Shrimp Substrate: tell me why you like yours/what you recommend

[PineSong]

I started out raising my orange cherry shrimp in a guppy grow-out tank, so the substrate was not chosen with shrimp in mind, and the orange shrimp barely show up. Now that I'm within sight of being "done" growing out guppies, I'd like to change out the substrate in the orange neo tank to a dark substrate where the shrimp colors will pop.

I have temporarily removed all the plants from the tank, but when I replace the substrate there will be maybe a few corkscrew val and swarf chain swords actually planted but other plants will be floating or on rock/wood.

It's a 10g tank so not a tremendous volume of substrate will be needed.

Let me know what you would recommend/advise against.

[CJs Aquatics]

Interested in what people think 

[Anjum]

Will you be having any fish in with the shrimp? I don't have shrimp (yet), but my research has led me to believe that for Neos, really anything goes. I'd think with orange shrimp, you'd have a lot of options as far as substrate color goes. Anything from a med/dark brown to black should work well. I'd also be interested to hear from others more experienced, as I'm still collecting data in my brain for all things shrimp related.

[PineSong]

On 11/12/2022 at 8:15 PM, Anjum said:

Will you be having any fish in with the shrimp? 

I don’t plan to because I’m trying to maximize the shrimp population,at least for now. I do not keep cories or other bottom dwellers so accommodating their substrate needs is not a factor.

[Anjum]

Look see what I found.. she's got a video for each color of shrimp

 

 

[Expectorating_Aubergine]

I like using drystall as a substrate. I like how it's small AND super porous. I notice when I have shrimp on it, that they spend lots of time on individual pieces. Working them over pretty thoroughly. It's also really light which is a bonus in my book.

[Patrick_G]

I agree with @Anjum, pretty much anything goes when it comes to Neos. Comercial aquasoil tends to change water parameters so that might be an issue depending on your tap water parameters. I know that some forum members can’t stand Eco Complete, but for a tank with only a few rooted plants it might be the way to go, orange shrimp sure would stand out against it. 

[nabokovfan87]

The only thing I care about with shrimp substrate is how well does it support the plants. I specifically want a well planted tank and the shrimp will enjoy that going well.

I've used sand, it was fine. Perfect for shrimp.  I am currently using seachem flourite black and what I like about that one is that it holds the food up and it doesn't really fall down into holes.  Now, the big asterisk here.... is that I don't need to modify my water for shrimp. I can keep basically a plethora of shrimp species without issues.  (low PH, hard water)

That's the key. Is do you need to modify water? The key is what do you need out of your substrate.  The shrimp will adapt, but the best thing for shrimp is clean water, constant parameters, and just giving them the food/diet they need.  Shrimp are forgiving that way.

[PineSong]

On 11/13/2022 at 12:00 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

I've used sand, it was fine. Perfect for shrimp.  I am currently using seachem flourite black and what I like about that one is that it holds the food up and it doesn't really fall down into holes.  Now, the big asterisk here.... is that I don't need to modify my water for shrimp. I can keep basically a plethora of shrimp species without issues.  (low PH, hard water)

That's the key. Is do you need to modify water? The key is what do you need out of your substrate.  The shrimp will adapt, but the best thing for shrimp is clean water, constant parameters, and just giving them the food/diet they need.  Shrimp are forgiving that way.

My situation is the same. Low pH, hard water, only going to house neo shrimp, so I don't need to modify water, I just want it to look nice, cover up the slate that is at the base of my driftwood, and hold plants down. I've had positive enough results growing plants in my tanks where I have inert gravel, so I'd rather stick with something inert as it's what I'm used to and also what these shrimp are used to, parameters-wise. Thank you for the recommendation. 

[Ruud]

I just got "JBL Sansibar" sand for my 90L cube tank. It's very fine sand and I got it to house Cory's and L numbers but in the LFS they used it for a shrimp tank and said it went very well with shrimp. It comes in several different colors, I got the grey version. 

https://www.jbl.de/es/productos/detail/6112/jbl-sansibar-grey?country=es

 

 

 

[JettsPapa]

I use pool filter sand in my tanks with blue shrimp, and Black Diamond sandblasting sand in the tanks with red or yellow shrimp.  I don't see why black shouldn't work just fine for orange ones.