Fluval Stratum was absolute crap 5 years ago. I bought more this year as it was my only choice at the time. I’ve had it in one tank for 2 months now and my PH is still great! 5.6 vs the bag from 5 years ago wouldn’t go below 6.3. I’m much happier with the new Stratum and I keep testing every few weeks to see how long it will last. Also the polyfill I use in my fish tank does eventually inhibit water flow. I’m excited to see how this works for you over time as I really want to do Asian style filters! Another very educational video! 😄 thank you Mark!
Those panels are sold here in Indonesia and you will have noticed that one end has grooves on each side. Here we get a small plastic "chimney" with a base that slides in then it tapers to a round hole for clear pipe. I recently bought an undergravel filter for my 60cm tank and it came with two chimneys, riser tubes with small rigid tubes that fit inside and connect to small cylindrical diffusers also provided. The whole thing was less than $2 here.
Hi mark! Great video! Seems like Asia is legitimately about 10 years ahead in terms of shrimp, I've been meaning to set up a tank like this ... The only extra element I've seen in some of the Taiwan stores that I wanna try is to put the whole filter section in a glass cube, rather than partitioning the tank. That way, you can remove the entire filter section for cleaning. Gotta try this myself some day!
so far so good, I am impressed with how well it keeps its shape and there didnt seem to be any collapsing of the soil in the filter at all which is good, I did expect some of it to turn to mud above the filter floss, fingers crossed it seems to be good so far.
Very cool video. Love the DIY filter. All my sponge filters are pvc pipe with holes drilled and sponge over holes. Some day I'm gonna give caridina shrimp a go, but my neos keep me busy enough for now.
All my new aquariums work with this style of filtration. Whether for neocaridinas or caridinas and frankly it's just perfect. Almost no maintenance and happy shrimps!
Wow ! Ill absolutely have to try this in my 10 gallon i want to reset ! I dont like to see filters in the back ground so this is the best way for me to do it! I already have an other tank with aquaponic on it and a pump just under the big gravel.. but this way look much better!
Great Video ! That is an about 100% the way I do all my Caridina shrimp only diff is I use "Brightwell Aquatics FlorinVolcanit Rio Escuro-F Fine Black Volcanic Ash" because it has no ammonia leech, so I use add in right in, and I have DIY box filters, with very little substrate on the bottom of the tanks, about 80% glass. I can get PH 5.5 to 6.5 by just adjusting the volume of the substrate in the box filters. Work great, about 8 months on the 5.5 PH, so I and keep push the PH that lower and 13 months for the 6.5 PH. 👍🦐
Awesome.. Can't wait to see the results.. Nice explanation of the steps and the facts.. Waiting on five new tanks, so there is a idea for at least one of them 😁👍.. Buy the way.. What kind of lights are you running on your tanks? Can't seem to find a video on your channel that's filled with info on that area.. Thx for the video
most of my light are just standard 6500k light of some sort, the fluval stratum tank should be ready for shrimp soon, I tested it yesterday and it has no ammonia reading, I am just waiting on the glass to go a little green before I put shrimp's in.
I am a beginner and will start a 20 gallon with Cherry Shrimp and plants, is the Fluval Stratum a good substrate to use since the PH is lower, may not be good for cherry shrimp.
Dont worry I am pretty sure its impossible to block these up, I am running a test on one tank right now with the outlet out of the water. lets see if it blocks up or are other people just panty wetter's?
Great video. I'm relatively new to channel and been keeping neocaridina and really want to get in to caridinas one day, sadly economy really bad where I live and wanted to ask if there is any cheaper alternatives to these expansive soil for lowering PH ? Thank you.
Please explain to me why using those active soil when the goal is far from getting a planted tank ? I guess those soils is more appropriate (?) For plants.. Or do Shrimps benefits in any way of that type of soil ? Why not gravel an the occasional plant that is added just some root tabs depending on if it is a root feeder.. Or maybe I am a old fart that don't understand that the normal or default go to today is that type of soil and gravel is old school ? Or is it that the soil is acting on the pH and lower that ?
