# My Fluval stratum experiment!



## SearunSimpson

I actually just picked up a big bag of the Stratum too. I was thinking of getting the Ebi soil, but after reading the backs and researching, I really didn't find anything too significantly different.
I did notice though with my bag that it needed to be rinsed thoroughly, but also very gently as to not break apart/crush the little spheres, causing more turbidity. 
Hopefully this stuff is good!


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## xJaypex

Man!! all this threads about this and now i want to try it but having no luck finding it. 

Just want to try the substrate.


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## rwong2k

i have both the plant and the shrimp fluval substrate for about a month now, the shrimp one is slightly smaller than the plant one, other than that, they both grow plants pretty well and my crs are doing quite well and are breeding, (converted my bare bottom breeding discus cube into a planted tank by pouring the substrate into the bare bottom tank)

i was having a chat with someone locally and he suspects they're the same just re-packaged,

i've had ada before in my planted and shrimp tanks, there's no ammonia spike, cloudiness (gone within 4ish hours unlike the ada), and no bits and pieces of bark? that ada has


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## Captivate05

My LFS has this substrate and I plan on using it when I redo my 10g planted and 5.5 BTOE tank. Looks promising to me right now


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## SSS Fan

So does anyone know if the Shrimp and Flora Stratum are the same? I emailed Fluval about it but I doubt they'll tell me.


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## rwong2k

SSS Fan said:


> So does anyone know if the Shrimp and Flora Stratum are the same? I emailed Fluval about it but I doubt they'll tell me.


i own both and they're pretty much the same stuff except the shrimp one is a little bit smaller in diameter

both grow plants well and I have crs in both


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## SSS Fan

I'm going to have both as I have an Ebi and a Flora coming soon. I'm going to set up a little experiment and see how each substrate affects the pH. I'm also ordering extra Shrimp Stratum for the Flora as I don't trust that they are exactly the same.


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## sewingalot

xJaypex said:


> Man!! all this threads about this and now i want to try it but having no luck finding it.
> 
> Just want to try the substrate.


I found it on Amazon.com


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## justin182

Nice! Seems like getting the Ebi was a good choice~!!!


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## Heroes

I've heard that plants do not hold well in the Stratum. Has anyone had a problem and if so, what is the fix? Just bought the Flora and not operational yet.


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## chumlee

It's not too bad... I just replaced all of the substrate in my tank with this stuff CAUSE I LOVE IT!!! the plants have amazing root development so after a few days the plants should be held in. I added weights to some of my plants and that helped a lot. 

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk


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## rwong2k

yeah i love this stuff too, 

with about 1" it was too thin to properly plant anything except with tweezers, with about 2" of substrate i can plant plants easily with my fingers

the plants stay quite well but I recommend atleast 2" of substrate for your aquarium


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## chumlee

Two 8.8lb ( 4kg) bags were good for my 29g if anyones wondering. About 2 in depth... I can hold my stem plants by the top and just push them onto the substrate with no fingers or tweezers and the plants hold. 

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk


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## Heroes

Thx. Did you rinse it before placing it in the tank?


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## chumlee

yeah I did in a bucket but if you have a find colander they recommend using that. I find that mixing this substrate up causes cloudiness anyway, but it clears very quickly.


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## Captivate05

It's a good idea to rinse any new substrate. It wouldn't hurt anything, in any case.


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## aman74

rwong2k said:


> i have both the plant and the shrimp fluval substrate for about a month now, the shrimp one is slightly smaller than the plant one, other than that, they both grow plants pretty well and my crs are doing quite well and are breeding, (converted my bare bottom breeding discus cube into a planted tank by pouring the substrate into the bare bottom tank)
> 
> i was having a chat with someone locally and he suspects they're the same just re-packaged,
> 
> i've had ada before in my planted and shrimp tanks, there's no ammonia spike, cloudiness (gone within 4ish hours unlike the ada), and no bits and pieces of bark? that ada has


They think which are the same? You only mentioned the Stratum. Did you mean the Stratum and ADA?

Thanks,

Anthony


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## antbug

Can you add stratum without it changing the water parameters? I'm starting a new tank and I can decide on AS or Stratum. I know AS needed to cycle for at least 4 weeks, is this true with stratum as well?


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## Zmuda

Im about to head out to get some of this now..

Im hoping to get my pH down to about 7.0..


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## Zmuda

Just picked some up.. Rinsed it out really good put it in tank.. gezz does it make the water black.. I'm hoping it will settle down by tomorrow..

It looks really good though..


