Aquatic Foods Inc. Shrimp Stuff 100 Pieces Tourmaline Mineral Supplement 10 mm Balls for Shrimp

They like to stay close to these tourmaline balls and the shells of my snails look bigger and brighter

Short and sweet answer: this stuff works.Now, for the long answer, I was very reluctant to buy some tourmaline mineral balls because I didn't know how efficient they actually were. Some people on shrimp keeping forums stated they did nothing, while others swore by them.Well, after having lost 6 red cherry shrimps to the "White Line of Death", I decided enough was enough. I went ahead and purchased these mineral balls and I am happy to report that I have not had another loss. If you're not sure what the "White Line of Death" (WLD) is let me give you a bit of a background (based off of research I have done, and I am by no means an expert).All shrimps need to moult in order to continue growing and, in the case of females, breed. A female can easily be distinguished by both her colouration and the saddle that develops on her back. They are also more rich and solid in colour, while males are more light and small. The differences is hard to spot when they're juveniles, so best to wait when they're a little older before attempting to determine age.Anyway, when the shrimp gets ready to moult, they give off several indications. One of them is the WLD, another is the milky white eyes, and the other one, not guaranteed is after a water change. Juveniles, of course, are always going to moult more frequently than older shrimps. Now, the white line is always going to develop along the back of a shrimp pre-moult. It's if the shrimp dies with the white line that it becomes the dreaded WLD. This means that your shrimp died because 1) it couldn't develop a new shell fast enough so was exposed to bacteria or other dangers in your tank or 2) the old shell wouldn't come off so the shrimp got stuck and exhausted all of its strength. If it's the latter, then you can be sure that the shrimp died because of a lack of calcium in the water. This is where the tourmaline balls come into play.First off, let me start off by saying that there are many other things that contribute to the WLD. For example, a quick Google search brings you to a full page of this phenomenon with explanations ranging from a poor diet, too low or high GH, wacky water parameters, frequent water changes, too little water changes, New Tank Syndrome, old age, a high protein diet, or fluctuating water temperatures. In my case, I already tested for all of the above so I figured that I must be having calcium issues. Taking a leap of faith, I went ahead and purchased these and I have not had any WLD issues anymore.So while I can attest to their effectiveness in my tank due to the fact that I was having calcium problems, I can't say for sure if it will benefit anyone else's. Figure out what is going on in your tank before purchasing these because your water could be too hard and wouldn't benefit at all.If you're having problems like I was, and you checked off every other reason, then purchase Tourmaline mineral balls. This listing offers the biggest bang for your buck, and I highly recommend it due to the fast shipping. Once I run out of the balls, I will definitely be buying more for my little shrimp."Dosage" is 1 Tourmaline ball = 1 gallon of water. I dropped 2 balls in my 2.6gallon shrimp tank.In regards to the pictures I have posted, in the first picture (that has the solo shrimp), you can see the white line developing on the back of my female shrimp. This was taken 1 day after I had dropped the mineral balls into the tank and I thought she was going to die. Lo and behold, she was berried the next day I looked for her!

Well, a few of the balls turned red so I don't know what that's about. I put these in my tank for my apple snail but I'm not sure if he notices them. I hope this is helping improve my water quality since the pH was a little low. This paired with a little water conditioner and baking soda and my pH should get back to normal.

I use them in my shrimp tank for mineralization of water, this in conjunction with mineral rocks, almond leaves and cholla wood have been GREAT in preventing poor molts!

Thought there was calcium in it

Molt my little pretties seems to be doing the job!

A+++

Snails really perked up. Fish seem more lively.