substrate mr. aqua and brightwell

has anyone used either of these two substrates? if so please share your experiences with both as I am in a bind to which i should buy.

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any knowledge would be greatly appreciated.

Nobody? Cmon! I have a dillema!

Maybe change your heading/title to catch the planted peoples eye. A lot of people just cruise the Portal for an interesting topic. So make it interesting. I dont do plants, so I have know idea. Good luck.

Haha thank you

Definitely number two. If you're going for cheaper route.

Number 2 is only a 5 pound bag. THough compared the 11 pound from the first one

You save 3.39 for 2x 5lbs shrimp/plant one. In reality. It's your choice man
I have a bag of safe t sorb that does the same trick and I think I spent ten dollars on a fifty lbs bag.
It's worked out well for me so far. You just have to clean it a whole bunch.

Are you housing shrimp with them?

I'm looking for a substrate other than akadama or Ada aquasoil

My signature shows that I have a ten gallon using safetsorb. With rcs mysteries and otocinclus.

I had to chemically raise my ph to 7.6 though.
With the mopani and my co2 it would be 6.5 easiley.

I need something that buffers better for Taiwan and crystals

In my honest opinion, if you're serious about spending $$$ on taiwans do not skimp on the substrate and experiment with something that may not have been tested widely by a ton of shrimpers.

You may save $20 give or take by not buying amazonia but is it it worth it if the substrate doesnt buffer the water to a desired PH and or a nightmare situation happens and you lose hundreds of $hrimps.

Yeah but I'm not a fan of the ammonia leaching that Amazonia does..

oobydooby wrote:Yeah but I'm not a fan of the ammonia leaching that Amazonia does..

Maybe but your plants will love it

understood, it is a bit of test of patience to wait for the ammonia to pass. But it maybe worth the wait.

I've tried up aqua sand, FSS, amazonia, and have yet to break out the africana (which is a bit too mushy), but I have the most success with Amazonia.

I had very little success growing young CRS to adult hood in FSS.

UPAqua is pricey but doesnt leech ammonia. I know of some folks who have had success with it. I mix it with the Amazonia and eco complete depending on the tank.

Bright well is inert and not a good choice for Taiwans that require lower PH.
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I dont know too much about Mr Aqua. They do make great tanks though =)

Thank you I appreciate all the info... Maybe I'll just be patient and end up getting the Amazonia.. how much you think I would need for a 30 to 40 gallon tank?

i did about 25 or so lbs of flourite and about 40 lbs of used flourite -ish substrate from LFS....couldnt beat it at $0.25/lb....so far my tanks fine, plants are growing out of control...i throw away nearly a dinner plate full of plants during my every-other-week weeding/thinning...

(yea, i should offer cuttings on list, but im on the tail end of a bout with cyanobacteria...green sheets everywhere! well, its 99% gone now but i dont wish that on anyone elses tank, so im gonna wait till im sure its gone before offering clippings)

this tank is maybe 7-8 weeks old..ive only been shooting pics of it for 6 weeks, and this is what its looking like after several thorough thinnings (the plants will get out of hand if you let them)

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and looking down into the tank:
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so, regardless of which of the two substrates you use, youll probably do fine either way...most of mine is used mystery substrate (its not gravel, but i couldnt guess who the manufacturer was)

To be clear, Taiwan bee shrimp (Caridina sp.) require a low PH, but Taiwan reds (Neocaridina sp.) do not. An inert substrate is fine for Neocaridina.

Yeah looking at the Caridina. Not neo..

Hehe, just figured that out from your other post that I replied to.

I'd give the new amazonia a try if I were you, like binbin said. It's best not to skimp on sensitive shrimp...

Yeah I figure I might as well be patient so I don't kill an expensive amount of fish... I'm the bright side I finally got to make it to Seattle for a couple days so today I will be checking out Sierra for shrimp and plants...