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## rwong2k

aman74 said:


> They think which are the same? You only mentioned the Stratum. Did you mean the Stratum and ADA?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Anthony


oh i meant the fluval plant and shrimp substrate, one's a bigger size than the other, otherwise they're pretty much the same, from my non scientific analysis

my plants grow just as well in both substrates


i've owned ada before and there's no ammoina spike in teh beginning like ada and my tank clears up with my eheim 2236 in about 4 hour whereas the ada powder amzonia took quite a while to clear up.


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## aman74

rwong2k said:


> oh i meant the fluval plant and shrimp substrate, one's a bigger size than the other, otherwise they're pretty much the same, from my non scientific analysis
> 
> my plants grow just as well in both substrates
> 
> 
> i've owned ada before and there's no ammoina spike in teh beginning like ada and my tank clears up with my eheim 2236 in about 4 hour whereas the ada powder amzonia took quite a while to clear up.


Ah ok, thanks for your thoughts!

It looks like some people are getting this locally, what stores carry it? For some reason the chains around here don't even have Flourite black most of the time, but with this being a Fluval product there's a chance some places might get it.


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## rwong2k

I got it at a LFS but it's a hagen/fluval brand so in canada it's a bit more expensive and harder to find ada substrates, although i managed to get a bunch but it wasn't worth the trouble, for my next project my 120 gallon i'll go with the fluval substrate on the fact that it's currently working and also it's avalbility,

ada's a great product but in vancouver area it's much harder and more expensive to find


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## thenewguy

the fluval stuff is pretty good. started a shrimp tank and bought some from the lfs. spent 50 total for 2 8.8 bags. ph @ 6.5 with no co2 injection. i'm a happy camper!


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## Zmuda

This hasn't brought my pH down one bit? Do you think it may be because its on top of a thin layer of regular gravel? by thin im talking really thin layer.


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## chumlee

how long have you had it in the tank?


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## Zmuda

chumlee said:


> how long have you had it in the tank?


two days... ik ik.. i should probably be more patient but it seems to work within the first 24 hours.


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## chumlee

I would wait a week just to be sure.


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## M. F

2 days could be too short indeed.

I set up my 7G tank with the fluval stratum.
I mesured the pH in my tank after 10 days: pH = 6.8
And my tap water has a pH > 7.6 (my pH test stops at 7.6).

So it looks like it really works !


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## GitMoe

Just bought 40lbs of the Stratum. Excited to try it out and compare it to the Ebi shrimp substrate which I've been using my 30c for a while now. I still need another 20lbs of the Stratum though. Stuff is expensive...


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## Gunplameister

Has anyone seen any difference between flora and shrimp stuff other than price, I noticed the adds are the same except one has the word shrimp in description. I like the shrimp stuff other than "and other than sand I have no experience" it's really light. 
I had some tears planted and the shrimp have pulled most of it up.


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## GitMoe

Gunplameister said:


> Has anyone seen any difference between flora and shrimp stuff other than price, I noticed the adds are the same except one has the word shrimp in description. I like the shrimp stuff other than "and other than sand I have no experience" it's really light.
> I had some tears planted and the shrimp have pulled most of it up.


The shrimp version is supposed to have smaller granules than the plant version. I haven't opened my plant version to compare though. Maybe tomorrow if I have time. They seem to be made of the same thing though. Should be very similar...


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## dmxsoulja3

How do you guys rinse this stuff? I rinse and rinse and no matter what it clouds the tank and if you move it around kicks up stuff in the water.


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## chumlee

mine still kicks up stuff even after I rinsed it. It clears fairly quickly (overnight should do it if you have a good filter). Dont rinse it too violently because if you haven't already noticed, this stuff can be crushed REALLY easily.


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## igor.Kanshyn

Has anyone kept it for a month or more?
How is pH?


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## dzydvl

Did you test your ph with a high level ph kit? You may have a case where your ph was 8 and it did come down. Just a thought, but I see now someone said something similar.

Will work for shrimpz.......


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## Gunplameister

Mine has been in use for over month, ph floats around 6.5 and out of tap is 7.4


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## dmxsoulja3

I have had it well over a month and steady in the mid 6's, tap is 7.5 or more, my city is also rated the worst water in the country, the fact anything grows in it is a miracle.


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## FDNY911

Hows everyones tanks doing with this substrate?? I'm interested in getting rid of my AS from my 120 gallon tank. I also want to start up another Shrimp tank in my 45 gallon tall.


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## Jeffww

Have had it for a month and a half. Still as firm as before. No mud making like with florabase. My blyxa has been growign giant roots over 10" long in less than a month. It doesn't buffer pH well though. Sitting at 7.4. However this is with 7.4 ph Tap. I just switched to RO water so it should change.


