# Fluval Shrimp Stratum Review?



## gpwap1 (Jun 15, 2008)

Hi, just wondering if anyone has used the Fluval Shrimp Stratum substrate from the new fluval ebi line. It comes with the Fluval Ebi tank or you can purchase it separately in 2kg and 4kg bags. It is pricey but I want to know how it compares with aquasoil amazonia. Just wondering as it will become relatively obtainable in North America unlike aquasoil.

How is this compared to Aquasoil Amazonia.
-pH lowering capacity
-Grain size? smaller or larger granules?
-Anything else that stands out?​


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## cheaman (Jan 22, 2009)

I'm also very curious about this. Has anyone even seen it in person? Does it look at all like ADA?


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## gpwap1 (Jun 15, 2008)

Hey cheaman! Im from winnipeg as well. Are you on the WFF? 

As for the substrate, you can find it at petland on Regent. VERY expensive though...4kg bag is like almost $40. The bag is opaque so you can see through. Based on the picture though, seems to be same texture as Aquasoil however the granules seems to be smaller.

Quyen


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## gpwap1 (Jun 15, 2008)

Btw, what shrimps are you keeping at the moment?


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## Morainy (Feb 8, 2010)

Well, I have the new Fluval Ebi shrimp tank and it came with this substrate. It's quite pretty: little round balls the size of red lentils or smaller, all roughly the same size. So, less crumbly-looking or pointy than Eco-complete. 

I have only had this tank a week so I can't really tell you more than that. The plants that I put into the tank look happy. As far as pH lowering aspect goes, I hope not, as our water here in Vancouver is already too acidic and soft. I add Equilibrium to my tank water.

Edited to add: the Fluval substrate clouds your water quite badly for several hours to a day. It looks like you've rinsed several carbon filters in your tank water. You're supposed to rinse it gently (with a strainer, for example) but not to swish. Rinsing it doesn't take off all the dust, though. But it does settle out.


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## cheaman (Jan 22, 2009)

Haha!! Too funny!! Hey Quyen! (I'm bueller on WFF).
We know we can get Aquasoil for less $$. New product so price may come down eventually. Good to see that the market is starting to lean this way. Maybe more to come.


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## gpwap1 (Jun 15, 2008)

I had a hunch that was you Chris. After all there isn't many of us around here in Winnipeg. Noticed my subtle move there putting my name on one of the posts.


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## janftica (Jan 11, 2010)

Hi all I am from Ontario and an avid shrimp/cray breeder.

OK I bought the Fluval Shrimp substrate to try out and here is what I found.

My tap water here is PH 7.6, and I am always battling to try to get it lower with no real success...only one tank is lower than 7 and I am yet to discover why...no difference between that one and any others except for a moss tree and some river stones.

Day one I put the fluval substrate into a 5 gallon, put a piece of driftwood and a pretty red and white flat piece of stone in the tank. Hung an aquaclear on the back and a sponge filter inside...let it run.

24 hours later I tested the water....PH was at 7.2 OK not a big difference but still less than 7.6.

48 hours later I tested the water again....PH was at 6.8! WOW now that's something I can live with...I will test again each day for the next 5 days to see if there is any more decreases, and then decide if I want to put it in my other tanks.

I didn't stir it up when I rinsed it, just put it in a strainer and let the water run all through it till it ran clear. They said if you try to rinse it with your hands it will cloud your water when you put it in the tank. This one did not cloud the water more than 5 min, then it was clear.

Will keep updating as I go along....so far for $29.99 a 4 KG bag (and I only used half of it for the 5 gallon, as shrimps don't need a deep bed) it is a good buy! I only use floating plants and moss in my tanks anyway, so can utililize it in 2 tanks.


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

janftica said:


> Hi all I am from Ontario and an avid shrimp/cray breeder.
> 
> OK I bought the Fluval Shrimp substrate to try out and here is what I found.
> 
> ...


Bit off topic but you could always get a RO/DI filtration system to get the ph of your water where you want it.


