I've used Fluval Stratum (low tech planted tank) and have has no issues with nutrients being released and crazy ph changes. It's been really easy and I've done only a few water changes over the course of 4-5 months
As a newbie trying to figure out what is the best substrate to use is very confusing. I've past experience in horticulture and it was a lot simpler. Soil types I can understand but with the added wrinkle of how it affects the water parameters and how that in turn affects the biology is too much. I'm only a bear of small brain! Sorry you lost your some shrimp.
I use fluval stratum in all three of my nano shrimp tanks with no cap, but I also have very hard water. The tanks are all between 1 and 2 years old, and no issues - my crypts really love it!
I've only used Fluval but it's by far the least maintenance of any substrate I've used. With established plants and no water changes the chemistry is extremely stable. A variety of algaes appreciate it lol. Maybe not the best choice for the sterile style that a lot of aquarists like. And smaller tanks are more sensitive to changes with less volume to dilute so I probably wouldn't use aquasoil in less than twenty gallons.
With soft water I've never used active substraight without capping with a fine sand to keep the nutrients contained. This video just confirmed that for me. Thanks Irene, sorry you had to go through all that but it'll help others out there to see this ❤
the missing thing in this video is the solution to using a nutrient-rich substrate - getting rid of it completely isn't the only option. putting gravel on top of it will make the nutrients leak into the water column, which results in the stuff you see in this video - that's why you should use sand instead, at least one inch (preferably two). sand is a lot more packed and won't let the nutrients escape. if you want gravel, put some on top of the sand, or have sand around it - you need that compact layer that doesn't let nutrients escape.
It’s pretty odd to how many people have had issues with aqua soil. For me, even having the soil uncapped,my fish and shrimp never had any issues and plant growth was always insanely good. Doing tons of research I found a lot of benefits to uncapped aquasoil and the pros definitely outweigh the cons.
@@reymundorodriguezg It depends on your overall setup. A capped nutrient layer is the easiest way to do an aquarium, especially like in the Walstadt method. Open aquasoil is good if heavily planted and combined with good bio-filtration.
@@reymundorodriguezgexactly I think this video is missing the point. I think they have water issues, something else is at play. Use beneficial bacterial to avoid ammonia spikes.
You need to CO2 inject with Aquasoil otherwise you will have an algae bloom on prehistoric levels. But if you inject CO2 and have good stem plants, aquasoil wins for almost any plants, and it also keeps your water slightly acidic and soft.
I’ve been using Fluval Stratum. It doesn’t take as much maintenance, or buffer, as the other aquasoils. I also don’t go longer than 2 weeks without a water change. I have hard tap water, but there is no way I want to get so far into the weeds as to do rodi water. I have hundreds and hundreds of cherry shrimp now.
normal stratum does buffer water, even says so on the bag... the new bio-stratum is inert and does not... if you have enough kh in the water with weekly/bi-weekly wc's you wont notice a dip in ph/kh, after a while the soil will not be able to absorb kh and stop buffering
@@FishingMaster_99 would you say normal aqua soil like fluval stratum wont affect PH as long as you have enough KH in your tap water? I have 7 KDH in my tap water so I should be fine right with aqua soil?
I use fluval stratum with a gravel cap. I also have relatively hard water, so I dilute 50/50 with ro water, and that seems to work fine. I do a weekly 20% water change. I have blue and red neocaridina shrimp, and they reproduce like crazy. Glad that you've found what works for you!
Hi Irene, I have Seachem Fluorite black black sand, which doesn't change the water parameters but is a very good substrate for plants without root tabs. You should try it!
I have also used Seachem Fluorite black. It lowered the pH a bit (to 6.8). It didn't stop algae. Cutting my aquarium light time to 7 hours helped a bit. My algae problem is mainly on the plants, not the glass. It is spot algae, not blackbeard.
@@michaelfox6820 I love fluval stratum but it does lower the ph a bit which works for me because I have really hard water. Did add crushed coral to bring balance it with my snail tank. Works great.
Aquasoils are a great tool, but really aren't a one-size-fits-all strategy. Where they really shine is in setups with fish that already love very soft, acidic water; tetras, rasboras, some osphronemidae, etc. In this way you can completely cover the ground with plants, which will mature into a dense "rainforest" look, while keeping the water oxygenated for the fish, while the soil keeps the water at those low values. This creates a perfect environment for our friends, and I also keep amano shrimp in such tanks too, although they are somewhat more hardy than neocaridinas (despite actually being caridina shrimp)
My Opinion on what happend ... Not enough root feeders or the gravel made it harder for the crypts to make its way into the aquasoil. I actually use garden soil and cap with gravel but i make sure the cap is not too thick. just enough so the garden soil does not cloud the water. Works well for me. I add tabs later on. directly under plants i want to target.
I use Fluval Stratum in my 5.5 gallon rimless (same as yours) shrimp tank and I must say everything is growing beautifully - monte carlo w/co2 grows like crazy. I've had no Ph problems except maybe a little high without CO2. Without CO2, the PH is 8. I keep it at 7 with the right amount of CO2. Cherry shrimp are breeding like crazy too. I unload some of the shrimp into a 40 G breeder. This is my first shrimp tank and so far, so good!
Hey I know this is an old comment, but did you cap your substrate with sand? I just set up my tank with just fluval stratum, but I get super cloudy water every time I do a water change and it messes with the plants
One thing I've learned using aqua soil is that sometimes it takes months not weeks before you can add more sensitive animals like shrimp. I have much better luck with caridina shrimp and active substrates then I do with neocaridina on active substrates. My favorite active substrate is UNS Controsoil and Brightwell active soils. Neither of those two leach ammonia in the way that other active soils like ADA Amazonia. I've been curious about the Landen soil since it is priced way lower then other aquasoils so I appreciate the video! I know aquasoils aren't for everyone and thats perfectly fine 😊 but I'll definitely be checking out the Landen soil now! Your review of the product provided the info I needed to make a choice on whether I should try it or not and it seems perfect for my needs!
I have great experience with some aqua soil types like ada Amazonia ver.1,ada Amazonia africana and Akadama(bonsai soil) I use aqua soil for shrimp.I personally like Akadama a lot because it has less nutrients but lowers the pH and softens the water for a long time! Akadama soil also is great for low tech walstad tanks too!
Great timing. I'm in process of planning an upgrade and substrate is one of bullet points... I was considering rich substrate but: changing water parameters and 1-2 years of lifespan crossed that of the list... The rest of your experience just adds the extra lines on it.... Thank you!
