Jakethemuscle Posted December 27, 2012 Report Share Posted December 27, 2012 hi guys and gals, im trying to set up a shrimp tank, i have used fluval shrimp substrate but it keeps turning the water brown every time i go to put a plant in or move a rock ect. then the "dust" settles and and puts a layer over everything and making my filter look realy dirty. when i first got the substrate i washed it all befor it went in. is this normal or have i screwed it up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goneself Posted December 27, 2012 Report Share Posted December 27, 2012 Should look like a load of black balls...and shouldn't be making dust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azedenkae Posted December 27, 2012 Report Share Posted December 27, 2012 (edited) The brown dust most likely are just decomposing matter, which comes from decomposing plant parts or excess food. It's quite normal to have this if your plants are constantly being torn apart, or if you're overfeeding, and the fish craps all over. It's not actually bad, it provides nutrients for your plants to re-uptake and/or for bacteria to consume. I just leave it there. Provides heaps of 'food' for the bacteria and algae and the likes, which are in turn fed off on by fries and the likes. Does make the tank look dirtier tho, but if you don't mind (I don't, I have a separate tank which I keep really clean), then you can just leave it there. Though yes, every time you move stuff around the tank - or even if your fish move stuff around the tank, then it can fly everywhere. Since you mention shrimp - do you just keep shrimp, or does it include fish? If it do disregard the part I said about overfeeding fish and the likes, but yes mostly from dead plant parts. Shrimps will also feed on the 'dust' - at least the fries will do and help break it down along with the bacteria, which in turn cycles nutrients back into the tank for plants and stuff. [EDIT] Oops, did not realize that this was in the Shrimp section. ><" Ignore all the fish stuff then. Edited December 27, 2012 by Azedenkae Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaizen088 Posted December 27, 2012 Report Share Posted December 27, 2012 (edited) I added some 'Up Aqua - Shrimp Sand' to a filled, barebottom tank I was setting up to breed shrimp. Unwashed straight out of the bag, no cloudiness at all. It did leave a bit of a brown layer on the filter wool in the sump by morning though. Otherwise no other issues although I did notice alot of little harmless white worms which I can only assume came with the Shrimp Sand as all 4 tanks connected to the system were barebottom before adding the Shrimp Sand. I had a similar problem a few years ago when I used red volcanic scoria as a substrate. Took moths to finally get it to settle down. Have you tried vacuuming the substrate? Edited December 27, 2012 by Kaizen088 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piggy Posted December 27, 2012 Report Share Posted December 27, 2012 I have the fluvial plant substrate in one tank and if disturbed it also sends up clouds of brown dust. It was like that from day one so I assumed it was the soft material and would eventually break down over time. I now use Eco complete, have found it much better with no dust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jakethemuscle Posted December 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 thanks guys, i am just setting up the tank and dont have plants shrimp or fish or plants in it yet, im just waiting for the plants to show up so i can start putting some stock in. when i first filled the tank it did it so i let it settle and still wasnt happy with the out come, so i took it all out again rinsed it some more and put it back in put the water back in and came up with the same result Piggy did the plant substrate settle after awhile? im kind of hopping that once i get some shrimp crawling all over it they will work the layer of dust back in to the substrait? i guess there is one way to find out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjn5188 Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 I have the fluval shrimp stratum in one of my tanks, the tank was bare bottom before I put it in. It did send the water brown for a day or two but it is now super clear I'm pretty sure i didn't wash it. I think you may be breaking down the substrate each time you wash it. You cant really disturb shrimp substrates otherwise they will send your tank brown because it's a fine material and slowly breaks down over time and looses its buffering ability. I only have shrimp in that tank so it doesn't get disturbed much. You also have to be careful adding water to the tank as this will disturb the substrate aswell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bidkev Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 Took moths to finally get it to settle down. Where can you buy these moths? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piggy Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 Yes it is pretty good, only gets cloudy if I dig around in it. The dust settles on the plant leaves but seems easy enough to push off. Does not seem to worry the fish or the shrimp though, just bothers me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goneself Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 I have benibachi soil...started with shrimp, then had some festae and trimac fry growing out, now has apistos and corys breeding away in it..still looks the same as the first day it went in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jakethemuscle Posted December 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 hmm well ill just have to wait and see, its going to have alot of plants in there with some cherries and a couple of pairs of endlers. time will tell i guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sacrilicious Posted January 12, 2013 Report Share Posted January 12, 2013 I'll put in a vote for the up-aqua shrimp sand - no dust at all and I used it straight out of the packet, no rinsing required! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
