Breeding higher grade crystal red shrimp could be different from grade A/S. It has higher requirement on water quality, and needs more attention to small details. Two most important criteria: nitrification system and stability of whole environment. A well set-up tank is essential for future successfully breeding.
One point of a well set-up tank is substrate system.
Most crystal red shrimp breeders highly recommend ADA Substrate System -- - Aqua Soil - Amazonia. It works great to maintain good pH lever for crystal red shrimp. One of the selling agents is Aquarium Design Group. But it is costly, and shipping is not cheap,either ~~
There are two generations of ADA soil. Hobbies reflect that the first generation seems to be more effective and stable than the second. It is also said that the release time of the product will affect its function. It seems to be true, but I can't prove it.
I have used three kinds of substrate so far, aqua soil amazonia, aqua soil africana, and flora base. All of them work well.
The soil may be composed of some relative large coarse soil and some small fine part. Here is what I do to filter out coarse soil. it is good to have around 2 inches of coarse soil on the bottom, and another 1 inches of fine part on the top.
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| Flora Base Mix with ADA |
Shrimps love to dig around when searching for food. This is what would happen if there is big gap on the top of the substrate:
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Little shrimp baby kept digging deeply ~~
"Help, who can get me out?? |
"DIY" do something, make it a safer home for those little babies.
