Need Advise from all

[Garry]

Hi Everyone,
I am new to this Shrimp hobby.
Wanted to start a new 3ft tank. I was thinking of using the Black sand to put on base.
I am keep Cheery and Sakura Shrimps at this moment with some plants.
Hope that anyone can advise me on this. I hear is not a good idea from one of the Brothers but do wish to hear more.
I do not wish to put soil as base. Kindly help me with it.

[Ecalyte]

Any reasoning as to why you don't want to put soil as your substrate? As you are new to keeping shrimps, I would like to ask if you're also new to aquarium. I ask because i'd like to have a general idea as to your experience and expertise in maintaining certain water parameters. Most of us (99%) use soil because it helps us to maintain the parameters to something that suits our shrimps.

The answer to your question is yes, you can technically use any kind of gravel you want (including your black one) as long as they are inert. For this you need to do your own testing using a bucket filled with your gravel to see if the water parameters remain the same..

[Garry]

Yes, I m new to this. As I have alot of Black sand so I wanted to give a try.
OK I wil ltry on a bucket to check it. Will update on here once I got the result.

Thanks alot for your help and info.

[chansl]

Hi bro.

When I first start shrimp keeping. I also use black sand.those shiny kind. But as ecalyte mentioned, soil provide a stable parameter. Our tap water is around 7.5. So it will be pretty hard to reduce Ph. Hence I suggest the use of soil. You can get those soil that don't need alot of cycling but risk to have a short term buffer. Cheers.

[Garry]

Oh forgotten to say that I am using Distilled water. Can that work?