Where to get black inert gravel?

As per the title, does anyone know where to get black inert gravel, that will not cost an arm and a leg?

Thanks!

 

i bought here
http://pebblecity.co.za/
was 5 years ago though but sure they still do it

 

Thanks top dog.

What size did you get?

 

think it was called small crush 3 to 4 mm looking at it now

 

Thanks, didn't see it on their site, will contact them to ask if they have black crush 3 to 4 mm (will be perfect for my needs).

 

Hi couldn't find any in CT but found a dark (mix of browns) pebble type stone, 15kg for R140 at stone & Bark.
I bought half a bag and put that on the surface over pool filter (40kg R190) sand and standard gravel at the bottom.

Then added Volcanic rock dust from Starke Ayers for healthy trace elements

 

Unfortunately, they told me they only do 13mm for black crush.

 

@Darryl Putter Photography is this in an aquarium?

I'm looking for this as well. Some people use coal slag blasting sand

 

@Hendre yes all of that is in my aquarium.
For the substrate I'll say that black does look better than my mix of browns but I was on a budget and couldn't find anything black that wasn't jagged. I needed smooth pebbles or sand so as not to damage bottom feeders barbs.
See Pics.
Working well so far. Added fish two days ago and they are loving the tank so far. I wanted to go as natural as possible with my aquarium (decent biofilter, well planted, well lit with all the needed wavelenghts and the volcanic rock dust for natural release of trace elements) and so far it's working.

I used
1. course gravel, which I already had, on the bottom.
2. A thick, sloping 2 - 20cm deep layer of pool filter sand because it's cheap allows water flow and root growth and can be used in a sump filter
3. A thin surface layer of smooth pebbles, only used 5kg of 15 bought.

I added the volcanic rock dust to my sump filter where bacteria can break it down. Also to the tank in small amounts later but I reckon I should have added a small spread of it to the pool filter sand before I added water.

 

It looks good. I'm still thinking of whether to go black or natural looking. Has anyone ever seen brown or dark yellow pool filter sand?

I tried gravel and hated it. My fish like sand anyway

 

Why dont you try river sand from a nursery? Just give it a good cleaning before putting it in the tank.

 

Will look onto it, thanks

 

Hi Hendre,

If you are in Gauteng, Pet Masters in Boksburg sells a very fine black gravel (2-3mm) at a decent price.

 

I have black sparkle but in Durban.

Sent from my Halona using Tapatalk

 

@23skyline thanks for the info but unfortunately I'm very far from there. I'll check out the sands at my local garden centre where my main LFS is at

 

Don't forget to check the reptile section in the shops. All my black sand are actually sand meant for reptile enclosures.

 

I bought river sand from Satrke Ayers Garden centre for my betta tank. (not black)

Word of advise don't get lazy and think ahh it's from a river it's natural.. WASH IT WELL..
I got lazy and had to redo that tank from scratch as the unclean sand clouded it, didn't settle and started to smell real bad.. got some of the water in my mouth siphoning and it made me naar..

Quickest way I found to clean it is to swirl it in a bucket pour out the water thrice.. then hold the bucket at an angle with a hose spraying towards the sand as you pour out simultaneously.

I have plenty sand left over if you want to buy it..

 

Thanks for the replies.

Went to another pet store in town and found black gravel, made by Qualipet Pet Products, made in Durban but seems to be distributed over SA.

Tried it and really like it, bought a few bags (Has to be washed though, due to dust)

 

Interesting. How much do you pay for each bag?

 

R60