At this point I'm just using pool filter sand with root tabs from Aquarium Coop, they are super effective. I bought some Rotala Indica a couple weeks ago and after planting them in my tank with the root tabs you can see the explosion of growth at the ends and the leaves are so much more dense/thicker and it looks amazing! I wish YT would let you post a photo in with comments because it really is impressive. Inert plus root tabs is the way to go. Also I hate fluval stratum or any substrate that has a similar shape/style - plants don't like to stay planted in that substrate compared to sand. Gravel is harder to grow plants in (for me) vs sand - sand just seems like the superior substrate, and the fact you can get pool filter sand if you're not picky about the color for less than $20 for a 50 pound bag is pretty good (it used to be $9-10/50 lb bag but it's gone up since)
I use sand over a dirted bottom. I agree completely about the difference between planting in sand versus gravel. I recently planted a friend's gravel base aquarium. It was a pain in the patootie! My sand base tanks are WAY easier to plant. Even with things like plecos pushing through things, the plants stay put. His pleco kept popping plants out of the gravel. I finally had to resort to putting the plants in net pots, well secured, then bury the net pots in the gravel. Made a royal mess of the water column until gunk settled, but hey, it worked! That pleco hasn't knocked any of the plants out again.
We used an inch organic soil and we capped it off with three inches of sand mixed with fine pea gravel. The water paramenters were off until we put the plants in after two days and within four days of testing the water paramenters are normal. Before the plants the Ammonia 0.25 ppm Nitrite 1.0 Nitrate .80ppm pH 7.6 temp 68.5 After we put the plants in (40 gallon breeder) we tested the water parameters and the results came out normal and in two days we added six glowlight tetras and two panda corys. The ammonia 0ppm nitite 0ppm nitrate Oppm pH 7.6. I have an afterschool program with my middle students and we are studying different habitates of tropical freshwarer fish.
Loved the video, can relate to some of your struggles but have found if I just use a small amount of aquasoil just under my crypts it works out for me. Funnily, after watching this video what I wanted to try the most was multis! They were so much fun to watch behind you!
You really shouldn’t cap aquasoils. This is because aquasoils have a higher CEC (Cation Exchange Capacity) which is its ability to absorb nutrients from the water column. By capping an aquasoil you effectively eliminate its ability to absorb nutrients. Aquasoils have a CEC of about 45-50 meq, versus 0.1-1.3 meq for sand or gravel. 4:15
If I notice problems in my tank ( I got live soil type of substrate) I usualy have aquaclear and some type of live bacteria like from Easy life. That is my go to for new tanks and it works like a charm. Also as I have huge box filter. I never ever clean that in time of rescaping tank. Usualy I got no to very little issue if at all. Also, worth notice that i got stock in tank almost next day after rescaping, with regular dosing of bacteria (easy life or something alike that).
A lot of aqua soil will leach ammonia for 6-8 weeks especially ADA Amazonia. Also, active substrate isn’t recommended in general for Neocaridina shrimp because it softens the water too much for them. Some people use it if they have really hard water but in general it’s not recommended for neos. Also, capping it with gravel is going to allow more nutrients into the water column where sand would be a tighter cap.
1 tip for dealing with ph drop caused by aqua soil: adding slow-releasing ph buffer. I added tons of crushed eggshells in, almost like eggshell sand. Since they are slow-releasing when the ph is neutral, they won't release into the water. But when there is a ph drop, they will release faster and balance the ph.
I'm a believer of using plants as a filter. imho, you need a really fast growing plants! lots of it! crypts, fern and lily are not the best. in my experience, stem plants grows tall in just a week.
I use about an inch, give or take .5”, of regular organic potting soil, in most tanks. I’ve never had that problem? But like a lot of other people said, I always cap with sand (even just .25”), you really have to do this, and always add crushed coral or oyster shells. ( very cheap, takes forever to dissolve), plus sone wonder shells here and there. Never a random death, and the plants go crazy! I never have to add root tabs, or do extra water changes. The nutrients are used up from the soil after 1-2 years, but by then the mulm has sifted down and started refilling the nutrients up! It’s a great way to organize an ecosystem with the least amount of work. There are so many good videos and resources online to find, of people with a lot of experience of doing this:) ( bonus is if you get it just right, after a while you don’t need to gravel vac or even do water changes !)
Hey, i have a well developed ecosystem in my 12 litre/5 gallon betta tank. But now for a week or two my house reconstruction will be there and i will have to go to my grandmother's house so can i take that betta in 1 gallon plastic tank for a week? And will water quality affect its health? Because i have different water quality in my home and different at there.
I can't imagine actually having soft water. We drink liquid rock here in the midwest. I've never once had to raise GH/KH, and my water is 8.0 PH out the tap. All my problems are the exact opposite as you. Q-Q I love aquasoil, though. It allows me to be extremely lazy with my aquarium upkeep, and even buffers down my 8.0 PH water, though I think all of my fluval stratum is inert at this point as I've had it for 2 years. Never had to use root tabs, though. The never ending plant growth and population of shrimp in my 20 gallon is thanks to how good aquasoil is when you have harder water. I do 0 water changes, just top off with tap water, and my tank is constantly booming. My "maintenance" is snipping some cuttings every few weeks to a month and cleaning my HOB canister filter every 3-6 months depending on flow.
I've honestly never tried out aquasoil but 90% of my tanks are and have been dirted. Perhaps that can be your next project! Neocaridina shrimp death is unfortunately to be expected before the tank fully stabilizes; which is never quick enough, honestly. It's hard to avoid and always a bit disheartening. A Walstad aquarium is a similar process and could be fun. I've never had to cap that thick, however, because I prefer sand.
I just recently rescaped my tank. Like everyone else around here I'm using the fluvial stratum. I heard people having ammonia spikes with fluval, I'd assume it was because they added it dry? I of course followed the bag which recommended lightly rinsing, to my surprise I had no ammonia spikes. Since switching over I noticed my crypts exploded! I do like the fact they absorb fertilizers and such. What I dose for those java ferns get absorbed and used for the root hungry plants. I also noticed that I had a consistent 8.0ph, since the switch my ph dropped to a consistent 6.8-7.2. some how, idk if my kit was bad but I did have a hard time finding my gh-kh degrees. Before switch I believe my GH was 7° and kh was 5° I think. Now I can't get a GH reading and my kh is at 2-3°
Sorry it didn’t work for you. Worked greatly for me. Everyone is entitled to there style of aquarium as long as it is healthy and safe for the inhabitants 👍🏻
i think the problem was the plants that you have are slow growers so they dont need all the nutrients that the aquasoil are releasing. i could be wrong but thats my observation.
I love using aquasoil but after a lot of trial and errors I figured out when using aquasoil it's best to have a dark start method. it means putting soil and sand and hardscape and filter and water in tank but no plants and no fish and no lights for three to four weeks. it's the best way to have algae free planted tank and no need for everyday water changes in first weeks.
I've not heard of it before, but I'm looking to set up a new tank and am now dead set on going out there soon... wonder if I'll have enough gas money to get back home???
