Some of the fancy-pants shrimp like CRS like low PH and special substrates like ADA Amazonia can help with this and your plants... but this isn't a requirement as far as I know for the shrimp you listed.
Shrimp Tank Substrate Question
- Thread starter Hollygirl
- Start date
i have used both tbm sand and eco complete and I think the eco complete grows plants better but the black sand is soooo purrrdy! The thing about black sand, for better or worse depending on your maintenance habits, is that poop is very noticeable, especially when I feed kens veggie sticks, the poop almost glows green :lipssealedsmilie:
That's good to know! Thanks!
I bought a shallow cave that is actually for reptiles that I plan on using in the tank. I was hoping to drop the food for the shrimp on top of the cave and it would act something like a dish. I use reptile dishes in my other two invert tanks and they work pretty well.
hey i use a feeding dish too 
It's a small glass dish thing I found at Micheal's. It's about the diameter of a shot glass only the glass is thicker and is only about half as high. Works great and it's so easy to clean hehe.
It's a small glass dish thing I found at Micheal's. It's about the diameter of a shot glass only the glass is thicker and is only about half as high. Works great and it's so easy to clean hehe.
A feeding dish with inverts is the only way to go! It doesn't allow you to never clean, but it sure makes tank maintenance easier. My first invert "dishes" were clay saucers.
Another thing you could look into is 3m colorquartz. You can find local distributors HERE. The T grade is really attractive, about the consistency of sand, but heavy and vaccable. Its sold in 50lb bags for around $22-25.
I broke down and ordered Eco-Complete from Drs. Foster and Smith. My LFS sells the 20 pound bag for $35.00, and another LFS has it for $33.00. With the shipping at Drs. Foster and Smith I paid $35.00. Now I'm thinking I should maybe use a 10 gallon for my shrimp tank. LOL! My husband says if I can figure out where to put another 10 gallon no problem, but he gets to use the 6 gallon for a Betta.
I just ordered four bags of eco-complete for my planted tank, and the shipping was really cheap. I believe I ordered it from drs. foster & smith, also, but I could be wrong. A trick to try when ordering, is to fill your shopping cart with the stuff you need, then get to the checkout, and see how much shipping is. If you don't like the price, you can empty your cart, and look elsewhere. The eco works great for ghost shrimp, and the plants grow great. Since I set up my tank in January of this year, I've already had a batch of babies, and most are berried. Also, if you want you can mix the sand, and eco. The sand should sink to the bottom, though, so I don't know if it'd work. Gravel, and eco works, though.
