Euryth Posted September 12, 2016 Report Share Posted September 12, 2016 I keep koi and periodically use a product called Koi Clay to add to my water during water changes to boost my filter bio & carpet algae, as well as clear the pond water column of floating debris & other impurities. I have heard of hobbyists using calcium bentonite (not to be confused with sodium bentonite) for a wide range of applications from gardening to facial masks lol. I've also heard of people applying it to the substrate or water column in planted tanks to provide trace minerals that are readily utilized by plants. Does anyone know of any pros or cons to using calcium bentonite in shrimp tanks? Is this calcium readily available for shrimp to utilize for shell production or molting? Any effects on water parameters? I do believe it raises TDS, though. I've been using it in my planted 2.5g with my Sakura Yellows & my params are: pH 7.4-7.6, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, GH & KH both 5, temp 76-78, and TDS 260-280. I dose about .5 to 1 ml of Flourish Excel every other day since I have dwarf hairgrass, golden jennies, java moss & java ferns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euryth Posted September 14, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2016 Nothing at all guys? ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted September 14, 2016 Report Share Posted September 14, 2016 I'm not sure if it is sodium or calcium bentonite, however it is added to some shrimp foods and some people put a pinch in their tanks to attach to heavy metals. Euryth 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euryth Posted September 14, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2016 Thanks for responding @Soothing Shrimp! I know for sure it isn't sodium bentonite because it expands up to 20x in water & is well known for gunking up or clogging filters, whereas calcium bentonite dissolves in the water column relatively easily. I'm not sure if it has anything to do with my using it, but my GH in the 2.5g is about 2-3 degrees higher than my 5g's GH. I hear calcium affects the GH, but I don't know if the form of calcium in CB will contribute to that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted September 14, 2016 Report Share Posted September 14, 2016 I'm not that skilled in chemistry, so I'll have to let someone else answer that one. oem and Euryth 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oem Posted September 15, 2016 Report Share Posted September 15, 2016 Doesn't answer your question but the Industrial Minerals Association has a good read on Bentonite as well as other minerals. www.ima.na.org Euryth 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. F Posted September 16, 2016 Report Share Posted September 16, 2016 On 9/12/2016 at 9:37 AM, Euryth said: Does anyone know of any pros or cons to using calcium bentonite in shrimp tanks? Is this calcium readily available for shrimp to utilize for shell production or molting? Any effects on water parameters? I do believe it raises TDS, though. I've been using it in my planted 2.5g with my Sakura Yellows & my params are: pH 7.4-7.6, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, GH & KH both 5, temp 76-78, and TDS 260-280. I dose about .5 to 1 ml of Flourish Excel every other day since I have dwarf hairgrass, golden jennies, java moss & java ferns. I don't know the benefits, but maybe I can help a little. Calcium bentonite clays will raise your GH and add more calcium to the water column, but also throw off the Ca:Mg ratio, which for shrimp I believe is 4:1, although with neos I'm sure it's more forgiving. They clays are formed from the aqueous degradation of volcanic ash, which seems to play to a common theme in shrimp tanks. It's key components are calcium and aluminum containing phyllosilicate, a montmorillonite derivative, differing slightly from the usual montmorillonite (or tourmaline) clay used in aquaria, calcium magnesium phyllosilicate, which exchanges calcium readily with sodium or and other soluble metals in the tank. Depending on their composition, they (usually very slowly) release their mineral contents into the water column in exchange for ions with more affinity, which bind to the insoluble phyllosilicate sheet-like structures. Calcium bentonite's adsorbent properties likely remove heavy metals and oily substances to purify the water, and is use as an industrial cleaning agent. Euryth, Soothing Shrimp and oem 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euryth Posted September 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2016 15 hours ago, Mr. F said: I don't know the benefits, but maybe I can help a little. Calcium bentonite clays will raise your GH and add more calcium to the water column, but also throw off the Ca:Mg ratio, which for shrimp I believe is 4:1, although