@@GirlTalksFish my new tank will be for some livebearer fish I got from Greg Sage. He's up in your neck of the woods... not that I know where you are but my impression is up north? Have you seen his fish room (i.e. entire basement)? He's got endangered fish he's trying to expand the population for, you might enjoy doing a video about it.
I have a question, will gourami give a response to its owner. In other words, my betta gracefully came to the surface when he saw me. He also used to jump and catch the food from my hand. So, I want to know if a gourami can do it also.
I've always been hesitant to try fertilizer substrate because of the inconsistent water parameters. I get a bit obsessive trying to keep my fish alive and it would stress me out too much!
I think that you're up against it straight away if you have hard water. Hard water usually comes with higher phosphate, which drives algae. This is only made worse with a nutrient rich aquasoil. I can absolutely believe that RO water with specific mineralization would have a massive impact on algae. I don't keep aquatic plants anymore and am happier with the look of my tanks.
Thanks for sharing Irene. Aquasoil does up the maintenance some, though generally speaking it is advantagous. I have Blue Dream Shrimp in my aquascape and they are doing well, though I do have an occasional death. The pH is 6.5ish and I do have to dose minerals from time to time to keep them healthy. The substrate is just a tool to use to attain a result. It is good you found what works best for you.
I use UNS aquasoil. I think the trick is less water changes, I notice water changes really impact the shrimp's ability to molt correctly. For caridina shrimp, use akadama soil! I saw it on the shrimpo expert video visit by Cory and he hasn't changed the soil in 7 years!
I love aquasoil. My only gripe is unless you make it deep I find plants float. The could thing about aqua soil is they have high cation exchange. Contrary to popular belief scientifically aquasoils hold nutrients readily. Otherwise if you put a root tab in it would all get into the water column. Also, people never consider the instability of a tank when setting it up and immediately attribute any issue to the substrate.
These problems come from capping your Aqua soil with gravel, never use gravel. I groaned internally, the moment I saw that and knew there would be trouble. I had similair experiences with aquasoil the first time I used it and had to learn this the hard way in the past, its a rookie mistake to make, so I don't blame you. The key with aqua soil is making sure its properly capped and you cannot do this with gravel, as excess nutrients will always leak through, you have to use sand or other fine grain soil. Honestly if you love a low maintence tank, its the best way to go. I follow the walstad method and use an aqua soil, capped with sand, alongside some fast and slow growing plants. My tanks have no algae problems, no plant melt, have full and vibrant healthy plants without Co2 and require miniumum water changes my 3 Aquriums are almost self sustaining. Gravel is huge beginners trap, honestly. Only use a little bit of it for decrative purposes, but never as a cap.
Same exact thing happened to my red cherry shrimps not long after adding them to my new aquasoil set-up, which went through a dark start method for nearly two months. Prior to that, I had a dirted tank set-up and never had issues with it other than it can get messy when you're moving the plants, hence the switch to aquasoil. Had more than 30 individuals in the tank, which were all gone in less than a month. Another month had passed and I added another 3 shrimps which were lucky enough to have not been included in the earlier batch, and now these 3 are thriving. I should have waited for at least a few more weeks before adding the shrimps. Never did water test ever, just a good old fish-keeper's intuition. If you want to have a planted tank, then aqua soils are the way to go, although you really have to have the patience during the crucial first few months.
Did you have any issues with your cycle crashing when you changed out your substrate either time? I would like to swap out my substrate, but my tank is relatively new and I have concerns it will crash my cycle.
That's funny I was just watching one of your videos, went to my homepage and saw this posted 9 seconds ago. This is also actually the exact topic I needed to watch right now.
this was an extremely helpful video! I have been considering getting aqua soil for awhile, but i have a betta and snail in my tank and i was afraid of the changing water parameters. I wanted to get a soil because my water is very hard and the ro water life is not ideal for me, but i guess i may have to stick to it. I really appreciate the perspective as someone who is busy. A lot of aquarium advice is geared towards people who can commit multiple hours a week to maintenance, which is not possible for me. anyways, does anybody have tips for lowering GH? mine is over the max on my test strips (180), and i dont like lowering the KH with RO water
I had the same results as you when using an aqua soil!! It was such a bummer as it was my first shrimp tank. After a year I gave up and started using gravel and Equilibrium, 2 months later... tons of baby shrimps!
How would you feed a singel pea puffer? I have been thinking about getting a 5 gallon tank with a single pea puffer. But bloodworm cubes are too big for a single puffer i think, and i don't have an other aquarium to keep a snails.
I have dirted tanks, and my shrimps are thriving :3 Of course I cycled the tank before added any animal to the setup, but since then they just multiplying :D
I use an active substrate in one of my 20 gallon aquariums that host Neocaridina shrimp. I put crushed coral in a pouch, inside the HOB filter. This so far is keeping the GH/KH levels in the safe zone and allows me to be lazy. I do zero water changes. The aquarium is now 3 months old and has some algae. It's perfectly fine as I also have a few nerite snails and a clown pleco along with the shrimp to eat it. My shrimp are on generation 2 and thriving thus far.
I went through a lot of the same stuff With my tank and my dad got into an accident and I left it alone for a good month or more and it seemed like everything got right. In that month and a 1/2 and I kind of learned that I was trying too hard. Now my tank is the way I wanted it
I've always used aqua soil in my high tech tank, and found that I battled algae and chemistry until moving to RODI and remineralization as well. It's not that hard with a home filter and I've not ever had or heard of such significant and persistent livestock challenges. You've inspired me to try low tech for my next scape though! Also, glad to hear about this store and can't wait to check it out! I miss having aquascaping stores nearby since moving to CO.
I try to think of my water column in terms of percentage. Remove 50 percent of the water you remove 50 percent of the nitrates. I think the same could be said for additives such as iodine or additives intended to change water parameters.
you didnt have enough plants in the tank. the gravel cap you put did nothing, the crevasses are too large to prevent the excess nutrients from getting through. you have to put a decently thick layer of sand to cap the soil. for the amount of plants you had, it wasnt enough to absorb the amount of excess nutrients coming up through the gravel, hence the algea issues. you needed a ton of plants with that set up, as it effectively had no cap.
My 10 gallon tank has my shrimp. I do use distilled water to help me save time. I only change out a few gallons every two weeks, so it makes it so much easier and faster for me. I add shrimp nutrients as needed, but hardly ever.
Thanks for making that video. I just bought a new 55 gallon tank. My old one started to leak. I have had it for like 40 years. I always just had a gravel tank with pretty rocks with fake plants. I thought about emptying it out an buying active substright an getting live plants but after watching your video i am having second thoughts about it. Thanks again
Hello guys, I am very new to this and while this video is great I had this idea that why don't people layer the top of the substrate with big chunks of charcoal to soak up all the insane initial load of nutrients being released in your tank for the first week or so? Then you can grab them by hand and remove them when you want. I am also wondering why people don't use vitamin C tablets that are so readily available to breakdown tapwater and make it safe.
