Black gravel in the market?

[coolbucks]

Hi All,

Is there is any black gravel in the market? How much will it cost per pack and which LFS selling it? Looking for same size of gravel like lapis sand...

[XnSdVd]

Erm... there's this LFS at pasir ris central... not sure how much it's selling for though.

[benny]

Coolbucks,

Please post your queries in the correct sub forums. Looking for gravel does not go under fertilization and algae.

Anyway, there's plenty of black colored gravel in the market. One of the most expensive would be Dennerle's black diamond, which is available in 2 kg, 5 kg and 10 kg package. If I recall correctly, the 10 kg pack was about S$44. Give or take a few dollars.

There are also black quartz gravel in the market too. These goes for about S$8 to $12 per 8 kg pack. Pretty common. You also find them at shops like C328. One of the more popular brand on the market seems to be Angel.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,

[joe]

Anyway, there's plenty of black colored gravel in the market. One of the most expensive would be Bennerle's black diamond,...

Heheee benny producing his own gravel liao

[benny]

Heheee benny producing his own gravel liao

Oops!! Tanks for pointing that out Joe! Corrected!

Cheers,

[coolbucks]

Hi All,

Thanks for the reply.

Hi Benny,

Opps, apologise for posting in an wrong section. As recommend by you on the dennerle / angel gravel, any of it will affect the pH or other chemistry of the tank, substrate?

[benny]

Opps, apologise for posting in an wrong section. As recommend by you on the dennerle / angel gravel, any of it will affect the ph or kh ?

No problems. We are always here to help.

Anway, Dennerle is pH neutral. It does not affect water quality. It is also 1-2 mm and rounded. This means it's suitable for both planted tanks as well as bottom feeders.

For the Angel brand black gravel, it's basically quartz gravel. Some complained that it's a bit sharp for loaches, corydoras and the likes. Do take note.

Also, black gravel reduces reflected light and makes your tank looks darker.

Cheers,

[Wzierbovsky]

I apologize for bringing up an old thread again for a related query.

I'm interested in the Dennerle gravel too, but the prices for it seem a little steep: e.g. a 10 kg pack for $48 at Aquatic Concepts. I wanted to check if there're similarly brown gravel that's cheaper: I'm budgeting for around $25 to $30 per 10 kg.

Thanks. )

[valice]

That price range will be ADA Malayan or Africana... But will be more than 30 under 40... And is 9kg instead of 10kg...

There is also the Azoo brown substrate which Justikanz used before, see if he can comment further... Also there is the OceanFree one, which looks like ADA. Not sure of performance though...

[benny]

I apologize for bringing up an old thread again for a related query.

I'm interested in the Dennerle gravel too, but the prices for it seem a little steep: e.g. a 10 kg pack for $48 at Aquatic Concepts. I wanted to check if there're similarly brown gravel that's cheaper: I'm budgeting for around $25 to $30 per 10 kg.

Thanks. )

So far, for rounded and color consistant (in that specific shade of brown) quartz substrate, it's only Dennerle. If you don't mind other shades, Lorong Harlus might be a good place to go hunting. Alternatively, try Lim Chu Kang. There are places there that sells 25 kg pack wholesale. You just might be able to get something close.

Cheers,

[Alfa Low]

You can try "Rainbow Artificial Soil" (S$15 / 5kg pack, looks like ADA soil ) from C328 which come with Black , Red or Brown colour.

[Wzierbovsky]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I saw from the LFS next to C328 that they've got Aquaclay at $25 / 10kg - pretty tempting for the price point. The uncle there said there's no need to put in base fertilizer if Aquaclay's used as a substrate. He had the same advice for Adasoil too. Any comments on this?

[Wzierbovsky]

Could I get some feedback on this setup, and if I'm doing it right.

I've picked up JBL fertilizer, ADA Africana, and JBL gravel (it's the brown kind, of around 1-2mm pellet size) from NA just now. Am I doing this right:

- JBL fertilizer as the base (5 kg)
- ADA Africana as the next layer (18 kg)
- JBL gravel as the top layer (16 kg)

It'll be for a 3 feet planted tank, with tetras and corydoras as the main inhabitants. Thanks.

[oblivion]

usually people don't use ada soil with base ferts
even if they do they usually use ada powersand as a complement

and don;t need to add JBL gravel on top of ada soil
ada soil itself is good enough for most tank setups
why you want to add additional JBL gravel on top???

[Wzierbovsky]

OK; since I've already bought the fertilizer, will it be dangerous to plants if I still left it as the base then put the ADA Africana soil on top of it? I don't mind it being excessive - just don't want to do anything that may kill plants.

Thanks. )

[kemp]

i did the same too, base fert with aquasoil on top of it. No problem at all. Just a little unsightly that's all because of the colour differences for my case

OK; since I've already bought the fertilizer, will it be dangerous to plants if I still left it as the base then put the ADA Africana soil on top of it? I don't mind it being excessive - just don't want to do anything that may kill plants.

Thanks. )

[oblivion]

yeah its ok to do that
haha i wasnt meaning that base fert with aquasoil cannot
just meant that people usually don't do that as the soil itself can do for most setups
and that powersand is the complement product

was more on dumping the JBL gravel on top of the aquasoil and main warning was for that
it doesnt mean cannot add JBL on top in his case as well
but seems like a waste to mix it all up and might spoil the look a little.

[Wzierbovsky]

Thanks for the advice so far; I was contemplating whether to go back to NA to exchange the two bags of JBL gravel for an additional bag of ADA africana.

I don't mind the slightly uneven look for the substrate layer, since it'll be mostly covered by the wood cabinet panel. So, with that in mind, apart from the looks, are there any bad side effects if I added a layer of JBL gravel ontop of the ADA soil?

Thanks again. )

[oblivion]

bad side effects?
not that i know of
never tried adding another layer on top of aquasoil before
maybe some of the others who have tried this can advise

just a thought:
how porous is the JBL gravel?
i was thinking maybe if its porous you can add it UNDER the aquasoil to improve circulation in the substrate
can help in bacteria growth
but as again maybe some of the others who may have tried before can help better

[Wzierbovsky]

I'm not quite sure if the JBL gravel is porous - how can one tell?

The gravel comprises small circular objects though of around 1 to 2 mm diameter each. Pretty small.