Seachem Flourite Black Clay Gravel - Stable Porous Natural Planted Aquarium Substrate 15.4 lbs

We got this because the color is not supposed to fade. It is a naturally black gravel. It is not painted/coated like most colored gravels. It looks great in our glow tank. I highly recommend washing this gravel prior to use. Despite what it might say, it is very dirty right out of the bag. (We got 3 bags and all were dirty). If you desire quality black gravel, and have a little extra money to spend, this is for you.

I had no issues with it making the water cloudy. I'm not sure if I got lucky, but I purchased 3 bags (but only used 2) in a 29 gallon tank.In case it helps anyone, I worked with one bag at a time and did the following:1) Drill 2 dozen 3/16" holes on one area of the lid, mostly near the edge. (Any size smaller than most of the flourite should work. Also more holes would probably have made it faster; and fewer may not have been an issue. I just drilled holes until I felt I had enough).2) I added 2 gallons of tap water in a clean 5 gallon bucket and emptied 1 bag of Flourite.3) Put the lid on, and make sure it's sealed well. Agitate it gently; I swung the bucket side-to-side.4) Gently pour the water out. It helps to take the lid off and pour it slowly onto the lid so it can drain through the holes to the ground. I liked pouring onto the lid so if I accidentally spilled it I wouldn't lose it; luckily that didn't happen.5) Add 2 gallons of water, and repeat steps 3-4 until it runs relatively clear. In my case it only took 4 total washes.6) The Fluorite will still be damp. Pour it into the tank you are using it in. Then spread it fairly evenly using your hands, a paint brush, or spatula. It doesn't need to be perfect as it will likely be displaced when adding water.7) To add water, I half-filled a 5 gallon bucket with tap water from the bath tub. When it was done, I put another bucket to fill while I went to pour it into the tank.8) I placed a clean dog bowl upside down in the tank and slowly poured the water onto the dog bowl.9) I got the bucket that was filling in the tub, and left the first bucket to fill while I poured the second bucket into the tank using the dog ball as described in step 8. I repeated this until the tank was full.In my case, it was fully settled in about 2 hours. I hope that helped someone! I will hopefully update it after I plant the tank and see how it grows.

The media could not be loaded. Yes, probably best to wash it... but honestly not the end of the world if you don't (unless you try adding it to an existing tank with no backup tank to put existing fish from that tank).It will take a couple of days for the dust to settle if you don't rinse it. And if you stir it up again by moving things or planting, it will take a couple more. However, over time, the dust settles down beneath the rocks and is harder to disrupt.I didn't wash mine on a new tank setup and it was barely cloudy for a few days. No fish went in right away so no problem. I think the dust is probably good for the plants since the smaller particles are easier to absorb than whole rocks.I got a second bag of the dark reddish flourite and put that into an existing tank and it got very cloudy, like a storm on Mars or something. Even that cleared up within about 36 hours. (I did have to relocate my fishes to other tanks though because I don't want them choking on the dust)I used the flourite as well as fertilizing tabs by seachern, and my plants are very healthy and grow very fast, including a nice thick carpeting of monte carlo.In contrast with another tank I have without "plant supporting" substrate, the tanks with the flourite grow plants much faster (with same brand lighting, and no Co2, just liquid fertilizer from seachern.)I'd recommend a light rinsing if you're in a hurry to get a tank setup, and definitely if you're adding it to an existing tank.The color is awesome and looks very natural, which is rare for a black substrate. I've bought a couple different brands I threw out because they just looked unnatural in black (one was obviously painted :/ )So I really like this substrate and have already bought more. I think you'll like it too as long as you're prepared to let the dust settle over a few days. :D

I eventually had 3 bags for a 29 gallon aquarium (with live plants so it had to be deep). I washed and rinsed a quarter of a bag at a time - and rinsed about 6 times, then poured it into the empty aquarium. Did that until all 3 bags were used up and I was exhausted. I rinsed each section in a fine colander but it wasn't fine enough - a ton of the stuff went down my garbage disposal. I removed as much as I could with my hands but the disposal still didn't work. Used the disposal key to unlock the blades, that didn't work. Finally reset the disposal off and on and it magically worked like a charm. This was probably the most boring an biggest deterent to setting up a tank but when I put water in it - slowly with a Python hose I had NO dust or settlement - just crystal clear water. I have about 3" of substrate which is great for planting plants. I don't know if other substrates are as hard to clean but while beautiful - it took some time. BTW I bought it in black and it looks beautiful behind my black backdrop. There are some diamond looking sparkles but very subtle. Lots of work but I think it was worth it!