Neos shouldn't be kept on active substrate. This video is kind of disappointing tbh, a minute of research would have told you what you're doing is wrong.
I use garden soil with sand on top and my plants and fish are very happy always. That's how fish live in ponds. I also use diy co2 injection in my tank.
I had issues with shrimp death when I switched to RO water. I had a gravel setup with tap water that was fine for shrimps and they multiplied rapidly. One day I've gone to switch to RO water, bought remineralizer and started gradually changing the tap to RO. After a while I've noticed that there are barely any shrimps. I was to set a new setup in bigger tank with aquasoil soon and when I took old one apart I counted only 18 shrimps. In the new setup I used only RO water and after few days from introducing shrimps into the aquarium I noticed a dead shrimp. I changed the remineralizer to a different one and it stopped. Now I have tank full of shrimps again. As for your case it might've been that this cheap soil was not ment for shrimps at all. It might have had high amounts of copper or other heavy elements that shrimps are sensitive to. I keep GH at 6, KH at 2 and shrimps are thriving.
Too many water changes. You should let good bacteria develop. My shrimp aren't dying and im hardly doing water changes. You arent aquascaper. Aquascapers hardly put any fish in their tank. Ada or Uns aquasoil is better soil also.
Do a little more research on using aquasoils, and you’ll have more success. Weekly water changes are pretty much a requirement, and may have been part of the reason you weren’t successful. And I wouldn’t suggest keeping caridina shrimp unless you’re using remineralized RODI water. They do not like tap water, especially higher pH water.
me dealing with super hard water like 19 drops of SERA test to finaly turn back to green-ish + aquasoil i got down to around 10 drops ..... i am just toping that aquarium with the super hard water :) also when i clean the aquarium without aquasoil i put the water from the aquasoil one into it mixed 50/50 ............ but still in the first month and a half period
It is probably due to the fluctuating parameters of the tank. Neocaridina shrimps are very much like crypts, they hate fluctuating parameters. So I don’t do water changes even when I get that initial shrimp death. Everything eventually levels out.
For the love of god people, just try DIRT. I mean, if you're already sticking in 3 inches of substrate, try an inch of dirt and 2 inches of sand. You're leaching nutrient because you need a tighter cap than what gravel provides, and you can always add a thin layer of gravel for looks on the top and sides. Of course you won't even allow mulm beneath 3 inches of substrate because... IDK, it smells when it's out in the open lol. Seriously, buy Walstad's book. I'm a lazy fishkeeper myself, and dirt is the lazy path to success. I set up a Father Fish tank a few months ago, and it's been great with only one water change the next day after set up because the heavy decomposition of newly submerged soil deoxygenated the water. A small water change and the addition of an aerator fixed that. It has a bit of algae, but I think that's because I added a bit too much leaf litter to the surface.
You just need to let your tank cycle before adding sensitive creatures. Get your water tested at the 5 week 6 week mark then add them. Add beneficial bacteria each water change for a few months and things will be perfect.
Could you have used a high pH substrate like coral sand on top of aqua soil? I'm not a shrimp keeper . But buffer , calcium and minerals slowly available to shrimp.
Hey, glad that you found your way of enjoying the hobby. Just a tips, For my shrimp tank, i just use a HOB filter and fill it up with coral stone. No need to add any kind of these shrimp salt/GH/KH additives. It works wonder! Btw: my 2 feet shrimp tank is also fully planted with at least 7kgs of aquasoil.
Are live plants really important? cuz I am not sure wether I should switch to life plants or not, are fish okay with fake plants? I want my fish to be happy so if live plants are best I'll switch to those.
Hi there How did u solve the foaming bubble problem becoz i also bought aqua soil and m facing same issue unfortunately i added fishes in that aquarium , pls advise?
Another great video Irene. I’ve thought about it a time or two; and I don’t want to deal with the active souls either. But what do you think about the soils that store nutrients from the water column for your root feeders?
my plants grow wonderfully in all sand with just using root tabs. I didn't want to drain my 75 gallon tank to add aqua soil and put sand on top after i decided to try plants.
*What's been your experience with using aquarium soils? Any tips and tricks to share?*
I've had amazing success with Oliver Knott AquaEarth, zero shrimp problems, or fish, plants have loved it, highly recommended :)
I've used Fluval Stratum (low tech planted tank) and have has no issues with nutrients being released and crazy ph changes. It's been really easy and I've done only a few water changes over the course of 4-5 months
As a newbie trying to figure out what is the best substrate to use is very confusing.
I've past experience in horticulture and it was a lot simpler. Soil types I can understand but with the added wrinkle of how it affects the water parameters and how that in turn affects the biology is too much.
I'm only a bear of small brain!
Sorry you lost your some shrimp.
I use fluval stratum in all three of my nano shrimp tanks with no cap, but I also have very hard water. The tanks are all between 1 and 2 years old, and no issues - my crypts really love it!
I've only used Fluval but it's by far the least maintenance of any substrate I've used. With established plants and no water changes the chemistry is extremely stable. A variety of algaes appreciate it lol. Maybe not the best choice for the sterile style that a lot of aquarists like. And smaller tanks are more sensitive to changes with less volume to dilute so I probably wouldn't use aquasoil in less than twenty gallons.
With soft water I've never used active substraight without capping with a fine sand to keep the nutrients contained. This video just confirmed that for me. Thanks Irene, sorry you had to go through all that but it'll help others out there to see this ❤
the missing thing in this video is the solution to using a nutrient-rich substrate - getting rid of it completely isn't the only option. putting gravel on top of it will make the nutrients leak into the water column, which results in the stuff you see in this video - that's why you should use sand instead, at least one inch (preferably two). sand is a lot more packed and won't let the nutrients escape. if you want gravel, put some on top of the sand, or have sand around it - you need that compact layer that doesn't let nutrients escape.
@Stephen Swain I reccomend it, its worked for me and my 3 Aquariums.
M .😊.om
It’s pretty odd to how many people have had issues with aqua soil. For me, even having the soil uncapped,my fish and shrimp never had any issues and plant growth was always insanely good. Doing tons of research I found a lot of benefits to uncapped aquasoil and the pros definitely outweigh the cons.
@@reymundorodriguezg It depends on your overall setup. A capped nutrient layer is the easiest way to do an aquarium, especially like in the Walstadt method. Open aquasoil is good if heavily planted and combined with good bio-filtration.
@@reymundorodriguezgexactly I think this video is missing the point. I think they have water issues, something else is at play. Use beneficial bacterial to avoid ammonia spikes.
