# Anyone with CRS Shrimp? What's your substrate choice?



## spinxarelli

Looking to start up a Crystal Red Shrimp breeding project and would like to see what people are using.
Been hearing a lot of good stories about ADA Aquasoil and Akadama, not a lot of good stories about Fluval Shrimp Stratum (thus far!)

Let me know what is working for you?

:toimonst:


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## SHWAGert

I have had a lot of success using Eco-Complete


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## koldsoup

What else are you considering to have in the tank? I have CRS in regular gravel, growing mostly mosses and a few crypts. I imagine Eco-complete would work well too.


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## spinxarelli

koldsoup said:


> What else are you considering to have in the tank? I have CRS in regular gravel, growing mostly mosses and a few crypts. I imagine Eco-complete would work well too.


Mostly active soils such as Akadama, ADA Aquasoil, Red Bee Shrimp Sand, things that actively keep the PH and GH,KH levels relatively low for CRS.


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## Morgan

I keep 2 shrimp tanks, CRS and Yellow shrimp. CRS doing well on Fluval shrimp stratum. And yellows have ADA Amazonia. If using amazonia, be sure to do massive water changes the first few days. The ammonia spikes u read about really happen. My ammonia spike cleared after four 50% water changes. Both are excellent for plants.


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## spinxarelli

Morgan said:


> I keep 2 shrimp tanks, CRS and Yellow shrimp. CRS doing well on Fluval shrimp stratum.


Does your CRS "doing well" entail just staying alive or are they:
1.) Breeding
2.) Breeding and young are staying alive and growing out to adults

Because what I have read is the Fluval Shrimp Stratum does not do an effective enough job of making the water soft enough for young shrimp to molt the necessary and in turn frequent times that it takes to "grow out".

Look forward to hearing back,
Thanks


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## Morgan

My CRS doing great on Fluval. Approx the 4th or 5th generation. Started with a dozen, and now have about 60 adults. 

I do use Azoo shrimp mineral additive with large water changes. And only Mosura foods.


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## skygb000

I have 2 high grade CRS and taiwan bee tanks with amazonia soil and akadama double red line. I prefer the akadama since the soil have less nutrition which is faster to cycle.


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## Morgan

Akadama is a red dense clay found in one region of Japan. I use if for some species of bonsai trees. It has great soil properties, but is also known for crumbling/breaking down pretty quickly and then compacting... Requiring repotting every 2 years. which would leave me to think it wouldn't stay together well submerged permanently.


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## rjfurbank

I use ADA Aquasoil. From all that I've read on keeping CRS that's the general consensus.

Good luck.

-Roy


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## ch3fb0yrdee

I've used ADA AS I, AS II, Akadama and inert gravel/sands before and the bottom line comes down to what you're trying to achieve.

*Akadama:*

If your main focus is to breed CRS shrimp and only use moss, then I'd recommend Akadama substrate. Akadama is a very good soil with excellent water buffering capabilities. It does wonders for people with hard/bad tap water. It buffers pH, gH, and kH that is ideal for CRS. Akadama and ADA AS are similar because they both buffer water, but ADA AS contains a lot of nutrients which is good for those looking to plant more demanding plants such as stems and rarer plants (high tech setup tend to result in poor CRS living and breeding conditions.)

*Pro:* 
Buffers water parameters.
Cheap. 15L bag @ $38 shipped vs 9L ADA AS bag = ~38 (you'll definitely get a bigger bang for your buck.)
Cycles faster than ADA AS (release little to no ammonia.)
Longer substrate life.

*Con:*
Nutrient Poor.
Boring light brownish/rust color

*ADA AquaSoil* *Type I, never type II

If your goal is to find a substrate to use to achieve ideal water parameter for CRS/CBS and grow some nice plants then ADA AS is king! People world wide have used the ADA AS as a substrate for shrimps, and have been wildly successful. With ADA AS, you'll have no problem growing moss and stems (given you have proper CO2), and breed CRS/CBS.

*Pro:*
Excellent water buffering capabilities.
Nutrient Rich.
Awesome Black/Dark Brown color.

*Con:*
Expensive 9L bag @ $38 (normally enough to fill a 20L with a little excess.)
Short substrate life span (Tends to break down and become mud.)
3-4 Weeks cycling period prior to use.

*Inert Substrate*

If you have a RO Unit, water remineralizing substance (Mosura Mineral Plus, or Kent's RO Right), don't mind just growing moss, then an inert substrate might be your thing. It lasts indefinitely, gives your complete control over your water parameters. The upside here with inert substrate is that since it last indefinitely, you'll never have to restart the substrate. This is especially important when have a growing population the hassle of netting out all the babies can drive a person mad!

*Pro:*
Lasts Indefinitely.
Cycles Quickly. (Leech no Ammonia.)
*CHEAP! * 50lb bag @ $3-$5.
Allows for complete control over your water parameters.

*Cons:*
Nutrient Poor.
Almost useless if not using RO water thats remineralized.

My personal favorite has to be Akadama Soil/Inert Sand. I'm one of those control freaks that has to know exactly whats going in their tanks. I'm also in love with the idea of not having a substrate that will expire on me within a year. It's a headache to fish things up when I move tanks. Inert black substrate works well for me.  Plus, I'm also really cheap, and we know know this hobby isn't exactly wallet friendly!

Anywho, I hope me quick write up helped! It's my .02!


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## rod

I recently got 8 CRS. I put 4 in with my RCS which have been doing fantastic for about 6yr. Within a week they died. I had another tank setup with ADA and put the other 4 in there. 1 1/2 mo later they are doing fine, but no babies. 
I would like to set up a tank with Akadama before buying more CRS. Do you know is there a difference in what brand I buy? So far I have not been able to find any around here, but will be ordering some.


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