Fluval plant shrimp strata

[earhtmother]

Is Fluval Plant & Shrimp Stratum worth paying 4x the going price for gravel. - 9lbs@$40 vs 25lbs@$26? I'm going to be using it primarily for the shrimp, no plans for plants at this time. The girl I bought my last batch of shrimp ia closing down her tanks and offered it to me at a reduced price.

[kashif314]

Its worth it if you are planning a shrimp only setup and you are serious about having shrimps. Its a buffering substrate and Fluval is very nice company. If you are are getting at reduced price I say buy it but as I said if you are very interested in shrimp setup only

[earhtmother]

Originally Posted by earhtmother

Is Fluval Plant & Shrimp Stratum worth paying 4x the going price for gravel. - 9lbs@$40 vs 25lbs@$26? I'm going to be using it primarily for the shrimp, no plans for plants at this time. The girl I bought my last batch of shrimp ia closing down her tanks and offered it to me at a reduced price.

IF I buy it do I have to keep it moist intil.I use it since it has already been used in a tank?

[Autumnsky]

Since it is used, and depending upon how old it is/long it was used in the tank, you will not likely get the full benefit of the product.

Amazon has it for $44.99 for 17.6 lbs. or 4.4 lbs for $17.35.

Comparitively, I would only want to pay about 25% of the value if it was used for more than a year.

Amazonia Light is 9L for 37.99 + 8 shipping from ADA
or 17.99 for 7lbs on Amazon

There are other options too.

Some leach ammonia and need to be soaked for weeks.

Some kinds are like little balls of clay soil. Amazonia and Amazonia light are like that, they break down and degrade overtime.

Others are like tiny fired balls of clay, and some like tiny expanded clay.

I have one like Up Aqua shrimp sand and it is floaty but sinks fast and is not really so much a plant nutrient provided. it is hard and tiny balls mike a 1-2mm ball.

Anyhow I just mention it because there are some negative reviews for Fluval Shrimp Stratum, but as usually someone isn't going to like something. So I mention that the substrate is very different depending upon what is is.

So knowing what you want is very worthwhile, before you spend any money, on used OR new.

[earhtmother]

Th only reason I considered this is it acted very much like gravel when it fell out of the livestock bags & I can't bring myself to use sand as I really MUST vacuum if I see crud building up in the lower layers 😏If it would just stay out of sight I could ignore it

[Autumnsky]

Paint the bottom to the substrate level, frost or black/espresso? Or wide tape of some sort.
Something else creative???

[kashif314]

ADA Amazonia is definitely the best and first choice substrate. Autumn has a very good point that the used substrate we don't know is how old. Maybe its properties already diminished.

[Autumnsky]

I would have to look back to my experiment and checked how long the Amazonia was leaching ammonia, probably 8 weeks until it didn't.

The light was about 4 weeks of soaking and changing water until it was at a point I was comfortable with not leaching for shrimp. Which I was surprised at.

Also at the AGA 2018 I got a sample jug of the CaribSea Samurai Soil and was told it is the harder fired balls and doesn't leach at all also long lasting. I didn't need to set up another tank so I haven't used it yet. It also has "mycorrhizal fungi for enhanced root development "

Just checked and it is 9L for 37.99 free shipping. FYI

Maybe I should at least get it out and check it, for scientific purposes, and have to start a new tank after the testing is done .

[ShrimpBrothers]

+1 on Amazonia. I actually have a tank with Stratum underneath Amazonia and my shrimp are doing wonderfully, plants are happy too. Akadama is another option but doesn't have the nutrients of the other two.

You can mix in some cheaper inert substrate too if you want to save some money.