Totally agree about that tree root scape, that looked amazing! I would love to have something like that in my living room.
I've never had nothing but trouble with aqua soil. I didn't notice any better growth than just using gravel. Thanks Irene. Happy Easter 🐇
Thanks for your input. Happy Easter to you too!
You need to CO2 inject with Aquasoil otherwise you will have an algae bloom on prehistoric levels.
But if you inject CO2 and have good stem plants, aquasoil wins for almost any plants, and it also keeps your water slightly acidic and soft.
The first step of keeping the red cherry shrimp solution is learning to learn the tank
I’ve been using Fluval Stratum. It doesn’t take as much maintenance, or buffer, as the other aquasoils. I also don’t go longer than 2 weeks without a water change. I have hard tap water, but there is no way I want to get so far into the weeds as to do rodi water. I have hundreds and hundreds of cherry shrimp now.
normal stratum does buffer water, even says so on the bag... the new bio-stratum is inert and does not... if you have enough kh in the water with weekly/bi-weekly wc's you wont notice a dip in ph/kh, after a while the soil will not be able to absorb kh and stop buffering
@@FishingMaster_99 would you say normal aqua soil like fluval stratum wont affect PH as long as you have enough KH in your tap water?
I have 7 KDH in my tap water so I should be fine right with aqua soil?
@@jonathanpilmore7140 it should be fine, just keep an eye on the pH/kh levels and make sure they dont drop too much.
I use fluval stratum with a gravel cap. I also have relatively hard water, so I dilute 50/50 with ro water, and that seems to work fine. I do a weekly 20% water change. I have blue and red neocaridina shrimp, and they reproduce like crazy. Glad that you've found what works for you!
Fluval stratum is not a true aquasoil. It doesn’t have anywhere near the same level of nutrients as real aquasoils.
Hi Irene, I have Seachem Fluorite black black sand, which doesn't change the water parameters but is a very good substrate for plants without root tabs. You should try it!
But also do your research before to see if it's good for you!
I have also used Seachem Fluorite black. It lowered the pH a bit (to 6.8). It didn't stop algae. Cutting my aquarium light time to 7 hours helped a bit. My algae problem is mainly on the plants, not the glass. It is spot algae, not blackbeard.
Sorry, my soil is Fluval Stratum, not Seachem Fluorite.
@@michaelfox6820 I love fluval stratum but it does lower the ph a bit which works for me because I have really hard water. Did add crushed coral to bring balance it with my snail tank. Works great.
Seems like a lot of work, for what? The original ecosystem looked beautiful as it encompassed form and function beautifully.
Aquasoils are a great tool, but really aren't a one-size-fits-all strategy. Where they really shine is in setups with fish that already love very soft, acidic water; tetras, rasboras, some osphronemidae, etc. In this way you can completely cover the ground with plants, which will mature into a dense "rainforest" look, while keeping the water oxygenated for the fish, while the soil keeps the water at those low values. This creates a perfect environment for our friends, and I also keep amano shrimp in such tanks too, although they are somewhat more hardy than neocaridinas (despite actually being caridina shrimp)
aww the pea puff : ). that is a wild tank it's in, with the way the branches are forming that looped negative space.
Omg I gotta check that auqua scape place out. I knew It looked familiar
My Opinion on what happend ... Not enough root feeders or the gravel made it harder for the crypts to make its way into the aquasoil. I actually use garden soil and cap with gravel but i make sure the cap is not too thick. just enough so the garden soil does not cloud the water. Works well for me. I add tabs later on. directly under plants i want to target.
I love that store.
I use Fluval Stratum in my 5.5 gallon rimless (same as yours) shrimp tank and I must say everything is growing beautifully - monte carlo w/co2 grows like crazy. I've had no Ph problems except maybe a little high without CO2. Without CO2, the PH is 8. I keep it at 7 with the right amount of CO2. Cherry shrimp are breeding like crazy too. I unload some of the shrimp into a 40 G breeder. This is my first shrimp tank and so far, so good!
Hey I know this is an old comment, but did you cap your substrate with sand?
I just set up my tank with just fluval stratum, but I get super cloudy water every time I do a water change and it messes with the plants
Great video thank you for sharing - I appreciate you posting the goods and the bads of your adventure. Its a good video style. Keep up the good work!
Hello from Colorado! Thanks for showing this store, I will have to drive up and check it out.
One thing I've learned using aqua soil is that sometimes it takes months not weeks before you can add more sensitive animals like shrimp. I have much better luck with caridina shrimp and active substrates then I do with neocaridina on active substrates. My favorite active substrate is UNS Controsoil and Brightwell active soils. Neither of those two leach ammonia in the way that other active soils like ADA Amazonia. I've been curious about the Landen soil since it is priced way lower then other aquasoils so I appreciate the video! I know aquasoils aren't for everyone and thats perfectly fine 😊 but I'll definitely be checking out the Landen soil now! Your review of the product provided the info I needed to make a choice on whether I should try it or not and it seems perfect for my needs!
I have great experience with some aqua soil types like ada Amazonia ver.1,ada Amazonia africana and Akadama(bonsai soil) I use aqua soil for shrimp.I personally like Akadama a lot because it has less nutrients but lowers the pH and softens the water for a long time! Akadama soil also is great for low tech walstad tanks too!
Akadama isn't fired and will dissolve after year or two. Better option is terramol.
Great timing. I'm in process of planning an upgrade and substrate is one of bullet points...
I was considering rich substrate but: changing water parameters and 1-2 years of lifespan crossed that of the list... The rest of your experience just adds the extra lines on it....
Thank you!
At this point I'm just using pool filter sand with root tabs from Aquarium Coop, they are super effective. I bought some Rotala Indica a couple weeks ago and after planting them in my tank with the root tabs you can see the explosion of growth at the ends and the leaves are so much more dense/thicker and it looks amazing! I wish YT would let you post a photo in with comments because it really is impressive. Inert plus root tabs is the way to go.
Also I hate fluval stratum or any substrate that has a similar shape/style - plants don't like to stay planted in that substrate compared to sand. Gravel is harder to grow plants in (for me) vs sand - sand just seems like the superior substrate, and the fact you can get pool filter sand if you're not picky about the color for less than $20 for a 50 pound bag is pretty good (it used to be $9-10/50 lb bag but it's gone up since)
I use sand over a dirted bottom. I agree completely about the difference between planting in sand versus gravel. I recently planted a friend's gravel base aquarium. It was a pain in the patootie! My sand base tanks are WAY easier to plant. Even with things like plecos pushing through things, the plants stay put. His pleco kept popping plants out of the gravel. I finally had to resort to putting the plants in net pots, well secured, then bury the net pots in the gravel. Made a royal mess of the water column until gunk settled, but hey, it worked! That pleco hasn't knocked any of the plants out again.