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## gpwap1 (Jun 15, 2008)

janftica said:


> Hi all I am from Ontario and an avid shrimp/cray breeder. OK I bought the Fluval Shrimp substrate to try out and here is what I found. My tap water here is PH 7.6 and I am always battling to try to get it lower with no real success...only one tank is lower than 7 and I am yet to discover why...no difference between that one and any others except for a moss tree and some river stones. Day one I put the fluval substrate into a 5 gallon put a piece of driftwood and a pretty red and white flat piece of stone in the tank. Hung an aquaclear on the back and a sponge filter inside...let it run. 24 hours later I tested the water....PH was at 7.2 OK not a big difference but still less than 7.6. 48 hours later I tested the water again....PH was at 6.8! WOW now that's something I can live with...I will test again each day for the next 5 days to see if there is any more decreases and then decide if I want to put it in my other tanks. I didn't stir it up when I rinsed it just put it in a strainer and let the water run all through it till it ran clear. They said if you try to rinse it with your hands it will cloud your water when you put it in the tank. This one did not cloud the water more than 5 min then it was clear. Will keep updating as I go along....so far for $29.99 a 4 KG bag (and I only used half of it for the 5 gallon as shrimps don't need a deep bed) it is a good buy! I only use floating plants and moss in my tanks anyway so can utililize it in 2 tanks.


$29.99 for 4kg is a competitive price for sure. Considering canadians pay about $50 for 9L of aquasoil (which is not always easy to get). 

As for the pH lowering capacity...more information about your water is needed. The pH went from 7.6 to 6.8. This doesnt mean much because water hardness especially KH plays a huge factor. Droppping pH from 7.6 to 6.8 in very soft water is no big feat. However if the hardness of your water is very high and the substrate lowered your pH that much then that's quite impressive and potentially dangerous for the RO/DI users with this substrate.


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## Crazygar (Nov 16, 2006)

The soil is really light and I have found that most plants have a hard time rooting in it. It would be advisable to mix it with a finer gravel or sand type planted substrate to add weight to keep those plants down. The Petland Locations here in Saskatoon have just setup theirs are they are impressive little tanks. I plan to get one for my new office. Gary


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

Wouldn't the finer of the two substrates just eventually sink to the bottem?


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## janftica (Jan 11, 2010)

OK PH is down to 6.6 GH is 4 and KH is 2
Tap water is 7.6 PH GH is 6 and KH is 8

does that make any difference to your calculations? I am not up all that much on GH and KH, but according to the test paper, this indicates low PH and perfect acidic conditions... so I guess the soil works!


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## GitMoe (Aug 30, 2010)

I just picked up the larger bag of this stuff. My LFS was having a ridiculous sale today and they had the full EBI line in stock. Cant wait to try it out. Very excited. It was regular price $22.99 for the 8.8kg bag. I got it for $15...


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## janftica (Jan 11, 2010)

JFYI...I put a non-berried blue orange eyed tiger female in this tank on Thursday, and I just got back from a US shopping trip, and she's berried....carrying a big load! My males were flitting around the tank on Thursday night, so I think someone had fun while I was away! According to another forum member, this Stratum soil was developed for Hagen by a Japanese breeder, so maybe that is why it seems to work real well.

I am going to use it in my other tanks, as I like it a lot, and better still the shrimps seem to like it too!


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

What does the substrate look like?


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## Morainy (Feb 8, 2010)

Everyone tells me that it looks like ADA. I have never seen ADA, so I think it looks like tiny round pellets, more or less like tiny black hailstones.

It's quite pretty 



bsmith said:


> What does the substrate look like?


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## TLE041 (Jan 16, 2010)

That looks exactly like AS Amazonia I/II regular.

I'm curious to know if this substrate has any nutrients in it at all or is that limited to the Fluval Plant Stratum stuff that comes with the Flora kits. Is there even a difference between the two?


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## GitMoe (Aug 30, 2010)

TLE041 said:


> That looks exactly like AS Amazonia I/II regular.
> 
> I'm curious to know if this substrate has any nutrients in it at all or is that limited to the Fluval Plant Stratum stuff that comes with the Flora kits. Is there even a difference between to two?


