# dark substrate for shirmp?



## wicca27 (Oct 13, 2008)

so hubby is letting me get a new tank and i have no idea what sub to get. i dont have alot of money so amazonia is kinda out. i have been doing the miracle gro organic and sand cap but want something diff this time. i looked at flourite black but it has copper in it so im bettin that is not good for shrimp tank thanks for any help


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## neilshieh (Jun 24, 2010)

it has been discussed many times, shrimp will be exposed to copper either way and is not harmful to a certain extent. most of your foods contain copper, should you stop feeding it? NO! flourite black is a good choice for bringing out shrimp colors and for plants. might i recommend turface or soilmaster select? cheap and they work great!


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## wicca27 (Oct 13, 2008)

i thought about those also but no one local sells them and neather brand has a dark color only the natrual or red


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## neilshieh (Jun 24, 2010)

oh... well my store carries the dark brown turface and it looks like amazonia II. sms has a black, maybe you could order it from online? either way itll be cheaper and you have a 50 pound bag of the stuff. but let me warn you, its a real PITA to wash.


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## Gordonrichards (Apr 28, 2009)

Do a search online, you can purchase pretty inexpensively a bag of fluval stratum. With shipping you'd be looking at $20.00 or so. A store might stock it as well near you.

-Gordon


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## killacross (Apr 29, 2010)

or use Black Diamond Blasting Grit (recommended to me by TexGal) as your cap and keep using a method I assume youre good at (soil tank with sand cap)

BD is coal slag its cheap and inert (50# bag for $8)

if you have a Northern Tool, Tractor Supply Company, Grainger, John Deer Store etc nearby theyll order it for you (the first 2 stock it regularly) tho I doubt they would be "pleased" with spending time for a $10 order...but thats what theyre there for

its about the grain size as sand


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## onefang (Apr 10, 2011)

Gordonrichards said:


> Do a search online, you can purchase pretty inexpensively a bag of fluval stratum. With shipping you'd be looking at $20.00 or so. A store might stock it as well near you.
> 
> -Gordon


Fluval stratum is good stuff. I have had great results with it, as well as a friend of mine who breeds high grade CRS, and some of the more exotic Caridina sp. 
It's almost black 



> it has been discussed many times, shrimp will be exposed to copper either way and is not harmful to a certain extent. most of your foods contain copper, should you stop feeding it? NO! flourite black is a good choice for bringing out shrimp colors and for plants. might i recommend turface or soilmaster select? cheap and they work great!


The copper sulphate in foods isn't dangerous at low levels, so this is true to a certain extent. However copper sulphate is very soluble in water, and can be lethal to shrimp at higher levels.
Many have sent seachem emails regarding the copper content in fourite, and it is understood that the copper in flourite is insoluble, and therefor not a danger to your inverts.



> Flourite, like most naturally mined rocks, will contain traces of copper as copper is a naturally occurring trace mineral. The copper in this material is insoluble and will not go into solution so it will not affect any of your aquarium inhabitants. Also, copper (in small trace quantities) is essential for life as it is important in many aspects like electron transport, plasma production, & it is a constituent of many enzymes. This is why our Flourish contains small trace quantities of copper.
> 
> Best Regards,
> Seachem Technical Support,rb~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> ...


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## Coursair (Apr 18, 2011)

I set up my 10 gal RCS tank with Flourite black topped with CaribSea Tahitian Moon Sand (Very black and pretty ). The tank has only been up about 5 weeks (?) but my plants are doing well and the Shrimp are colored up well and all adult sized females are carrying eggs.

The first pic is just after my first major trim. My Ludwigia went insane and was filling up the top third of the tank and shading out the other plants. 
















I love the black substrate. Yes sand is a pain in some ways. Yes it shows dirt. Yes I was foolish and did NOT rinse the Flourite enough and the "dust" drove me crazy.

But the plants and Shrimp look great. Will see if I still love it over time.


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## ohbaby714 (May 24, 2011)

+1 for Fluval Stratum.
Good light materials. Almost dark black but great stuffs for shrimps. Keep water very clear and clean, no dust.
My shrimps love it.
I got mine from Amazon, for a small tank, worth every pennies.


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## nilocg (Sep 14, 2010)

The next tank that I set up is going to be with the fluval stratum. I have AS1 and AS2 and always get nervous about disturbing the substrate and getting an ammonia spike.


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