We used an inch organic soil and we capped it off with three inches of sand mixed with fine pea gravel. The water paramenters were off until we put the plants in after two days and within four days of testing the water paramenters are normal. Before the plants the Ammonia 0.25 ppm Nitrite 1.0 Nitrate .80ppm pH 7.6 temp 68.5
After we put the plants in (40 gallon breeder) we tested the water parameters and the results came out normal and in two days we added six glowlight tetras and two panda corys. The ammonia 0ppm nitite 0ppm nitrate Oppm pH 7.6. I have an afterschool program with my middle students and we are studying different habitates of tropical freshwarer fish.
I’ve been using Fluval Stratum- no issues and plants are flourishing!
IMO, active substrates are more trouble than they're worth. I'll stick with dirt and capped substrates. WAY less hassle.
Loved the video, can relate to some of your struggles but have found if I just use a small amount of aquasoil just under my crypts it works out for me. Funnily, after watching this video what I wanted to try the most was multis! They were so much fun to watch behind you!
I agree re: the multis! I keep seeing hers and wanting to set up a tank to try them. I'll have a couple of tanks free soon, so I'm thinking.... LOL
You really shouldn’t cap aquasoils. This is because aquasoils have a higher CEC (Cation Exchange Capacity) which is its ability to absorb nutrients from the water column. By capping an aquasoil you effectively eliminate its ability to absorb nutrients. Aquasoils have a CEC of about 45-50 meq, versus 0.1-1.3 meq for sand or gravel. 4:15
If I notice problems in my tank ( I got live soil type of substrate) I usualy have aquaclear and some type of live bacteria like from Easy life. That is my go to for new tanks and it works like a charm. Also as I have huge box filter. I never ever clean that in time of rescaping tank. Usualy I got no to very little issue if at all. Also, worth notice that i got stock in tank almost next day after rescaping, with regular dosing of bacteria (easy life or something alike that).
A lot of aqua soil will leach ammonia for 6-8 weeks especially ADA Amazonia. Also, active substrate isn’t recommended in general for Neocaridina shrimp because it softens the water too much for them. Some people use it if they have really hard water but in general it’s not recommended for neos. Also, capping it with gravel is going to allow more nutrients into the water column where sand would be a tighter cap.
1 tip for dealing with ph drop caused by aqua soil: adding slow-releasing ph buffer. I added tons of crushed eggshells in, almost like eggshell sand. Since they are slow-releasing when the ph is neutral, they won't release into the water. But when there is a ph drop, they will release faster and balance the ph.
I'm a believer of using plants as a filter.
imho, you need a really fast growing plants! lots of it!
crypts, fern and lily are not the best. in my experience, stem plants grows tall in just a week.
I use about an inch, give or take .5”, of regular organic potting soil, in most tanks. I’ve never had that problem? But like a lot of other people said, I always cap with sand (even just .25”), you really have to do this, and always add crushed coral or oyster shells. ( very cheap, takes forever to dissolve), plus sone wonder shells here and there. Never a random death, and the plants go crazy! I never have to add root tabs, or do extra water changes. The nutrients are used up from the soil after 1-2 years, but by then the mulm has sifted down and started refilling the nutrients up! It’s a great way to organize an ecosystem with the least amount of work. There are so many good videos and resources online to find, of people with a lot of experience of doing this:) ( bonus is if you get it just right, after a while you don’t need to gravel vac or even do water changes !)
Hey, i have a well developed ecosystem in my 12 litre/5 gallon betta tank. But now for a week or two my house reconstruction will be there and i will have to go to my grandmother's house so can i take that betta in 1 gallon plastic tank for a week? And will water quality affect its health? Because i have different water quality in my home and different at there.
I can't imagine actually having soft water. We drink liquid rock here in the midwest. I've never once had to raise GH/KH, and my water is 8.0 PH out the tap. All my problems are the exact opposite as you. Q-Q
I love aquasoil, though. It allows me to be extremely lazy with my aquarium upkeep, and even buffers down my 8.0 PH water, though I think all of my fluval stratum is inert at this point as I've had it for 2 years. Never had to use root tabs, though. The never ending plant growth and population of shrimp in my 20 gallon is thanks to how good aquasoil is when you have harder water. I do 0 water changes, just top off with tap water, and my tank is constantly booming. My "maintenance" is snipping some cuttings every few weeks to a month and cleaning my HOB canister filter every 3-6 months depending on flow.
didn't have any of problems you had with aquasoil with just potting soil under gravel :D Seroisly try it. It's super low maintenance
I've honestly never tried out aquasoil but 90% of my tanks are and have been dirted. Perhaps that can be your next project! Neocaridina shrimp death is unfortunately to be expected before the tank fully stabilizes; which is never quick enough, honestly. It's hard to avoid and always a bit disheartening.
A Walstad aquarium is a similar process and could be fun. I've never had to cap that thick, however, because I prefer sand.
Dirt is better imo.
@@c4onmylip Only issue for me comes with breakdowns. Would be simpler if I used gravel but alas..
@Bloatus yeah, tearing down a tank is always a pain but it's an even bigger mess with dirt.
I’ve been to Aquarocks!!! It’s a great place 🙂 loved to see it featured.
I just recently rescaped my tank. Like everyone else around here I'm using the fluvial stratum. I heard people having ammonia spikes with fluval, I'd assume it was because they added it dry? I of course followed the bag which recommended lightly rinsing, to my surprise I had no ammonia spikes. Since switching over I noticed my crypts exploded! I do like the fact they absorb fertilizers and such. What I dose for those java ferns get absorbed and used for the root hungry plants. I also noticed that I had a consistent 8.0ph, since the switch my ph dropped to a consistent 6.8-7.2. some how, idk if my kit was bad but I did have a hard time finding my gh-kh degrees. Before switch I believe my GH was 7° and kh was 5° I think. Now I can't get a GH reading and my kh is at 2-3°
Aqua rocks Colorado! Great store
Sorry it didn’t work for you. Worked greatly for me. Everyone is entitled to there style of aquarium as long as it is healthy and safe for the inhabitants 👍🏻
I had pretty much the exact same experience. Never again. Inert substrate only.
For neocaridina shrimp, yes use inert substrate.
i think the problem was the plants that you have are slow growers so they dont need all the nutrients that the aquasoil are releasing. i could be wrong but thats my observation.
I love using aquasoil but after a lot of trial and errors I figured out when using aquasoil it's best to have a dark start method. it means putting soil and sand and hardscape and filter and water in tank but no plants and no fish and no lights for three to four weeks. it's the best way to have algae free planted tank and no need for everyday water changes in first weeks.
I have been dreaming of visiting Aqua Rocks CO since I found out about it, but I’m worried I’d go broke very,very quickly 😂🤣🐟🌿
I've not heard of it before, but I'm looking to set up a new tank and am now dead set on going out there soon... wonder if I'll have enough gas money to get back home???
