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

Made my water cloudy but used cloudy water fix and it filtered right out in an hour used 18 lbs. next time I will rinse before use but it’s great for shrimp and plants and will buy more if I need it its a learning experience worth the buy

Wonderful for plants! I mixed it with perlite and am growing my Alocasia Black Velvet Pink TC plantlets in it!

I’ve been using the Fluval Stratum to grow my alocasia corms, and it has worked really well! The light, porous texture makes it easy for roots to grow and develop, and it holds moisture without getting too soggy. My corms have been sprouting quickly and healthily, with strong root growth.Another plus is that it doesn’t compact over time like some other substrates, which helps keep good aeration around the roots. It also drains well, reducing the risk of rot. The only thing to note is that it’s very lightweight, so if you’re bottom-watering, it can shift around a bit.If you plan to use this medium for growing corms, please take my advice and use very little water in your container. A little goes a long way.Overall, this is a great option for growing alocasia corms, especially if you want a soil alternative that promotes strong roots and healthy growth. Would definitely recommend it!

Dilute itWeek 1 change 50% water every dayWeek 2 50% every other dayWeek 3 50% 2 timesAfter that its not going to leach enough nutrients to cause algea.Make sure you plant heavily.

Bought 2 bags. Used the first one before noticing the website recommends sifting the dust out BEFORE you add to the aquarium. The dust made the aquarium so dirty. The next time we hand a chance (we don’t have fish yet) we took these rocks out and sifted to clean. The rocks finally cleaned but it took a long while. The second bag we cleaned as soon as we opened before adding into aquarium and it worked perfectly! CLEAN THE ROCKS BEFORE PLACING INTO AQUARIUM!

High quality stuff for a fraction of the pet store price

It's an excellent aquarium substrate. I am replacing the sand covered dirt tanks with this aqua soil. The plant growth is amazing. All plants are thriving on this substrate even some of the picky ones.

*** UpdateWeek 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. INext 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 treatmentsto 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.