How to use GEX Shrimp & Plant soil?

**Zenislev** · 1st Jan 2008, 13:55

Recently just bought a 2kg packet of GEX Shrimp & Plant soil (Black). Notice that all the instructions are written in japanese, think they mention something about water turning clear and PH thingy. Can anyone help me with that? And do i need to clean the soil before use?

**David Moses Heng** · 1st Jan 2008, 14:01

there is no need to clean the gravels. Just pour the soil into the tank, add water and you are ok for setting up.

Regards

**derk** · 1st Jan 2008, 15:01

Yea, for Gex shrimp & plant soil, there is no need to rinse it first. just pour it into your tank and wait for it to settle, depending on your filter and such, may take from a few hours to 24 hours to clear up..

There wil be some floating bits when you firsty pour it in, can just use a fish net to scoop them out..

Regarding the pH thing, this Gex soil will be able to lower the pH or your tank. the pH will be approximately 6.4 or so (+/- 0.2 or thereabouts)..

I'm using it (the red packaging one) for my shrimp tank and it's working well.. Cherries are breeding..

Hope this helps.. good luck!

**genes** · 1st Jan 2008, 15:20

The chinese characters on the package reads "Maintaining pH at same level". Which i think they are trying to imply there is no pH fluctuations during setup. How true i am not sure, have heard stories of plants melting upon planting immediately after setup.

**Samuel2618** · 2nd Jan 2008, 10:57

Ya.. Bro Zack

As mentioned.. there is no need to rinse it before adding to the tank.. Just pour it into your tank and wait for it to settle.. It maybe cloudy initially but takes a few hours to 24 hours to clear up..

To add on.. Try to add a plastic foil on the top of soil before pouring in the water slowly.. This will better reduce the amount of nutrients lost through the adding of water..

Regards
Samuel

**enhanzed** · 2nd Jan 2008, 13:50

is GEX soil also know as custom soil ?

**torque6** · 3rd Jan 2008, 21:41

these soil from gex do not need to clean, however you need to cycle the tank for at least 1 week. Btw, the water clears after 2 hours after i did my aquascape. Its that good.

**Zenislev** · 3rd Jan 2008, 21:47

Cool, im actually going to set up a small nano tank for shrimps. Going to use only lighting and fan, no filtration and pump. Wonder will it be longer for the water to clear if theres no filtration taking place.

**larlee** · 8th Jan 2008, 00:39

I believe you might have read from websites and everyone's advice that it takes 4-6 weeks to cycle the tank.
I have tried new tank setup with GEX soil (1 tank with GEX red and light green and 1 tank with GEX dark green) and in 3 hours I move all my CRS, cherries into the tank (no choice, in office so manager won't GGYY) so far no deaths. Maybe I am lucky but not advisable to do that.

**Zenislev** · 11th Jan 2008, 22:03

Oh...haha. I think it shouldnt be a problem i guess. Further more my tank is really small, no filter/pump used in my setup. Just a light and mini fan. Its been one week already, just started to introduce plants into my tank, will add in cherry shrimps soon.

**samhon** · 4th Feb 2008, 11:55

was just wondering,

if i have a matured tank with flora and fauna,
is it ok just to dump the soil in.

after dumping them in, there is no such cycling thingy as the tank is already a matured tank right?

**PLee** · 4th Feb 2008, 18:06

add small amout at a time to be safe

**fishnoob** · 4th Feb 2008, 23:48

hmm... DON'T think that will be a problem, thats what i did for my new 2 feet tank any way =)

**lampham** · 3rd Aug 2008, 08:20

Hi all
Where do you buy Gex shrimp & plant soil or magic soil?need some help for a new CRS tank.thanks

**jetset** · 4th Aug 2008, 13:48

I've heard that the Green Packaging has less ammonia/nitrate than the reds and are more suitable for tanks with less or no plants. Not sure how correct is that as the packaging is all Japanese.

Anyway, I'm using green as my plants are mostly mosses and may not need that high a nutrient base that the red package supposedly offers.

**Mr.XP** · 13th Sep 2009, 16:19

sorry to dig out this old thread. What are the difference between the red, green and blue packagings?

**NingNing** · 17th Sep 2009, 14:37

size of the soil.

**iapetusjin** · 8th Feb 2010, 09:54

Sorry for bringing up this thread again. I just brought another 2kg of green packet gex soil to top up my existing crs tank.Can i put all my crs into a pail & wait for 2 or 3 days be4 introducing them back into the tank.My current 10 gallon tank is about a month old with a mature filter and 2kg of gex soil.The only plants are java moss, nana & marimo.

**Fuzzy** · 8th Feb 2010, 09:58

Its likely to take more than 2 or 3 days for the fresh soil to be free of ammonia. Its likely to trigger a mini-cycle again in your tank.

You might want to make provisions for a 1 or 2 week temporary home for your CRS just in case, do you have ammonia and nitrite test kits handy?

**iapetusjin** · 8th Feb 2010, 10:12

i regret to say that i have not used any test kits for my shrimp.A beginner to crs and considered very lucky that none of the CRS perished.Are the test kits you mentioned the only ones i need to get.I really dun want to leave my crs inside a pail during the chinese new year.