Haha it's definitely worth a visit! They also have a few tanks for selling plants and fish, but not a ton.
@@GirlTalksFish my new tank will be for some livebearer fish I got from Greg Sage. He's up in your neck of the woods... not that I know where you are but my impression is up north? Have you seen his fish room (i.e. entire basement)? He's got endangered fish he's trying to expand the population for, you might enjoy doing a video about it.
When i added water to my aqua soil substrate, the tank got extremely cloudy, unlike yours. How come?
W a t e r s p r I t e I s t h e b e s t
love you videos irean they bring me joy to watch everyday and I have really become a better fish keeper because of them
I have a question, will gourami give a response to its owner. In other words, my betta gracefully came to the surface when he saw me. He also used to jump and catch the food from my hand. So, I want to know if a gourami can do it also.
I've always been hesitant to try fertilizer substrate because of the inconsistent water parameters. I get a bit obsessive trying to keep my fish alive and it would stress me out too much!
You guys have uns tanks there in the us right? Should think about getting one imo
I have always used fluval stratum active soil and never experienced any problems i guess my tap water in Australia is really good.
So you are saying we can stop buying easy green and just get nutrient rich soil?
I thought you were part of aquarium coop or am I wrong?
Just confused cuz you got the aquasoil elsewhere
I think that you're up against it straight away if you have hard water. Hard water usually comes with higher phosphate, which drives algae. This is only made worse with a nutrient rich aquasoil.
I can absolutely believe that RO water with specific mineralization would have a massive impact on algae.
I don't keep aquatic plants anymore and am happier with the look of my tanks.
Thanks for sharing Irene. Aquasoil does up the maintenance some, though generally speaking it is advantagous. I have Blue Dream Shrimp in my aquascape and they are doing well, though I do have an occasional death. The pH is 6.5ish and I do have to dose minerals from time to time to keep them healthy. The substrate is just a tool to use to attain a result. It is good you found what works best for you.
I use UNS aquasoil. I think the trick is less water changes, I notice water changes really impact the shrimp's ability to molt correctly. For caridina shrimp, use akadama soil! I saw it on the shrimpo expert video visit by Cory and he hasn't changed the soil in 7 years!
I love aquasoil. My only gripe is unless you make it deep I find plants float. The could thing about aqua soil is they have high cation exchange. Contrary to popular belief scientifically aquasoils hold nutrients readily. Otherwise if you put a root tab in it would all get into the water column. Also, people never consider the instability of a tank when setting it up and immediately attribute any issue to the substrate.
These problems come from capping your Aqua soil with gravel, never use gravel. I groaned internally, the moment I saw that and knew there would be trouble. I had similair experiences with aquasoil the first time I used it and had to learn this the hard way in the past, its a rookie mistake to make, so I don't blame you. The key with aqua soil is making sure its properly capped and you cannot do this with gravel, as excess nutrients will always leak through, you have to use sand or other fine grain soil.
Honestly if you love a low maintence tank, its the best way to go. I follow the walstad method and use an aqua soil, capped with sand, alongside some fast and slow growing plants. My tanks have no algae problems, no plant melt, have full and vibrant healthy plants without Co2 and require miniumum water changes my 3 Aquriums are almost self sustaining.
Gravel is huge beginners trap, honestly. Only use a little bit of it for decrative purposes, but never as a cap.
Same exact thing happened to my red cherry shrimps not long after adding them to my new aquasoil set-up, which went through a dark start method for nearly two months. Prior to that, I had a dirted tank set-up and never had issues with it other than it can get messy when you're moving the plants, hence the switch to aquasoil. Had more than 30 individuals in the tank, which were all gone in less than a month. Another month had passed and I added another 3 shrimps which were lucky enough to have not been included in the earlier batch, and now these 3 are thriving. I should have waited for at least a few more weeks before adding the shrimps. Never did water test ever, just a good old fish-keeper's intuition. If you want to have a planted tank, then aqua soils are the way to go, although you really have to have the patience during the crucial first few months.
Did you have any issues with your cycle crashing when you changed out your substrate either time? I would like to swap out my substrate, but my tank is relatively new and I have concerns it will crash my cycle.
Pro tip. Dump the aquasoil into some barrel or bucket for a month with water. After that any excess should be out and soil should be safe.
That's funny I was just watching one of your videos, went to my homepage and saw this posted 9 seconds ago.
This is also actually the exact topic I needed to watch right now.
this was an extremely helpful video! I have been considering getting aqua soil for awhile, but i have a betta and snail in my tank and i was afraid of the changing water parameters. I wanted to get a soil because my water is very hard and the ro water life is not ideal for me, but i guess i may have to stick to it. I really appreciate the perspective as someone who is busy. A lot of aquarium advice is geared towards people who can commit multiple hours a week to maintenance, which is not possible for me.
anyways, does anybody have tips for lowering GH? mine is over the max on my test strips (180), and i dont like lowering the KH with RO water
Lol mine is so low despite having high ph honestly our problems are the opposite... i have no idea how to fix it I've tried so many things 🙃
I have hard water too and my Betta loves the soft water from fluval stratum.
I had the same results as you when using an aqua soil!! It was such a bummer as it was my first shrimp tank. After a year I gave up and started using gravel and Equilibrium, 2 months later... tons of baby shrimps!
Neos shouldn't be kept on active substate
How would you feed a singel pea puffer? I have been thinking about getting a 5 gallon tank with a single pea puffer. But bloodworm cubes are too big for a single puffer i think, and i don't have an other aquarium to keep a snails.
If you cap with sand like a 2inch you wont release the active soil much into the water column
I have dirted tanks, and my shrimps are thriving :3 Of course I cycled the tank before added any animal to the setup, but since then they just multiplying :D
The easiest way to keep your water hardness up is to add crushed coral to your filter
I love my aqua soil but Im a beginner and I make a huge mess everytime I clean it
I use an active substrate in one of my 20 gallon aquariums that host Neocaridina shrimp. I put crushed coral in a pouch, inside the HOB filter. This so far is keeping the GH/KH levels in the safe zone and allows me to be lazy. I do zero water changes. The aquarium is now 3 months old and has some algae. It's perfectly fine as I also have a few nerite snails and a clown pleco along with the shrimp to eat it. My shrimp are on generation 2 and thriving thus far.
I went through a lot of the same stuff With my tank and my dad got into an accident and I left it alone for a good month or more and it seemed like everything got right. In that month and a 1/2 and I kind of learned that I was trying too hard. Now my tank is the way I wanted it
I've always used aqua soil in my high tech tank, and found that I battled algae and chemistry until moving to RODI and remineralization as well. It's not that hard with a home filter and I've not ever had or heard of such significant and persistent livestock challenges.
