Seachem's Flourite Black Sand

[fishcop444]

Ordered a bag of this stuff for a new 15gallon tank, shrimp only setup. Anyone have any feedback on it? I know it's relatively new. I would have normally bought ADA but they were sold out. I know that the Seachem doesn't have the pH lowering effects, but I'm not too concerned about pH. More interested in plant growth and how it interacts with the shrimp.

[dxiong5]

I'm using this in a ten gallon right now, been about two months. Got some CRS/CBS and RCS. Works well for plants. The 'vals' I have in there have really started to grow out, spreading. I also planted a 'red tiger lotus' bulb in there and it sprouted quickly. Also have growing nice growing 'java fern.'

Tell me, where were you able to locate ADA Aqua Soil?

[fishcop444]

Just Google "ADA Aquasoil" and it's the first link. Best price for it by mail.
However I also pick it up whenever I am in the San Francisco area. There is a great store in SF called Aqua Forest Aquarium (also with a website) that I always visit. Great selection of fish, plants and ADA products. Plus some impressive display tanks.

[retardo]

ADGshop and Aqua Forest are the only two authorized ADA distributors in the US.

[NISSO]

Ordered a bag of this stuff for a new 15gallon tank, shrimp only setup. Anyone have any feedback on it? I know it's relatively new. I would have normally bought ADA but they were sold out. I know that the Seachem doesn't have the pH lowering effects, but I'm not too concerned about pH. More interested in plant growth and how it interacts with the shrimp.

FOR THE PLANT IT'S O.K. BUT FOR THE SHRIMP IT'S FULL WITH
:undecided:deal2: FERTILIZED!!:angel:

[dxiong5]

FOR THE PLANT IT'S O.K. BUT FOR THE SHRIMP IT'S FULL WITH
:undecided:deal2: FERTILIZED!!:angel:

:cry: Thanks. I will switch out to ADA Amazonia.

[retardo]

Ordered a bag of this stuff for a new 15gallon tank, shrimp only setup. Anyone have any feedback on it? I know it's relatively new. I would have normally bought ADA but they were sold out. I know that the Seachem doesn't have the pH lowering effects, but I'm not too concerned about pH. More interested in plant growth and how it interacts with the shrimp.

I just took a look at the ingredients in Seachem Flourite black sand:

Concentration of nutrients in Flourite™:

* Aluminum: 10210
* Barium: 124
* Calcium: 195
* Cobalt: 6
* Chromium: 13
* Copper: 17
* Iron: 18500
* Potassium: 2195
* Magnesium: 2281
* Manganese: 64
* Sodium: 223
* Nickel: 12
* Vanadium: 15
* Zinc: 29

There are a number of heavy metals (in mg/kg) in the black sand, one of which is copper. I don't know exactly what levels of copper are needed before it becomes lethal to shrimp, but why take the chance? The sand sounds like it would be great for plants though.

[JohnPaul]

I know a lot of people who have used fluorite (either gravel or sand forms) in shrimp tanks without any problems. The tiny amounts of copper present in it are bound and cannot leach into the water column to affect the shrimp.

Plus...do you actually know that the Aquasoil doesn't have as much, or more, copper as the fluorite? At least Seachem provides a chemical analysis of their substrates, right there on their main page--I've tried searching but can't find if ADA provides a similar analysis. But given the way ADA seems to leach WAY more "stuff" into the water column than fluorite, I'd be more worried about ADA than anything else.

[Choco]

i've used flourite black regular and black sand in my tank with CRS and RCS without any problem. THe RCS were able to breed very well in the tank as well.

I actually notice the flourite black seem extremely "inert" as well, it doesn't seem to leach or release anything at all especially if you compare it to ADA aquasoil or flourite red/regular.

That's probably a good thing for livestock but not so good for plants.

[sai_dee]

The copper in the substrates are usually not lethal to even the most sensitive CRS.

Like someone above said, ADA soil will release the same if not more nutrients into the water being known as the best planted substrate in the industry. Hell, I even dose Flourish Comprehensive which has copper in it and my CRS are just dandy and alive as ever.

Shrimps will acclimate to your tank's parameters, don't worry about it as long as you're not overdosing anything.