From what I can tell its the same stuff. The descriptive paragraph on the Shrimp Stratum talks about being good for planted tanks providing nutrients and being a substrate plants will easily root in... I'll be putting it in 3 tanks soon. All will be planted.


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## janftica (Jan 11, 2010)

I don't have anything planted in mine, just floating hygrofolia (if that's the name) and a few dwarf water lettuce buds for the shrimps to hang onto.

What I did notice is that my new Blue Bees (which I just picked up) and put them in this tank are NOT hiding! They are all over this tank, picking at the substrate, climbing over the one piece of driftwood I have in there and on the sponge filter. I have seen quite a few of them this morning attacking the piece of shirakura I put in there.

Don't know if this is anything new, but for a shrimp that hides a lot, these ones don't seem to be doing that. They are mostly brown/white right now, but maybe in a few days when they are more settled in their new environment they will turn blue...I can only hope :smile:

I am going to change out my other tanks to this substrate a little at a time, because I DO believe it is making the shrimps feel good!


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## chumlee (Nov 4, 2010)

Can anybody tell me how many bags approximately for a 29g tank. I was thinking 2 or 3 but they're so expensive so I dont wanna buy too much, thanks.


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## justin182 (Aug 19, 2009)

Does it release ammonia in the beginning like the aquasoil? I'm planning to get the fluval ebi kit myself.


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## GDidycz (Mar 4, 2012)

*Fluval Shrimp Stratum.*

the fluval shrim stratum is identical to their flora stratum. It does not release amonia at the beginning but it will soften the water a bit. Works great for my plants.


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## GDidycz (Mar 4, 2012)

i went with 2 bags of stratum and one bag of decorative. I placed the decorative rocks around the primiter leaving the middle part for the plant stratum. This saved me some $$$ and looks great!


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## GDP (Mar 12, 2011)

I like FSS for anything but Cardinas. Works great for cherries or any neos. I plan on using it on my newest 10g rimless. Old thread btw lol.


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## wicca27 (May 3, 2009)

so far i like it. lowered the ph by a full point (from 7 to 6) i have baby rili and had baby oebt in it (some say babys dont make it) still holds its shape. other than not keeping down dwarf baby tears i love it. but shrimp will dig that up any way


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## talen (Jun 23, 2013)

I stumbled across this site thread when I was looking for information on the Stratum. I use pool filter sand in my tank currently but since I got a shrimp I was wondering about this stuff. I use Ken's Fish for a lot of my purchases as I like the pricing plus it saves me an hour trip to the pet stores. From what I read, the stratum seems like a good buy. Ken's is selling the stuff for $8.35 for a 4.4lb bag and 8.8 for a $15.35. I was wondering how much I would need for a 20 gallon?


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## AnotherHobby (Mar 5, 2012)

How much you need depends on your layout. For reference, I used almost all of the small bag on my 3 gallon Mr Aqua. Also, it definitely crumbles way easier than my aquasoil. I think it's fine for my little nano tank, but I think I'll stick to aquasoil in the future.


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## wicca27 (May 3, 2009)

i like fss, had it in a couple tanks since feb of 2012. it did break down pretty fast since this feb but was still buffering pretty good. would take my tap water from 7.5ish down to 6


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

There are several threads here on the forum that I encourage you to search out. It would be just as affordable to use a more nutrient-rich substrate like Aquasoil Amazonia - and it would buffer better and longer for shrimp.

Fluval Shrimp Stratum is essentially a waste of money. Most experienced shrimp keepers use it for a year, it stops buffering or shrimp start dying. It's great if you have a tiny tank and only need a bit of substrate but that's about it. 

If you want to keep shrimp and also keep plants without the need for fertilizer? Aquasoil is where it's at.

Note: you don't need buffering substrate for shrimp like Cherries.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

To update: looks like you have a Bamboo Shrimp. Buffering substrate like this is not necessary.


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