You've inspired me to try low tech for my next scape though!
Also, glad to hear about this store and can't wait to check it out! I miss having aquascaping stores nearby since moving to CO.
See you there!
What do you use to remineralize ro water
@@denveronebroncos SaltyShrimp Shrimp Mineral up to target gh.
Regular sand works fine for me😅
I try to think of my water column in terms of percentage. Remove 50 percent of the water you remove 50 percent of the nitrates. I think the same could be said for additives such as iodine or additives intended to change water parameters.
you didnt have enough plants in the tank. the gravel cap you put did nothing, the crevasses are too large to prevent the excess nutrients from getting through. you have to put a decently thick layer of sand to cap the soil. for the amount of plants you had, it wasnt enough to absorb the amount of excess nutrients coming up through the gravel, hence the algea issues. you needed a ton of plants with that set up, as it effectively had no cap.
My 10 gallon tank has my shrimp. I do use distilled water to help me save time. I only change out a few gallons every two weeks, so it makes it so much easier and faster for me. I add shrimp nutrients as needed, but hardly ever.
Thanks for making that video. I just bought a new 55 gallon tank. My old one started to leak. I have had it for like 40 years. I always just had a gravel tank with pretty rocks with fake plants. I thought about emptying it out an buying active substright an getting live plants but after watching your video i am having second thoughts about it. Thanks again
Hello guys, I am very new to this and while this video is great I had this idea that why don't people layer the top of the substrate with big chunks of charcoal to soak up all the insane initial load of nutrients being released in your tank for the first week or so? Then you can grab them by hand and remove them when you want. I am also wondering why people don't use vitamin C tablets that are so readily available to breakdown tapwater and make it safe.
Neos shouldn't be kept on active substrate. This video is kind of disappointing tbh, a minute of research would have told you what you're doing is wrong.
I had a huge colony of cherry shrimp on Fluval Stratum. Never seemed to be a problem for them.
@@mattgray9297 stratum doesn't buffer as low as a lot of other substrates.
I use garden soil with sand on top and my plants and fish are very happy always. That's how fish live in ponds. I also use diy co2 injection in my tank.
I had issues with shrimp death when I switched to RO water. I had a gravel setup with tap water that was fine for shrimps and they multiplied rapidly. One day I've gone to switch to RO water, bought remineralizer and started gradually changing the tap to RO. After a while I've noticed that there are barely any shrimps. I was to set a new setup in bigger tank with aquasoil soon and when I took old one apart I counted only 18 shrimps. In the new setup I used only RO water and after few days from introducing shrimps into the aquarium I noticed a dead shrimp. I changed the remineralizer to a different one and it stopped. Now I have tank full of shrimps again. As for your case it might've been that this cheap soil was not ment for shrimps at all. It might have had high amounts of copper or other heavy elements that shrimps are sensitive to. I keep GH at 6, KH at 2 and shrimps are thriving.
Too many water changes. You should let good bacteria develop. My shrimp aren't dying and im hardly doing water changes. You arent aquascaper. Aquascapers hardly put any fish in their tank. Ada or Uns aquasoil is better soil also.
Do a little more research on using aquasoils, and you’ll have more success. Weekly water changes are pretty much a requirement, and may have been part of the reason you weren’t successful.
And I wouldn’t suggest keeping caridina shrimp unless you’re using remineralized RODI water. They do not like tap water, especially higher pH water.
me dealing with super hard water like 19 drops of SERA test to finaly turn back to green-ish + aquasoil i got down to around 10 drops ..... i am just toping that aquarium with the super hard water :) also when i clean the aquarium without aquasoil i put the water from the aquasoil one into it mixed 50/50 ............ but still in the first month and a half period
It is probably due to the fluctuating parameters of the tank. Neocaridina shrimps are very much like crypts, they hate fluctuating parameters. So I don’t do water changes even when I get that initial shrimp death. Everything eventually levels out.
For the love of god people, just try DIRT. I mean, if you're already sticking in 3 inches of substrate, try an inch of dirt and 2 inches of sand. You're leaching nutrient because you need a tighter cap than what gravel provides, and you can always add a thin layer of gravel for looks on the top and sides. Of course you won't even allow mulm beneath 3 inches of substrate because... IDK, it smells when it's out in the open lol. Seriously, buy Walstad's book. I'm a lazy fishkeeper myself, and dirt is the lazy path to success. I set up a Father Fish tank a few months ago, and it's been great with only one water change the next day after set up because the heavy decomposition of newly submerged soil deoxygenated the water. A small water change and the addition of an aerator fixed that. It has a bit of algae, but I think that's because I added a bit too much leaf litter to the surface.
You just need to let your tank cycle before adding sensitive creatures. Get your water tested at the 5 week 6 week mark then add them. Add beneficial bacteria each water change for a few months and things will be perfect.
Could you have used a high pH substrate like coral sand on top of aqua soil? I'm not a shrimp keeper . But buffer , calcium and minerals slowly available to shrimp.
Thank you great information
Hey, glad that you found your way of enjoying the hobby. Just a tips, For my shrimp tank, i just use a HOB filter and fill it up with coral stone. No need to add any kind of these shrimp salt/GH/KH additives. It works wonder! Btw: my 2 feet shrimp tank is also fully planted with at least 7kgs of aquasoil.
Same I use oyster shells that take about 6 months to dissolve!
Are live plants really important? cuz I am not sure wether I should switch to life plants or not, are fish okay with fake plants? I want my fish to be happy so if live plants are best I'll switch to those.
never use gravel on soil, it allows too many nutrients into the water column, soil needs to be capped with sand.
I am not an expert but I think you put too much of soil.... I had never try it but if I do, I will try to put something about 3in...
Hi there
How did u solve the foaming bubble problem becoz i also bought aqua soil and m facing same issue unfortunately i added fishes in that aquarium , pls advise?
Odd. My low tech fluval stratum has worked great for my neocarodinas. Have never had any problems like you experienced.
Try seachem flourite.. it's a clay with no added chemicals. It will absorb naturally occurring nutrients in the aquarium.
Reduce stress... do away with gravel and cap your nutrient substrate with SAND.
I'm also a low maintance keeper..I only feed 2-3 times a week, have zero algae, and happy rounded bellied fish and shrimp
I use Eco -Complete or BDBS medium grit....I just add root tabs and ferts and pray... LOL
Another great video Irene. I’ve thought about it a time or two; and I don’t want to deal with the active souls either.
But what do you think about the soils that store nutrients from the water column for your root feeders?
my plants grow wonderfully in all sand with just using root tabs. I didn't want to drain my 75 gallon tank to add aqua soil and put sand on top after i decided to try plants.
You can feed your shrimps seaweed. They’ll get all the iodine from that.