Fluval Plant & Shrimp Stratum Plant Care, 17.6-lb bag

This stuff is a trick. I recommend doing this before you have fish. I already had fish and a tank and was switching it to a real planted tank. I also topped it with gravel to help minimize dirty water. But the water still got dirty. You will have a temporary amonia spike for some reason and the ph will be lowered. I had an original ph of 8+ and it turned it neutral to ~7-7.5. crazy right?! Also the water looks good. Like it's clearer. I always had yellowish water for some reason. The Ammonia was gone in a day and fish didn't mind. I have good established filters. I filled tank slowly and with plate on top of gravel. Water was DARK couldn't even see through it. Gave it an hour and it improved then I turned the filter system on. I had to get my fish back in there. Let filter run an hour and it looked really good. Then I put fish in. By morning it was crystal clear. I have done water change and no dirty water was stired up. It remained clear. You don't deep siphoned this stuff. Just the surface. If I could do it over I'd place all my ornamental rocks drift wood THEN fill with the stratum. I placed it on top and kind of smooshed it in. This crushed the strata and causes more loose particle. I DID rinse this with NO agitation prior to placement in mesh strainer.

This substrate is perfect for planted aquariums, and even better if you have shrimp since they can eat it too! It will make the water cloudy for awhile when first added, but looks great once everything settles down. We noticed our Ph level lowered after adding it, so just keep an eye on that before adding new fish. All in all, we’ll definitely use it again!