# Using mineral blocks/almond leaves/ what food



## Emplanted (May 3, 2014)

I'm looking at starting my colony of shrimp in my 15 gallon ada tank.

Almost done cycle the Amazonia soil! So looking for my shrimp stock items now.

I'll have mostly cherry with Pumpkin and yellow since these are available at my LFS. Also some Amanos. 

For people who have breed successfully do you find it necessary or beneficial to use the mineral blocks and/or almond leaves. I keep seeing them for sale on ebay they seem popular. 
Also the Challoa (sorry for spelling) logs?

Oh and are the expensive food mixes worth the money? I currently just have a petsmart sinking pellet. But I'd like to get the best diet for them :biggrin:

Thanks! roud:

Bump: These stones keep popping up when I search 

Shirakura Mineral Stone

Aquarium Porphyries Andesite Mineral Balls

Tantora White Mineral Stone Montmorillonite Rock

Aquarium Tourmaline Mineral Balls 

Milonecton Mineral Stone


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## Nubster (Aug 9, 2011)

Do you need them? Not at all. Are they helpful...sure. I use the cholla wood in my tank and the shrimp like to graze off of it. It breaks down over time (a long time) and gives biofilm a great place to grow. Indian almond leaves are the same thing...they offer a great place for the film to grow for the shrimp to eat. I think it also slightly lowers pH but not enough to worry about. Mineral rocks...I'm sure they are good but I've never used them. I've not had much issues with my neos or breeding either.

Food...you don't need the expensive stuff. If you want to buy food, check out the stuff somewhatshocked has. It's great stuff at much better prices than you'll pay for the "name brand" Japanese stuff. You can also check out Repashy food...it's a powder that you mix with water to make a solid food. Awesome stuff. You can also make your own for cheap. I make my own in addition to using Rhapeshy. All I do is buy jars of various organic baby food...veggies...mix them together and dehydrate. Throw the dried out stuff in the fridge and it lasts forever. Shrimp love it. Costs like $5-7 for many months worth of food when feeding about twice or three time per week.

And your shrimp....you know they'll interbreed and create "ugly" mutt shrimp...right? You end up with brown wild coloration shrimp by mixing the colors. They are both neos so they will breed together. If you want to maintain a color line, stick with one color with the neos.


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## Bliasuk (Aug 12, 2010)

I always have a variety of leaves in my tanks. i consider them essential as i rarely feed commercial foods. Good little article on leaf litter here, worth a read.

Mineral blocks are more of a luxury than a necessity.


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## sewoeno (Apr 12, 2014)

just make sure the food you have doesn't contain any copper. i love having cholla wood, ial and alder cones in my tanks. makes it look like a dead forest. i feed my shrimps all types of commercial food. you can find samples in the sale section to try all types for a cheaper price. i also use shirakura stones and LOVE them. but i guess its all preference. water conditions are most important anyways


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## DETAquarium (May 7, 2014)

As noted above, these supplements and water conditioners are not necessary but more of an insurance policy to help ensure the best environment for your shrimp.

I use IAL, Alder Cones, and Cholla Wood in almost all of my shrimp tanks. I choose to use the BorneoWild Minerock and Beeballs.

Commerical Food when starting a new shrimp tank isn't as important as biofilm and algae are. I would recommend using Bacter AE by Glas Garten for the first month or so. Then try introducing commercial foods. I use Cologne Shrimp Food by Peters-Laden, this is a 100% natural organic shrimp food, I have had great results so far.

These are just my personal opinions and experiences. I hope they help you.


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## oblongshrimp (Jul 26, 2006)

foods that contain copper in the ingredients are generally not dangerous to your shrimp (I have never heard of someone feeding a food with copper and wiping out their shrimp). Copper is a necessary nutrient for shrimp (it carries O2 in their blood vs iron carrying it in our blood). Copper is dangerous to shrimp in large doses which are almost always the result of a copper based medication.


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## Emplanted (May 3, 2014)

Thanks everyone! 
I guess my last question is the leaves and wood how much do they stain the water colour?


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## Nubster (Aug 9, 2011)

Cholla wood not at all. Leaves...I've used dried oak leaves in my tank before and they didn't stain the water either. Not sure about IAL's though.


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## Emplanted (May 3, 2014)

Nubster said:


> Cholla wood not at all. Leaves...I've used dried oak leaves in my tank before and they didn't stain the water either. Not sure about IAL's though.


The dried oak are they similar to ial?


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## Nubster (Aug 9, 2011)

Yes in that they provide a good place for biofilm. But I think IAL have a little extra going for them. But for the price difference (free vs. paying for them)...I'll use oak leaves in my tanks when/if I use leaf litter.


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## garfieldnfish (Sep 25, 2010)

I use almond leaves in all my shrimp tanks. They do color the water, but I love the look of it. My shrimp eat the entire leaves down to the skeleton. Oak leaves work well too if you can collect them from an area that you know no fertilizer is being used.


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## ravensgate (May 24, 2012)

Just throwing this out there but neos don't tend to breed well with Amazonia. It drops the pH too low. I'd recommend trying some cheap crystals. They'd be cheaper from members here than what you're probably going to pay for those neos at your LFS anyway, and yes, even when you add on shipping


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