero water (from the filter, I tested the water and turns out there's almost 0 ppm of gH in there, I guess it filters it out. Who knew?) to lower the gH.

So overall I recommend the stuff. Gets cloudy but makes the water perfect for CRS. It's pretty nice. Good for plants too.† 

Huh. I don't know where that cross thing came from.


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## gordonrichards (Jun 20, 2009)

If its at your LFS pick it up. Top off whatever your substrate is with it.
If you're thinking about buying it...

Azoo plant grower bed is cheaper and it does the same stuff.
11 pound bag is $28.00, plus shipping.

Petstore.com is good.
I purchased 6 bags last time, shipping ended up being free which was awesome.


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## dhgyello04 (Jul 11, 2008)

Hello,
Does anyone know of a converter for this substrate? I would like to switch my 47 bow front over to this from pool filter sand. I don’t know how many bags to get. Please help if you can.


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## tbarabash (May 18, 2011)

I got a bag of this with my fluval ebi I recently bought. I spent about 15 minutes rinsing each small 3-4 handful amount that I put in and the tankwater still looked like mud for the first two days I used it. As for planting, I'd rate it as average, it's quite light so you relaly need to bury roots deep or tie down smaller plants to rocks/wood to get them to sit put. Visually it's nice, but it's just such a pain in the ass. Anytime I have to move a plant around or a fish hits the substrate it kicks up a dirty cloud of muddy water that lingers for a few hours. I ended up putting half eco complete in the tank where it is more heavily planted as I've had great results with EC and leaving the fluval substrate in the more wide open areas with less plants and less chance of getting stirred up


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## Mr. Leg (Feb 2, 2011)

I put mine in a strainer and rinsed out most of the particles. when I added the water it cleared up in an hour.


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## chiefroastbeef (Feb 14, 2011)

I didn't rinse the Stratum in either of my tanks, just carefully add water into tank and you shouldn't get cloud issues. I think rinsing and washing the Stratum greatly weakens it, increasing the cloud issue as the soil balls break apart.

I love the Stratum, main reason being that it doesn't leech ammonia in the substrate. Because I was swapping from plain gravel to soil with livestock, I had to find a soil substrate that doesn't leech ammonia like ADA does. Stratum fit the bill, and my plants are doing great.


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## Rider (Mar 13, 2006)

I totally agree with the no rinsing. Set up two nano tanks. The first one I rinsed and it seems to break it down and I get the little dirt clouds when I add plants. The second tank, I didn't rinse and I have had no issues. It looks good and plants are doing great.


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## ZID ZULANDER (Apr 15, 2008)

Not sure if anyone answered, but the shrimp one is smaller in size. The plant one is a larger particle size.



gBOYsc2 said:


> Does anyone know the difference between the shrimp and the plant substrate that Fluval has put out? I am going to start a small nano soon and I was wondering which I should go with as ADA soil is not available here and probably too expensive to ship. It will be more about the plants but I do want to have shrimp. Is it all that necessary?


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## Alaizabelle (Apr 7, 2011)

I have three tanks (an ebi, a 5.5, and a little 1 gallon) with this stratum, and really like it so far! It's pretty, and the shrimp seem to really like it!


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

yeah...i work at a pet store (best job ever) and run the fish department. and can tell you there aint much diff if any. maybe smaller size as mentioned earlier. but otherwise same stuff. buffers great. doesn't leach ammonia. does good for my cherries and crs. as well as my 40 b iwagumi. so i like it .


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

I love the fluval stratum, it buffers great, looks awesome and has the benefits of aquasoil without the ammonia leeching. I use it in all of my shrimp tanks, it's an affordable alternative to aquasoil and has none of the bad.


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