I had Fluval Stratum siince July 2021. From the start till now. Its about 6 months now. its still showing PH5.5 on my Sera PH test kit. My soil was bought in 2021 and it says made in japan too! I am also reviewing the Platinum soil you shown in another video. Hope this helps someone here! Btw.. the ammonia reading looks 2.0 to 2.5. Looks slighly greenish here...
You know after this video was made I remebered there was an issue with the ammonia test kit like it always had that slight green tinge regardless of the water source, so I have ordered a new test kit.
@@MarksShrimpTanks I always use Sera cos they give big glass test tubes instead of those plastic (tetra) or tiny tubes(API) which I had difficult seeing thru. I am getting bad eyesight from years of mobile/computer work
Hey there! So I just switched my 5 gallon from sand to stratum for my shrimp. How long should I wait to put them back in. They're in a holding tank right now. Im hearing now that it leaches a lot of ammonia. I had this substrate in another tank, so it's already soaked for a couple of weeks
You would need to test for ammonia, as a rule I try and wait 2 months plus before adding shrimp but now I am trying to see if that can be reduced by adding seachem stability at the recomended dose for 7 days, so far so good.
Using floss on top of the plates is a bad idea. It clogs and restricts flow considerably in a short amount of time. It's best to used a very coarse sponge or even nothing at all. Just substrate. Some add bio media but that's not necessary. The soil IS the bio media. That's how we do it here in Asia.
@@MarksShrimpTanks I didn't say it blocks, I said it restricts flow. Ironically, this is called the Asian style UGF but no one that I know of or any of the shops and breeders I know here use floss, pads or in fact sponges in their UGF box or partitioned UGF. At most they use some ceramic rings or media balls under the substrate. We also never make UGF with thick substrate layers as that also tends to compact with time and reduce flow. It's best to make a wider UGFs than a taller one. Just sharing how we actually do it here in Asia :).
Struggling with shrimp? Watch this ruclips.net/video/odokPU9Ajsk/видео.html
Fluval Stratum was absolute crap 5 years ago. I bought more this year as it was my only choice at the time. I’ve had it in one tank for 2 months now and my PH is still great! 5.6 vs the bag from 5 years ago wouldn’t go below 6.3. I’m much happier with the new Stratum and I keep testing every few weeks to see how long it will last. Also the polyfill I use in my fish tank does eventually inhibit water flow. I’m excited to see how this works for you over time as I really want to do Asian style filters!
Another very educational video! 😄 thank you Mark!
I would a appreciate a like on this one guys if you enjoyed it :)
I’m using Controsoil would like to see what you think of it
Those panels are sold here in Indonesia and you will have noticed that one end has grooves on each side. Here we get a small plastic "chimney" with a base that slides in then it tapers to a round hole for clear pipe.
I recently bought an undergravel filter for my 60cm tank and it came with two chimneys, riser tubes with small rigid tubes that fit inside and connect to small cylindrical diffusers also provided. The whole thing was less than $2 here.
I like how you tell us step by step like we are standing right there personally.
wow you read my mind I literally film as if there is someone there and it you guys hahahahahaha all rolled into one person.
Hi mark! Great video! Seems like Asia is legitimately about 10 years ahead in terms of shrimp, I've been meaning to set up a tank like this ...
The only extra element I've seen in some of the Taiwan stores that I wanna try is to put the whole filter section in a glass cube, rather than partitioning the tank. That way, you can remove the entire filter section for cleaning. Gotta try this myself some day!
Oh this is just the start of me doing a new tank a different way each week, its what people want to see
@@MarksShrimpTanks haha more please! I'm interested to see how the stratum gets on, I'm definitely a fan but haven't used it in a shrimp tank....
so far so good, I am impressed with how well it keeps its shape and there didnt seem to be any collapsing of the soil in the filter at all which is good, I did expect some of it to turn to mud above the filter floss, fingers crossed it seems to be good so far.
