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

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

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.

Almost all the bad reviews related to this product refers to how dirty it makes your water. There is a simple remedy. 24hrs after filling my new tank with unwashed Flourite Black I had a crystal clear tank. Open bags and pour directly into an empty aquarium. Place all rocks, fixtures, decor and plants before filling. When it comes time to fill the tank you can't just stick a hose in at full blast or dump buckets of water into your tank. Instead trickle fill with a hose onto a plate, into a small bowl or over a large rock to disperse the water flow so it does not disturb the substrate. I personally used a pitcher to pour water into the tank. This takes a while but it is a lot less work than rinsing this stuff in a bucket multiple times only to find that the water is always cloudy when finished anyways. You will still get a rather cloudy water but all you have to do is run your filter for 24 hrs and then add the magic secret (Although you could probably use it immediately. I had to wait for Amazon to ship it to me the next day). I used a product called API Accu-Clear. You can buy it on Amazon for about $8 for an 8oz bottle, however it only takes 1/2 cap-full to treat a 50gal tank. You can find numerous other aquarium clarifiers on Amazon from other producers if you prefer, but I can only vouch for API since that is the one I used. 20 mins later you will have a crystal clear tank. The pictures attached show it's effectiveness.

So when I first decided to get some of seachem's flourite for my aquarium, I accidentally got the regular red/brown color instead of black. The bag had busted open in the box, so I was able to see what it looked like before returning. The flourite black is much finer particle size than regular. And quite finer that standard aquarium gravel. Idk how this will affect it being in the aquarium as substrate, but it did make it a pain to clean. So the directions on the bag suggest you rinse it. I would say rinsing it is a requirement. And because it is so fine, you'll need a fine mesh strainer for this. Get yourself 2 buckets. Dump all your gravel in one. Use a strainer to rinse it in the sink and then dump the clean gravel in the other bucket. Time consuming? Yes. But the water that came out of the gravel when I did this was a murky grey/black color. I definitely would not want this in my aquarium. I don't even want to imagine how many gravel vacs and water changes it would take to get out. Here is the detailed way I strained it. Once the water comes out clear from rinsing, I would shake/sift it around in the strainer. I discovered that a mess of tiny particles come out in the sink, see pics. So I would tip the strainer enough that I could use my hand and the water to get all those tiny particles off the bottom of the strainer. Be careful to not tip so much that your relatively larger sized gravel particles fall out of the top of the strainer. Then I sifted again and did this rinsing of the bottom of the strainer again. Like I said, it was time consuming. Also, if you don't want some of these super tiny particles going down your drain, I suggest getting a fine mesh sink strainer. I know my sink is already a little slow draining and needs the trap underneath cleaned out. So I wasn't terribly concerned about it. As far as quantity, I ordered three 15.4 lb bags. The first pic is how they look in a 55 gallon tank. I haven't properly leveled it out yet, but it is approximately 2 inches total, with 1 inch being visible above the frame. I would actually like just a little more than this. But my plan is to mix some regular aquarium gravel in with it for a pop of color. Though this level of gravel is fine for this tank. It is just a personal preference. And I almost just ordered 2 bags, but I don't think that would have been enough. Once I do add my colored gravel in and get it set up and going with my plants, I will update this review.

I had been looking for black gravel and studying reviews for a while before I finally chose this one and I am so glad that I did. Everything else I looked at with this size were simply painted white gravel and that was definitely not an option I wanted to choose. I followed the advice on another review for rinsing in a 5 gallon bucket and drying on a sheet in the sun for 3 hours. It worked perfectly! I rinsed one bag at a time in a 5 gallon bucket a little more than half full of water. Stirred it around and emptied the water. Repeated for a total of 6 times with each bag and spread it out on a sheet to dry for around 3 hours. When I set my aquarium back up with the new gravel there was absolutely no clouding in the water at all. So happy with the color and how it turned out. I used 3 bags for my 75 gallon tank but I think I may add a couple more in the near future. The black really makes everything else pop and shows off my goldfish. I would definitely recommend.

I enjoy the look of this black substrate. My plants are doing well in it and I like the size of the pebbles. But you have to wash this or you're tank will be murkey and never get clear for days or weeks if ever, its a tan dust that comes off of it. I ended up putting a garden hose to my fish tank so the gravel would stir up, and then have a vaccum gravel cleaner hose letting water out. I did this for 5 or 10 mins until the water coming out was completely clear. It probably took about 10 or 20 gallons of water to make this happen. But after it was crystal clear. The dust this puts up into the water is no joke.

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.

Perfect! I got a 5 gallon tank for my birthday. Like I read in the reviews, I rinsed it until the water was clear. It was as simple as dumping it in a plastic box and sitting it in my bathtub - fill it up, mix it around, dump as much water as I can, repeat. I think for MAYBE a couple hours my tank was a little cloudy but it's been crystal clear ever since. It's way more substrate than I expected haha but great for the price. My plants have had trouble really grasping into it, but probably because my betta likes to mess with them until they just float to the top 🤦🏼‍♀️ it's a perfect black and really complements my tank. My nerite snails love the stuff! If I can't find them I know they buried themselves somewhere in it!