# mineral rock dissolving



## chinamon (Jun 16, 2012)

i bought some mineral rock from a seller on ebay (the same seller that has a lot of plants). when i put it in the tank it instantly starts to disintegrate and turns in to a wet mushy thing at the bottom of my tank. is it supposed to do this? if it is not, what mineral rock should i be buying for my shrimp?


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## randy (Jan 29, 2012)

chinamon said:


> i bought some mineral rock from a seller on ebay (the same seller that has a lot of plants). when i put it in the tank it instantly starts to disintegrate and turns in to a wet mushy thing at the bottom of my tank. is it supposed to do this? if it is not, what mineral rock should i be buying for my shrimp?


Depending on which one you bought. I have the BW ones and a layer dissolved very quickly once in water, but then they stay relatively solid. You will see a pile of black sand-like stuff around it though. I think that's normal.


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

I've heard, I think it's Mosura, that makes one for shrimp tanks that's supposed to be good.. one of the other guys in the shrimp club would know better than I do right now. Randy would know. But there's one I've read about that has good reviews, called Wonder Shells. Haven't seen them in stores here, I think only available on line from some places in the US. I was thinking of getting some myself, as the more I learn about water chemistry, the more important it seems to be to keep some of those mineral levels topped up, because they get used up by more than the animals.. the chemical goings on in the water use them up too. But they are not supposed to turn into mush right away,they're supposed to dissolve slowly over time, and you put in a new one before the old one is completely gone. At least that's what the info on how to use Wonder Shells said.


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## chinamon (Jun 16, 2012)

mine are the shirakura ones but its worrying me. i guess i will see what it looks like tomorrow before i decide whether i should scoop it out or not.

i was looking at the canadianaquatics site and they have the ebiken mineral rock. are those good? 

or does AI sell any mineral rock?


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## randy (Jan 29, 2012)

chinamon said:


> mine are the shirakura ones but its worrying me. i guess i will see what it looks like tomorrow before i decide whether i should scoop it out or not.
> 
> i was looking at the canadianaquatics site and they have the ebiken mineral rock. are those good?
> 
> or does AI sell any mineral rock?


AI does have some. I got one of those whiter ones to try. It doesn't dissolve but rather "peel". I think they have more than 1 types now and may have ebiken's, you should ask them to be sure.


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## splur (May 11, 2011)

I've got BW and it seems to dissolve slowly, doesn't turn into a mud or anything though. It just goes smaller and smaller with a bit falling off on the side.


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## Symplicity (Oct 14, 2011)

My Shirakura Mineral rock from a reputable ebay seller sheds in layers and breaks down. Some other pieces i put seem to dissolve and whats left is a solid rock that doesnt seem to do much besides collect algae.


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## chinamon (Jun 16, 2012)

Symplicity said:


> My Shirakura Mineral rock from a reputable ebay seller sheds in layers and breaks down. Some other pieces i put seem to dissolve and whats left is a solid rock that doesnt seem to do much besides collect algae.


ya thats sort of what mine is doing.


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## matti2uude (Jan 10, 2009)

I have the ones from the shrimp lab and they they still look the same as when I put them in two years ago.


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## chinamon (Jun 16, 2012)

matti2uude said:


> I have the ones from the shrimp lab and they they still look the same as when I put them in two years ago.


Those are the ones that I'm trying to find. I've heard really good things about them.


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## matti2uude (Jan 10, 2009)

chinamon said:


> Those are the ones that I'm trying to find. I've heard really good things about them.


You can't get those ones anymore. The new ones are Ebi-Ken line.


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