# Best Way to Proceed



## pawslover (Feb 22, 2006)

I recently added a baker's dozen CRS (Crystal Red Shrimp) to a well established 12 gal. So far, they're doing pretty well. I think I've lost one. Rest are getting comfortable in their new digs and coming out more. Have had them about 2 wks. Only problem is the gravel is kind of natural colored (tans, browns, etc.) and it doesn't show them off very well.

I picked up some flourite black and would like to swap out the substrate, but am worried about losing the cycle in the tank and stressing them out. I don't really have another tank that is also established where they can go in the interim. I have used Eco-complete before, but it's been a long time since I've used Flourite and can't remember if it has water stability issues initially until it gets settled.

I plan to rinse the flourite well and could put it in mesh bags in a tank for a few days to get seeded. Then I was thinking I would put the CRS, their tank water, sponge filter, heater and plants in a bucket. Syphon the mulm from their tank into a container. Remove the current gravel substrate. Add a layer of the Flourite. Add some mulm. Add more flourite. More mulm. Cap with black sand. Then rescape and return them to their tank.

My biggest concern is that my tap water registers .25 ammonia so doing large water changes sometimes hurts more than helps; I don't want to have to do a lot of water changes as the tank gets reestablished for that reason unless I use bottled water or something. I know they are very sensitive to water conditions and don't want to lose them. Am I asking for trouble? Is there a better way?


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## tex627 (Nov 2, 2008)

use prime it willl removve ammonia.add the water slowly so thhe shrimp can adapt to new water. i'd suggesst u to use aqua soil. it will set a perfect environment for CRS. it makes my life a lot easier. people say cyclingw/ aquasoil takes over a month. when i used AS 1 w/old filter media, cycling took less than 1 week


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## JohnPaul (Aug 28, 2006)

I have fluorite black sand in 3 tanks currently, two of which are shrimp tanks. Great substrate IMO. I've never had CRS but I would think it would do a superb job of showing off both the red & white coloration.

As long as you have an established sponge filter, I wouldn't worry about "losing your cycle" as a result of replacing the substrate. Stressing them out is certainly a legit concern. I would suggest getting a big 5g plastic bucket (or something similar to that), filling it with tank water and maybe putting some of your other scaping in there (rocks, driftwood, plants, whatever) and then transferring all the shrimp into that, then draining the rest of the tank, switching out the substrate, and then putting everything back in. Then slowly (over the next day or two) add more water to the tank to eventually bring it back up to its full 12 gallons. If you have two 5g buckets and so can preserve nearly 10g of old tank water that would be even better. Having to move the shrimp (twice) will be shock enough, so you don't want to add to the shock by then sticking them in water that is 75% new water too.


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## pawslover (Feb 22, 2006)

I changed out the substrate on Fri, 4 nights ago. I have a small rubbermaid tub that I use to drip acclimate new fish so I syphoned water from their tank into it until full & then scooped them out & put them in the tub with a few plants. I filled a bucket with more of their water and added the rest of the plants, heater & filter while I changed the substrate. Between the tub & the bucket, I had about 2/3 of the water from their tank.

I had planned to leave the rest of the water in the tank along with the mulm when I removed the old substrate. As I started scooping out the old substrate, I discovered that this tank had soil underneath which I had completely forgotten about. I ended up tossing the water & all the substrate and starting over since I was worried about what stirring up the soil would release into the water column.

Several days prior to starting the change out, I had placed the flourite in some laundry bags, rinsed thoroughly & left them in some established tanks to get "seeded." I was really pleased with how well the laundry bags worked for rinsing it out. When I placed the flourite in the 12 gal, I had no noticable dust cloud. 

Since I lost the remaining water & mulm in the tank, I syphoned out another tank & used that for mulm and enough water to not add new water (my tap registers .25 ammonia). I added the plants back and refilled with the water from the bucket, got the heater & filter back in and let it run for a little bit. Then I took the plants out of the tub with the shrimp, planted those, moved the shrimp & finished filling with the water from their temporary housing.

At first, they seemed pretty stressed and were zipping around all over the place and the water was kind of cloudy from the mulm and water from the other tank. By the next morning, the water had cleared a good bit and they seemed more settled. The mulm had settled over the substrate & plants. I thought about a water change this weekend, but they seem busy & content cleaning it up so I have left them alone and just keeping an eye on them. 

So far, so good. They seem relaxed & settled, no casualties (knock wood) and I'm enjoying them much more against the black substrate


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