Fluval 12694 Plant and Shrimp Stratum for Freshwater Fish Tanks, 8.8 lbs. – Aquarium Substrate for Strong Plant Growth, Supports Neutral to Slightly Acidic pH

This has become a standard in my substrates, I blend it in with gravel, sand, whatever type I'm setting up. Planted tanks are the only way I roll, fully bioactive, and (virtually) changeless system set-up; soil is vital to plants and plants are vital to the chemistry. I've 2 products from this brand and I'm not inclined to change unless a real good reason manifests to do so. Neither product is what one may call 'cheap,' but it's certainly worth the money, my aquatic plants are so healthy that some specimens are abnormally big and have been a challenge to identify. (some of my seed stock didn't have anything but Chinese on the labels, so I had to wait until they grew to get them identified correctly.) The success I'm having with my tanks seems almost uncanny given I'm still something of a "newbie," these are my first tanks, all are less than a year old, and to have nailed it on the complete and healthy ecosystem model like a pro is testament to how great the science is developed and disseminated - and to the quality of products. Soil is everything, whether in my garden beds, potted plants, or aquatics - same rules apply. As I've said many times already, my water quality tests are always so spot on that it looks like I'm 'cheating,' and this stuff is one of the ingredients achieving all that.

Always use this substrate and never go wrong with it. Love it. First day is cloudy and the second day is clear. Trust the process. It works wonders with natural plants and fish.

Loved adding this to my tank. Once everything balanced out, it’s been a perfect buffer for my water parameters. It also looks super clean against a dark backdrop. Do not rinse it. Just pour water gently over it when filling, otherwise your tank will turn into a murky lagoon. Once settled, it’s great. It’s also very easy to insert plants into. The texture holds roots well without being too compact. My plants are thriving so far, and the 4.4 lb bag was the perfect amount for my 5-gallon. I used the entire bag. Great substrate overall.

*** Update Week 2. I wanted to share the progress of use of fluval shrimp stratum. As week by week went on water is crystal clear. You may want to add two bags if you want plants since the pellets are so light my plants wouldn’t stay in the stratum. They would float right up to surface of water. Any time you add landscape the pellets will give off a dust or float. Don’t be alarmed, the dust settles back down quickly. So instead of getting another bag, I used plant anchors. They seem to be happy with plant anchors thus far. My PH was a bit high so I had to correct that before adding any fish. So it’s ready to add fish now and I can’t wait. I think it looks great with the landscape. I’m not done with my landscaping I still have the other corner to work. I have a couple of itty bitty baby tetra neons in there you can’t see them. They’re hiding, but if you make a little well in the pellets they like to hide in it. They don’t seem bothered by the stratum at all. I highly recommend this stuff, but best I to get two bags of whatever size you get, to get about 3 inches so your roots to plants will take to it easier is very light weight. Or do plant anchors. I bought this with the anticipation to set my tank up as a planted fresh water aquarium. Live plants apparently love this stuff and that it’s a good substrate for shrimp if you want to have any. Many reviews have complaints about cloudiness of water. I did this as a whole new tank setting up. I don’t recommend if you have fish already in yours. You treat it like you’re setting up a new one laying your landscape in, Anyway, I didn’t pre rinse. I don’t feel it’s necessary it only just makes the pellets soggy. The first day yes water will appear black and muddy. Let your filter do the work!! You may have to change your bio max bag out to a new one it does work. I have to get a new bio max filter since it worked hard to get this water cleared up since set up. First day, dark, black cloud. I even thought did I mess it it up? I should have taken a picture to show comparison and I forgot. Don’t be impatient or think you did something wrong. Just be patient let your filter do the work!! 5 hours later, a light cloudiness. I Next day, crystal clear water. You need patience for this! It’s not immediate. It may take anywhere from 6 hours-48 hours. It took 48 hours for mine to clear up. I need to clean off outside of my tank glass. I didn’t use the lay the bag over the pellets with a small bowl to fill tank with water method. I did just straight in with water pouring very slowly and softly. Water will fizz at first and it’s normal. And then I added the necessary water treatments to make it safe for fish for tap water, since I used tap water. Now I can’t wait until I set up the rest of my landscaping and add fish. I’ll post updates on when it’s done being set up.