Very cool video. Love the DIY filter. All my sponge filters are pvc pipe with holes drilled and sponge over holes. Some day I'm gonna give caridina shrimp a go, but my neos keep me busy enough for now.
Your neos have me very Jealous hahaha 👍
All my new aquariums work with this style of filtration. Whether for neocaridinas or caridinas and frankly it's just perfect. Almost no maintenance and happy shrimps!
I was thinking about trying it for neos, what do you have as a substrate in there for them?
@@MarksShrimpTanks i have crushed basalt.
Wow ! Ill absolutely have to try this in my 10 gallon i want to reset ! I dont like to see filters in the back ground so this is the best way for me to do it! I already have an other tank with aquaponic on it and a pump just under the big gravel.. but this way look much better!
Great video , I use fluval stratum in my tanks with no problems ,Hard to find anything else around here but i am happy with it .
Thanks for sharing
Enjoyed the video again. The ammonia test looked like it read about .25
yeah it was strange I could see it was green in the camera but not my eyes, little bit of amonia is good anyways.
Great Video ! That is an about 100% the way I do all my Caridina shrimp only diff is I use "Brightwell Aquatics FlorinVolcanit Rio Escuro-F Fine Black Volcanic Ash" because it has no ammonia leech, so I use add in right in, and I have DIY box filters, with very little substrate on the bottom of the tanks, about 80% glass. I can get PH 5.5 to 6.5 by just adjusting the volume of the substrate in the box filters. Work great, about 8 months on the 5.5 PH, so I and keep push the PH that lower and 13 months for the 6.5 PH. 👍🦐
I like your little round vase there too.
I cant think of what you are talking about , the one at the sink ?
@@MarksShrimpTanks yes the cylinder vase next to where you were testing the water.
ah yes thats nice, has some sunset hygro in it.
Mark
Your videos are terrific
thank you :)
I do the asian style on all my tanks now. but I use the entire tank footprint for my filter rather than the small compartment in back.
Can u do a topsoil layer and then add that on top?
Awesome.. Can't wait to see the results.. Nice explanation of the steps and the facts.. Waiting on five new tanks, so there is a idea for at least one of them 😁👍.. Buy the way.. What kind of lights are you running on your tanks? Can't seem to find a video on your channel that's filled with info on that area.. Thx for the video
most of my light are just standard 6500k light of some sort, the fluval stratum tank should be ready for shrimp soon, I tested it yesterday and it has no ammonia reading, I am just waiting on the glass to go a little green before I put shrimp's in.
Quilt batting is the same as the polyester filter media but is much less expensive.
the problem with that is it can be treated, I dont like risking stuff.
blood for the shrimp gods!
I am a beginner and will start a 20 gallon with Cherry Shrimp and plants, is the Fluval Stratum a good substrate to use since the PH is lower, may not be good for cherry shrimp.
Are you still liking the Fluval substrate? I am starting up a shrimp tank, and can’t decide what to get. Would you cap it with sand?
No it wasnt a great soil, it had the same issues shrimp king soil had, low nutrient levels meaning it was sterile after a few months.
Good stuff Mark. Not sure of colour since on monitor. Borderline.
My tank is tar black completely... I even used a drip for the water.... :/
yeah something isnt right with that soil
@@MarksShrimpTanks I have some good news, after a full 24 hours the tank is now clear
Did you make the tank Mark or is this from a retailer?
This was a second hand tank i resealed a few video ago and I added a glass panel on the inside.
I just made exact same setup but I forgot the floss layer
Dont worry I am pretty sure its impossible to block these up, I am running a test on one tank right now with the outlet out of the water. lets see if it blocks up or are other people just panty wetter's?
First weeeeeeeeeeee
😎
Great video. I'm relatively new to channel and been keeping neocaridina and really want to get in to caridinas one day, sadly economy really bad where I live and wanted to ask if there is any cheaper alternatives to these expansive soil for lowering PH ? Thank you.
Yes the cheaper soil is akadama its soil meant for gardening you can see how much it costs where you are.
