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Hi :) I would like to show you my Steel Blue tank:

Ask me! Ask me! Haha. I have heaps of experience with chunkified SS GH+!!! LOL Mine has been a solid chunk/block at about 40% full. Initially I used a hard metal spoon to scrap bits of it off (also aquascaping scissors, tweezers, anything I could find that is hard enough really). Towards the last 10-20%, I decided it was too hard so I poured in some rainwater (this is what I usually use... you could use RO I guess) and dissolve whatever remains in there and have since been using the 'liquidfied' form to no ill effects. I have done this for over 4 months now. I have TBs in the tank. As for substrate, my only experience is Cal Aqua BEP. Shrimps/fish were added in a week running off a matured canister filter. Np issue. Sorry I do not experience with ADA, Fluval or Benibachi so can't comment. Good luck!

Hi Revolutionhope, I glad to say the system has been in balanced for a few weeks now. Most tanks have berried girls. Tested yesterday & all tanks are at an equilibrium of TDS 168, Ph 5.8, Kh 0-4, Gh7, Ca35. Will post some photos in my old tank journal tonigth

hey all, i've impulsively decided to setup my first crystal shrimp tank - (i have an existing nano tank with CBS but i got that second-hand. in any case - long story short -i have a fully cycled barebottom tank with a canister and an air-sponge running. i have a little purigen in the canister i only have a week and a half to organise tank buffering and i have just ordered 2 packs of fulvic grains which should arrive mid-late next week. is there anything else i can do to ensure i have the right water parameters to keep the bee shrimp successfully? will the fulvic grains alone do a good enough job for me provided i replace them routinely every 6 months? love n peace will

why shouldn't Purigen be used full time? it can be regenerated 3 or 4 times, so it's not all that expensive to have a couple of bags on rotation, one in the filter and one regenerating/stored. I have no issues with nitrates, but the water is noticeably clearer with purigen in, I thought it was clear before but it's amazing the difference it makes. I've been running it full time for about 5 months now and haven't noticed any issues, can it cause problems?

Sorry I am not sure how long it will buffer. Mine has been in the tank for 10 months from December 2014. It is still buffering at around ph 6.2~6.4. I use a 9L normal bag for a 60x35cm tank. It sits at about 4-5cm thick. A month ago, I trimmed out 30+ pygmy chain swords from the foreground and even with a bit of tugging and pulling, the BEP did not show any sign of becoming mushy or breaking down. Water stayed clear throughout all the digging around. Hope this helps. :)

Just curious why you decided on that route? ie. Bare bottom tank, using Fulvic grains to manipulate the water parameters. Instead of adding Substrate like ADA. Pound for pound, Fulvic grains is way more expensive than substrate.

Im from the Netherlands and i hope you can i can learn allot from here ! The language might be a barrier for me sometimes as i am only getting started with some specific terms like mischling and hybrids Kept shrimp and also a mbu puffer fish for a long time so i am familiar with the basic ''breeder'' knowledge Most currently i noticed some beautifull hybrids among my fry and i will open a topic about this today , hoping some one might be able to identitfy and ''label'' these shrimps Thanks !

O wow, did not checked this topic yet. But for a drawing this is an excellent way to show the difference in quality. Of course in real life a cull can have almost no white, but good red, but for the sake of information, this is very good approach.