Can anyone suggest a good substrate that is not soil and not clay. I bought a shrimp tank that included a substrate that I love but I cannot figure out what it is. It was not labeled. It is black and looks like little round pebbles but plants grow great. I do not like the soil because it cloudies the water if disturbed and the clay has to be rinsed forever and cloudies the water if disturbed. My tanks are 3 gallon so I do not need a great amount.
Thanks

If you tell us more about your tank setup and post photos, we'll be able to help you identify the substrate.

That said, quality soil-based substrates won't cloud your water and clay-based substrates like Flourite only need to be lightly rinsed. The trick is to add water to the tank slowly so you don't disturb the substrate when filling your tank.

That said, almost any substrate will work well for Neocaridina shrimp and you can use nearly anything for plants. Everything from cheap pool filter sand to fine gravel to Flourite. Options are vast. So share a bit more about your setup, let us know what you like, what you want to grow, all that kind of stuff (and post photos if you can) and we'll all be able to make some good recommendations for you to consider.

 

I always pick easy plants to grow and no C02. I love cherry shrimp and I have a planted bowl with a few ghost shirmp (very interesting creatures once you get to know them). Can I really grow plants in sand or aquarium gravel? I use filters and lights for my small tanks. 1 three gallon, 1 two gallon. I guess my question really boils down to what will plants grow in? Anything?

 

Looks like what you have is just aquarium gravel. I've seen it come in even smaller sizes that look similar. You just have to shop around.

But yes, you can absolutely grow plants in sand or basic gravel. All it takes is nutrients for the plants.

Spend some time scrolling through photos in the Tank Journals section and you'll see thousands of tanks with basic substrates. Check out those from @minorhero for a look at what you can do with sand. I have several tanks in my signature that use all kinds of different substrates. And there are countless more journals that detail any number of substrates available.

I tend to keep extremely low-maintenance shrimp tanks and have used everything you can imagine. There's really no better or worse. I'm at the point in life where I pick things because I like their appearance for a particular project. So I think you'll be surprised at just how much you can do with cheap, low-tech stuff.

 

After successfully establishing colonies of neocaridina, I want to try my hand at caridina shrimp. I chose to go with Akadama (bonsai) soil, that lowers ph and keeps it that way for several years. I like how this looks somewhat like gravel. I did some plant trimming in another aquarium and they are doing nicely in the new soil. Tank isn't quite an ecosystem yet so no shrimpies, just plants. I put the soil in a tank that was half full of water, some initial clouding, but cleared up nicely in a couple of hours.

 

Your tank looks good. I am considering taking some of the plants out of my 3 gallon shrimp tank. It is overgrown and I want a less dense look. I will remove some plants and cut back others so it will have a cleaner look.