with neos I'm sure it's more forgiving. They clays are formed from the aqueous degradation of volcanic ash, which seems to play to a common theme in shrimp tanks. It's key components are calcium and aluminum containing phyllosilicate, a montmorillonite derivative, differing slightly from the usual montmorillonite (or tourmaline) clay used in aquaria, calcium magnesium phyllosilicate, which exchanges calcium readily with sodium or and other soluble metals in the tank. Depending on their composition, they (usually very slowly) release their mineral contents into the water column in exchange for ions with more affinity, which bind to the insoluble phyllosilicate sheet-like structures. Calcium bentonite's adsorbent properties likely remove heavy metals and oily substances to purify the water, and is use as an industrial cleaning agent. Mr. F, you are definitely a major asset to this online community! I'm glad to know that what I've at least researched or have been told about calcium bentonite appears to be mostly correct. My plants appear to be doing very well with minimal to no added fertilization & medium to nearly high lighting, and the shrimp have no issues molting with my GH being locked at 5 degrees. My TDS was somewhat higher than I'd like (286-298) due to probable overuse of calcium bentonite, but since I've been doing small water changes with purified water (0 TDS) my TDS is hovering at 262-267 ppm right now. I figure I'll keep doing this until I bring it to about 220-240 for my yellows and see if my female berries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. F Posted September 16, 2016 Report Share Posted September 16, 2016 Mr. F, you are definitely a major asset to this online community! I'm glad to know that what I've at least researched or have been told about calcium bentonite appears to be mostly correct. My plants appear to be doing very well with minimal to no added fertilization & medium to nearly high lighting, and the shrimp have no issues molting with my GH being locked at 5 degrees. My TDS was somewhat higher than I'd like (286-298) due to probable overuse of calcium bentonite, but since I've been doing small water changes with purified water (0 TDS) my TDS is hovering at 262-267 ppm right now. I figure I'll keep doing this until I bring it to about 220-240 for my yellows and see if my female berries. Well, thank you. the TDS issue might be overdosing of flourish, but if your plants are good and shrimp are fine then don't worry about it. Although I dose ~0.5 flourish 1Xweekly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euryth Posted September 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2016 I do about 20 drops of Flourish using a glass 4-5 inch eye dropper every other day that I've estimated to equal around 1 ml or so for my 2.5g tank to try and grow the dwarf hairgrass into a carpet along with my lighting. Would you consider this overdosing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. F Posted September 17, 2016 Report Share Posted September 17, 2016 I do about 20 drops of Flourish using a glass 4-5 inch eye dropper every other day that I've estimated to equal around 1 ml or so for my 2.5g tank to try and grow the dwarf hairgrass into a carpet along with my lighting. Would you consider this overdosing?I believe it's recommended 1 ml per 12g 1-2x weekly, so majorly. Try 3-5 drops 2x per week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euryth Posted September 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2016 3 hours ago, Mr. F said: I believe it's recommended 1 ml per 12g 1-2x weekly, so majorly. Try 3-5 drops 2x per week. Yikes, that means I'm severely overdosing the tank then! I've got a 15 watt 5500k LED daylight bulb in a desktop lamp that I've been using on this tank. Thought that it would need a decent amount of CO2, but I guess scaling it back some may work better. With lighting like this, wouldn't daily small doses be more beneficial? My Goldenbacks don't seem affected by the dosing, surprisingly. They graze & explore like normal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. F Posted September 17, 2016 Report Share Posted September 17, 2016 Yikes, that means I'm severely overdosing the tank then! I've got a 15 watt 5500k LED daylight bulb in a desktop lamp that I've been using on this tank. Thought that it would need a decent amount of CO2, but I guess scaling it back some may work better. With lighting like this, wouldn't daily small doses be more beneficial? My Goldenbacks don't seem affected by the dosing, surprisingly. They graze & explore like normal.Try it out. But only a drop or two a day. Here's the seachem recommended dosing regimen:http://www.seachem.com/downloads/charts/Plant-Dose-Chart.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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