Looks great in my shrimp tank, it does make your water color cloudy for a bit but goes away pretty quickly, my plants love it and so do my shrimp, it gives a really good contrast and good nutrients to all my plants, I will be buying again.

Love this brand and their products the only issue I have with this is their PRICE. It’s extremely expensive even for a very small package you’re luck if you can find one under $30. I got a good deal on these but good Lord these are pricey. It’s probably because of the quality because this stuff is great for what it’s worth. It’s basically pebbles of lava dirt so if you put it in and don’t rinse it, it will cloud up the water like nobody’s business. What you need to do is rinse it first, put it into the tank and then add water. I did this and it still caused a lot of cloudiness from the dust but it’s okay because I used it as a bottom layer underneath sand which is how it works best in my opinion. The plants are able to take root well and creep down to the bottom to get to this soil which is really good. Doing with with a cap of sand over it makes for a tank that can naturally “filter” waste down into the soil over the years, eventually breaking it down and leading to less of a need for frequent water change like you would with gravel. Buy this instead of gravel if you have a small tank and put a layer of sand over it, your fish will live long happy lives and adding aquatic plants will be perfect for a natural ecosystem that doesn’t hold ammonia but rather creates a space for beneficial bacteria similar to a pond.

Okay this stuff works great. But you need to be very careful when placing it in an aquarium. One do not mix it around at all! Or rinse it first! If you do, it'll be like mud. And you will never get your water clean. I made the mistake and had to throw the bag out and clean the whole aquarium out. You need to put the substrates on the bottom of the aquarium, straight from the bag, and then you need to slowly fill up the aquarium. But you need to take a plate to disperse the pressure of the water as you're pouring it in. And as the water temperature rises you need to keep the plate at the surface. So you're just slowly.. ever so slowly... with a lot of "patience" - pouring the water onto the plate at the surface so it gradually fills up without really disturbing the substrates at all. If you do get discoloration which you probably will, at this point, it'll subside within a few hours. At this point, you can take a paper towel and go around the inside of your tank and wipe it off, put carefully so not to stir up any of the substrates. I also at this point if you're usinga HOB filter (on the back of your tank). You can put a paper towel around the filter medium inside the filter. And you can empty that about every half an hour. I have to do that about 3 - 4 times and then your water will be clear. Be very careful when you're taking that out of the filter to put it right into a bowl or something. Because your tank is probably going to get a little cloudy again. If you're using a sponge filter., same. I don't put those in until last when I change it over from the back filter to the sponge filters. Hope this helps. It's a great product.

Highly recommend this. My tank looked a little cloudy when I first set up my tank but in just a few hours I could see it clearing up. I went with some recommendations on not rinsing the substrate and I'm not regretting it. I've never used any substrate like this or attempted to plant a tank but after several decades I thought it would be time to try something different - I've always loved the look of planted tanks but felt to intimidated. However, I grew some balls and just went for it. So far my tank is looking so clear and my overhead plants are growing like crazy, the roots are have reached the bottom where the substrate is and my fish are happy and healthy as ever. Honestly, very pleased with this purchase and it's worth the hefty price. Recommend

I have been using normal sand in my nano aquarium from about last 1yr or so but now the plant growth started to reduce. This is the reason why I thought to try a substrate. This fluval is good, plants looks healthy now but nothing very exceptional to say. This pack is too much for my nano tank, i have half of the contents left in the packet.

Recouvert de gravier, ne trouble pas l'eau du tout. Il faut verser l'eau lentement. A voir après au niveau de la pousse des plantes.

Enfin un substrat de qualité, maintient de PH, les crevettes le supportent bien, bonne assimilation des engrais, diffuse dans le temps

acheter il y a longtemps maintenant fait très bien son travaille j'ai de très belle plantes

Bra substrat till Bra pris, snabb leverans