Plant and Shrimp Stratum Aquarium Substrate - 8.8 lb Bag

Pros: • There’s no other product which plants like more than this • Great price, especially compared to pet stores • No odor, fish like it, it looks good and natural, and the water stays clear after installment Cons: • It can be challenging to install, here’s what I recommend. Wash it lightly only once, and pour it into aquarium. Put a piece of aluminum foil over it, and slowly fill aquarium with water. Move the water around a bit (enough to disturb the surface of the substrate, but not the deeper layer), it will get brown, then remove the water. This will ensure that all small particles on the surface layer are removed. Put the piece of aluminum foil over the substrate again and fill. The water will be slightly cloudy, but after about a day with a filter it will clear. Be especially careful if you notice any brown in the water, because if it falls on plant leaves it will encourage algae growth Overall, a great product. This is the best product for growing aquarium plants, if set up correctly, it will make growing plants easy

*** 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.

I knew this substrate was good because I had already seen many recommendations, so I decided to buy it for my 10-gallon aquarium. So far, it has been a great success with my plants. I like how it looks in the aquarium, and I have noticed that my plants have adapted well. I’m happy with this purchase and would choose it again.

This is a great product. The black makes the plants pop and looks great. It provides the perfect nutrients to keep plants healthy and grow. It does take overnight to settle after filling with water and it can make the water brown and cloudy if you mess around with it a lot. The cheapest I’ve ever gotten it as well

Wish I had known about this stuff when I was starting out with planted tanks. I have 12 tanks and 2 ponds, all with live tanks plants. I didn’t use Stratum until I set up like my 6th tank…. The difference was so glaring that I have gone through the trouble to replace the substrate in all but 2 of my tanks (working on the last two!). Replacing substrate is a huge hassle, so that tells you what a difference this makes. I use Stratum first, on the bottom later. I use Black Diamond blasting sand on top for depth and appearance, and I top off with a thin layer of black aquarium Galaxy sand because I love the shimmer. This is just my personal preference, but it’s been my method for quite a while now. The plants absolutely boom with Stratum and root heavily. I also just got into tissue culture plants and have been recommended to acclimatize them with 90% perlite and 10% Stratum, so bonus, because I already have that on hand! I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me to use Stratum on terrestrial plants, but I am so excited, because I have seen how well it works on aquatic plants.

I bought this freshwater substrate for my aquarium setup and I’m really happy with it so far. It instantly improved the look of my tank and gave it that natural, clean “riverbed” feel I was going for. It was easy to rinse and didn’t cloud the water too badly once I set it up properly. My plants also seem to be doing better since using it, and everything feels more stable and natural for the fish. The texture is nice not too sharp, not too fine and it spreads evenly across the tank, which made aquascaping a lot easier than I expected. It really upgraded the overall appearance of my aquarium and made it look more professional. Overall, I’m very satisfied with this substrate and would definitely recommend it to anyone setting up a freshwater tank or upgrading their aquascape.

This stuff is great, little pricey but you get what you pay for. I thought it would be messy but the small balls hold up well provided you don't crush them. Shrimp and fish health are not affected by it and boy does it look good in the tank. Plants love it and fish prefer it, especially when compared to bright gravels... The 1st picture was when I first started the tank with the soil and 2nd pic is 3 months later. I've had other tanks with sand/gravel...this soil makes a difference! Big tip: Place a small lid or use a paper towel to block water flow when initially filling up your tank. Minimize your splashing. Also I highly suggest you DO NOT pre-rinse this soil. I know the directions say so but don't do it. Big mess and unnecessary. As long as you don't pour big buckets of water on the soil your tank will clear up quickly. If you are going for a natural planted tank this is your soil.

Works greats, helps a bunch with plants rotting. Doesn’t look bad in tank even with not rinsing it off it wasn’t too dusty. I recommend buying!

Je l'utilise depuis un moment et j'en ai déjà racheté plusieurs fois. Pour mes aquariums plantés avec crevettes, c'est le top. Les plantes poussent super bien, les racines s'accrochent vite, et l'eau reste claire après rinçage. Mes crevettes l'adorent, aucun souci, elles se portent très bien dessus. Texture agréable, ne se compacte pas trop. Un peu plus cher que d'autres mais la qualité est là. Je ne changerai pas.

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.

great product

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.

The Fluval 12697 Plant substrate has worked really well for my initial aquarium setup and has made a noticeable difference in plant growth. It provides a strong foundation for aquatic plants, helping them establish roots quickly and grow in a healthy, stable way. For the price, especially when it goes on sale around 35 dollars, it feels like a very good value for what you get. In my experience, it performs best during the early stages of a planted tank when nutrients are still abundant in the substrate. Plants take off nicely and the tank develops a healthy, natural look relatively quickly. One thing to keep in mind is that, like most aquasoils, the nutrients do get used up over time, usually within about a year. After that point, plant growth may slow down unless you supplement it. I found that using fertilizer root tabs helps maintain healthy plant growth and keeps everything looking vibrant once the initial nutrients are depleted. Overall, it is a solid choice for planted aquariums, especially for starting a new setup. It gives plants a great head start, looks natural in the tank, and performs reliably as long as you plan for long term nutrient supplementation.