I'm pretty sure ADA says to not use undergravel filters with powder.
yes I probably would agree with that, it compacts into a hard layer eventually.
@@MarksShrimpTanks Do you have Instagram?
I’d love to ask you a couple quick opinion questions about substrate
Please explain to me why using those active soil when the goal is far from getting a planted tank ?
I guess those soils is more appropriate (?) For plants..
Or do Shrimps benefits in any way of that type of soil ?
Why not gravel an the occasional plant that is added just some root tabs depending on if it is a root feeder..
Or maybe I am a old fart that don't understand that the normal or default go to today is that type of soil and gravel is old school ?
Or is it that the soil is acting on the pH and lower that ?
You told you use Discus GH mineral can you tell what kind of brand you are using?
its the salty mineral stuff, I buy the 3kg tubs so its a bit cheaper in the long run than buying the 800g tubs.
there is a new fluval stratum called biostratum, i heard it can cycle in just 3 days. any thoughts on that?
Hello Ijie, I have never heard of that substrate before but I think it would be impossible to cycle a tank in 3 days.
Also, if you were to choose the best lighter colored sand for an onrinoco/amazon themed blackwater biotope, what sand substrate would you use?
I always go with just basic river sand because it looks so nature.
@@MarksShrimpTanks I'll try finding some!
Not sure if this has been requested but would you test UP aqua shrimp sand?
I dont know what that is ? is it in the US
I had Fluval Stratum siince July 2021. From the start till now. Its about 6 months now. its still showing PH5.5 on my Sera PH test kit. My soil was bought in 2021 and it says made in japan too! I am also reviewing the Platinum soil you shown in another video.
Hope this helps someone here!
Btw.. the ammonia reading looks 2.0 to 2.5. Looks slighly greenish here...
You know after this video was made I remebered there was an issue with the ammonia test kit like it always had that slight green tinge regardless of the water source, so I have ordered a new test kit.
@@MarksShrimpTanks I always use Sera cos they give big glass test tubes instead of those plastic (tetra) or tiny tubes(API) which I had difficult seeing thru. I am getting bad eyesight from years of mobile/computer work
Less worried about clogging, more worried about plant roots infiltration.
Don't use polyster sheet.. It will build ammonia, just use plastic netting so the soil will not enter below the ugf pad..
its aquarium polly wool, I did think about plastic netting but I couldnt find any at the time :)
Sir,
can i use fluval stratum for neocardina shrimps?
I wouldnt but thats just me, neos need harder water and stratum will give you softer water.
Do u use any air stones in the undergravel filter?or just simply bare air tubing?
this has an airstone
Hey there! So I just switched my 5 gallon from sand to stratum for my shrimp. How long should I wait to put them back in. They're in a holding tank right now. Im hearing now that it leaches a lot of ammonia. I had this substrate in another tank, so it's already soaked for a couple of weeks
You would need to test for ammonia, as a rule I try and wait 2 months plus before adding shrimp but now I am trying to see if that can be reduced by adding seachem stability at the recomended dose for 7 days, so far so good.
@@MarksShrimpTanks thank you sm! So far the ammonia levels have been fine but I'll definitely keep testing and I'll look into seachem!
COOOOOOOOOOOOL
👍❤👍
Using floss on top of the plates is a bad idea. It clogs and restricts flow considerably in a short amount of time. It's best to used a very coarse sponge or even nothing at all. Just substrate. Some add bio media but that's not necessary. The soil IS the bio media. That's how we do it here in Asia.
I disagree in it blocking because I have used and tested this before.
@@MarksShrimpTanks I didn't say it blocks, I said it restricts flow. Ironically, this is called the Asian style UGF but no one that I know of or any of the shops and breeders I know here use floss, pads or in fact sponges in their UGF box or partitioned UGF. At most they use some ceramic rings or media balls under the substrate. We also never make UGF with thick substrate layers as that also tends to compact with time and reduce flow. It's best to make a wider UGFs than a taller one. Just sharing how we actually do it here in Asia :).