This stuff is great to use for a new aquarium. Just don’t get it shipped because FedEx is TRASH and they don’t treat stuff well. Petco should move on from this shipping company as I’ve heard from even the local store employees that even their live animals show up in rough shape. And Petco, SHAME ON YOU for disregarding the lives of your animals and the advice from your store employees and customers who have to deal with the issues of your shipper despite the many complaints I know you’re getting.

My 75 gallon tank needed a redo. I was using sand for my plants, they did ok for a while then started dying off. This substrate had good reviews so I thought I'd give it a try. I saved 5 gallons of my old water, poured the new substrate in, no rinsing, then new water mixed with old water. Didn't experience any cloudiness, fish were fine, in fact, my tank seems more clear than ever before. So far I'm really happy I made the switch. I love how my tank looks now.

I had aquariums years ago but saw a video for an eco tank that i wanted to try. The bottom layer is supposted to be aquarium soil. I saw volcanic soil in the description so i thought this product would be more like dirt but this appears to be black gravel. i had purchased gravel for the top layer so in all honesty i am somewhat disappointed but the product has some good reviews. i'm not sure i can do an eco tank with it but i will read up and see. i tried to add images but the option wasnt working although i think everyone visiting this site is probably intelligent enough to know the difference between soil and gravel.

All item were available prices were correct easy to grab

Basalt (lava rock) is, by its very nature inert. However; this stuff is LOADED with Phosphates! I never figured out what crashed my 75g freshwater tank the first time… now I know. It’s THIS stuff! I checked everything for what was causing a green slime algae outbreak (AGAIN) after I completely rebuilt my 75g FW tank. I tested tap water, my RO/DI output water, tank water; I even crushed some of the Dragon Rock to test that… everything was negative (except bare tap water). There are two Cory Catfish in the tank with lots of plants and I do not add any food to the tank as they feed on algae. So where were the phosphates coming from to feed the slime algae?! So I decided to take 4 pebbles of substrate & place them In the test vial with RO/DI water. Shook the vial every minute for 10 minutes; then removed 3 of the 4 pieces. Ran the API Phosphate test and BINGO! Found the Phosphate problem! The longer I left the pebble in the solution, he more phosphate leached out and the darker blue the fluid became in the test vial! DO NOT BUY THIS STUFF… unless you want to deal with CONSTANT levels of Phosphates! (Ignore my old review saying this stuff was good. It won’t alter pH or ALK, but you will have a Phosphate nightmare!)

Decent value 20lb bag of base gravel. Same as the red/brown version, comes in black. Quality clean, dust free, and sized consistently. Volcanic in nature, is lightweight but strong enough to hold up over time, does not turn into dust unless forcefully using a gravel vacuum (not advised to vac) this substrate is best used as a base layer for your plants to root down, anchored roots should not be disturbed by vacuum. So this makes a great base of crushed variety. Cap the base in another decorative gravel or this product also mixes well with aquatic soils/clays such as NEO-soil (black) or fired clay ball (aka: "shrimp substrate" - Imagitarium brand, Fluval black or my personal favorite in quantity value = Brightwell Aquatics - Rio Black. Do NOT use dirt from the backyard!

Rebuilding my old 75-gal freshwater tank and wanted a plant friendly substrate that wouldn’t alter water parameters & that also has a great look to it. The substrate is already cleaned, so you do not need to rinse before placing in your tank. It is also Basalt Gravel, which it will NOT alter your pH (other reviews that say it will or does; do not know what they are talking about). Basalt is an inert volcanic rock. You won’t be disappointed with this substrate!

Brought this product because it was cheaper than the fluval type doing okay so far