Karlie Flamingo Aquarium Gravel 8 L - 9 kg, Black

I just bought 3 bags of these and wow. Firstly was super impressed with speed of delivery as I went for the Free super saver postage. I made payment on Friday 13th March, it arrived Sunday 15th just 2 days after and on a Sunday!?! That took me by surprise as I was expecting next week Friday at least with the 'free super saver'.I soaked just 2 bags of this stuff for a few ours and washed them through as many times as one would to get cloudiness out. It literally shines in the tank and yes it is black but when in water it has a nice shine to it with hints of browns and whites if you look closer. I put it on top of my peat and aqua grow and it's looking the business with all the plants in. Cannot fault it, super happy and highly recommend it.

This isn’t too bad rinsing wise I rinsed once before adding to my tank and any cloudiness cleared very quickly, there are alot of reviews saying there is lots of white in it but I never found this with mine, the only thing I noticed was out of the tank it is black but once under my led lights in the tank it does not look as black but it is still very nice and has improved the look of my aquarium from the white sand I had that showed up all the dirt, I found it a very good buy for a good price.

I bought it three times and was really happy with my purchase. Delivery was on time through Royal Mail. It is 99.9% Black with a few white or lighter colour ones mixed in that can easily be separated during washing. Just followed the washing instructions of using lukewarm water, around four to five times dividing it to smaller portions to get rid of the powdery substance and once placed in the aquarium is almost clear or just minimal clouding that the filter can handle in a few hours time. The gravel is a lot smaller compared to the usual aquarium gravel, more like sand as what the other reviewers said, some bits will float on water when it gets dry, loses some of its darkness when you got the lighting on, good at holding the substrate underneath and makes planting easy.

So first impressions where disappointing as although the listing says 10KG, you actually get 9kg. (Its literally printed on the bag). Weighed the unopened bag and it was indeed just over 9kg.My usual method for washing substrate applied here, just put it into a 10L bucket and drop the shower head into the bucket (all of this in the bath). Then allow the water to continuously overflow while you dig and massage the gravel in the bottom of the bucket. I did this until the water started to become clear, at which point I filled the bucket, then emptied, then filled, then emptied about 5 times.The gravel itself is quite fine. Its small enough to get under your fingernails when digging, similar to grit. Each piece is less than 1mm.

Thank you previous positive reviewers for the heads up on the quality of this gravel, it's a winner with me. A fish keeper for years I'd previously used larger size gravel and was frustrated that plants wouldn't take root. This stuff is super fine and laid on top of substrate has created the perfect tank for plants and my 'primary school' of 12 goldfish in a 100 litre tank to thrive. Easy to rinse before use, there is very little dust to remove. I was able to lay it over substrate in an already water-filled tank without any clouding. And it glistens with an attractive sheen that contrasts well with goldfish. Great product and highly recommended.

Delivery is prompt, stuff looks cool. This is however only gravel in the general aquarium sense, its crushed quartz that is fine, very much a middle ground between sand size and small gravel. I wanted bottom feeders in my tank and I took a sample down to my local fish store. He said it was best not to use it with cory catfish. Its texture isnt cut you sharp but its sharp. If you want good looking fine substrate that isnt sand then this is good. If you want something for bottom feeders then go with tahitan moon sand; very much the same look but much finer. I got the moon sand from my fish store today and having now washed a bag of both I know which i would be happier to shove my face into if I was a catfish!

I had planned to use a very fine kitchen sieve to wash the gravel prior to use but rather a lot of the particles were too fine - rather like sand particles. This didn't bother me, instead I places some natural cotton fabric into the sieve and rinsed through the gravel with running water, kneading it as I worked through a cupful at a time. The gravel has a beautiful glittery / sparkly appearance and has a texture like little pieces of volcanic stone. It looks stunning at the bottom of my aquarium (substrate for my plants underneath). I'm extremely pleased with the purchase- the ten kilo bag was enough for a good 5cm layer at the bottom of my 64 litre tank.

Looks great in the tank and much nicer than normal gravel. Very little dust and as setting up my tank, I didn't wash it, but let the filter do it which took half a day-really good. I bought 2 bags as I have a 4ft tank and coverage is good. Since adding some fish, they have landscaped it themselves, so worrying about even coverage was a waste of time. Very happy so far and I have planted seed into it, all sprouting at the moment, so shall see how it goes.