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## Hoppy

I have had mine in use for 2 months. Plants are growing very well, no problems at all with the substrate.


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## home grown

I'm growing UG immersed in my shrimp stratum and it's doing quite well


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## Alpha Pro Breeders

I've been using the shrimp stratum for over a month and couldn't be more pleased with it.


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## malaybiswas

I have 2 tanks on this substrate right now and plants are growing really well in both. I did not notice any major difference than AS in terms of water parameter change. I believe it needs to be cycled like AS as well. I did fishless cycling by just growing plants in it for 2 weeks and there was a ammonia spike right from the first day. Also no clouding whatsoever.

The only cons to AS IMO are bigger grain size and more expensive. But it is available at my LFS so it a good alternative to AS.


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## MPschenck

Jeffww said:


> Have had it for a month and a half. Still as firm as before. No mud making like with florabase. [...] It doesn't buffer pH well though. Sitting at 7.4. However this is with 7.4 ph Tap. I just switched to RO water so it should change.


So after a month it has stopped buffering your pH down or it never did? 

I'm curious about how long this stuff effects the pH?


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## FDNY911

^+1 I need to if it does keep the ph down for longer then a month. I have no LFS around me. Without giving a review can someone tell me where they ordered theirs from?


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## Alpha Pro Breeders

FDNY911 said:


> ^+1 I need to if it does keep the ph down for longer then a month. I have no LFS around me. Without giving a review can someone tell me where they ordered theirs from?


I carry the shrimp stratum now and should have the plant statum in a week or two. Here is the link to the shrimp statum (From what I understand, same stuff just a little smaller pebbles)
http://www.alphaprobreeders.com/pro...imp-substrate--"Shrimp-Stratum"-8.8--lbs.html


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## Plantedshrimptank

I like the shrimp stratum because its smaller and if you feed them small pellets it wont get stuck in between big granular substrates like the regular size. I tried getting the stuff from my LFS and that turned out to be a headache but I'm glad the LFS forgot about me as I found it for a good price at DR Foster and Smith for 25.99 for a 8.8 lbs bag. And all orders over 49 bucks get free shipping if not shipping is only 5.99. If you order from them you might as well pick up other stuff as its the cheapest place I've found. Although shipping can take up to a week to get to house.


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## FDNY911

Alpha, It wont let me order more than one bag. How much is shipping for 3 8.8 to 23805? PM me.

Planted how do you like the growth of your plants with the shrimp version?


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## Alpha Pro Breeders

FDNY911 said:


> Alpha, It wont let me order more than one bag. How much is shipping for 3 8.8 to 23805? PM me.
> 
> Planted how do you like the growth of your plants with the shrimp version?


PM sent. I've only been using it for just over a month but my plants seem to be doing great. I just have 1 of 8.8lbs and 1 of the 4.4 lbs left right now is why it wont let you add more than 1 bag. I should have another order coming in about a week.


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## Jeffww

FDNY911 said:


> ^+1 I need to if it does keep the ph down for longer then a month. I have no LFS around me. Without giving a review can someone tell me where they ordered theirs from?


Buffered down to 6.4 for 2 weeks then went straight back up with regular water changes.


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## FDNY911

Does ADA soil hold the buffer for longer anyway?


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## chiefroastbeef

I love the shrimp Stratum, I experienced no ammonnia leak, which was important since I was swapping tanks with a bunch of plants and fish. All of the fish did fine afterwards, until the tank got hit by ich... Anyway, my plants are growing great, no co2, just flourish root tabs and Flourish comprehensive.


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## bsmith

FDNY911 said:


> Does ADA soil hold the buffer for longer anyway?


I have been using ADA AS Ammazonia in a couple of tanks for a couple of years and it is still growing plants like a champ. I use RO water so I cant speak to it still being able to buffer the water. 

I think that the fact that this substrate does not create an ammonia spike speaks to it not being as nutritious as ADA AS. I personally am happy to wait a month or so for the AS to cycle before adding fauna. 

Also people are reporting a .6-1.0 drop in pH from the tap. Any tap water will usually drop about that much over the course of 48 hours or so after being left to allow the dissolved gases to leave the water. Maybe we need some tests on RO water that has been allowed to degas for 72 hours. 

I am just setting up a 40b and will be using a plant substrate and did a google search for the stratum and found this post.


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## MarzGuy

I have found that after a week, my tap water which is 7.8 will drop to a pH or 6.2 and stays there. My plants look great!!!


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## agro

MarzGuy said:


> I have found that after a week, my tap water which is 7.8 will drop to a pH or 6.2 and stays there. My plants look great!!!


Great to know, and I found this rather informative since I'm in the market for substrate but this thread is 3 years old.


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