Flourite Dark, 7 kg / 15.4 lbs

I've used quite a few different Flourite varietes in a handful of different planted setups over the years. My most recent setup I used 3 different Flourites including this Flourite Dark. I used it as a "base layer" and put Flourite Black Sand over the top. The Flourite Dark isn't quite black and it isn't the muddy red that the standard and red varieties are. It's kinda... just... dark brown/mauve, I guess. It looks nice, but like I said, mine is capped with the Black Sand variety for a well, sandier aesthetic on top. I wanted a coarser gravel on the bottom to help anchor roots and a sandy top for a prettier look. I have a large variety of plants in my 55-gallon and all seem to be doing very well. Whether that's a direct result of the substrate, I can't completely say, but it's doing its job very well and the plants are rooting heavily in it and growing at insane rates. Don't expect Flourite to grow plants all on it's own; it takes light, CO2 and fertilizers to get proper plant growth. Having said all that, this stuff absolutely positively needs to be rinsed before use unless you want a glass box of mud water. I don't doubt Seachem's claims that it's pre-rinsed, but after it's been bagged and transported how-knows-how-many thousands of miles it bashes around inside the package and creates a bunch more dust. What I've found most effective with Flourite is that it should be rinsed in a sieve batch by batch. If you toss it all in a bucket and rinse with a hose you'll mostly just push the dust/mud to the bottom of the bucket where it can't escape effectively. Use a nice sieve and take your time, you only have to do it once (well, unless you have Multiple Tank Syndrome).

I really like this substrate! I have had great results with growing all sorts of plants. Please know, this is a dusty substrate but this is a very common characteristic with this type of substrate. I have found a wonderful method for giving this a "good rise" without washing away too much of the valuable minerals. If you add the substrate before the water, a good bit of the cloudiness can be suppressed. Make sure you get a nice deep layer, don't skimp on this stuff. If you go with deep rooting plants such as amazon swords or onion plants, you will want a nice deep layer of substrate for the plant to root. Here is my method for rinsing and adding fluorite to both an empty tank and also a filled tank. The product comes in 2 bags. The original product bag and a bag added for shipping. Carefully open the first bag so you can place the primary bag back into this later. Once removed, take the primary bag and add about 50 small holes to both sides of the bag. Don't go crazy here, just make enough holes to drain once water is added to the bag. And don't make the holes too big. You don't want the substrate to fall through the holes. I do this with the bag standing up on its end. After you have successfully turned the bag into a colander, make a 1 inch slice in the top middle of the bag. Place a garden hose in here and hold the plastic bag around the hose. Turn the hose on about half way. Depending on your pressure, the bag may fill quickly. You want to take your time here with a slow water spray. Use the time to move the substrate around and free up the dust. Once you get the bag about 3/4 full shut off the hose and keep ahold of the bag. Continue to stir up the substrate and you'll see the water get really dirty. Now carefully tip the top of the bag over and let the water drain. Try to get out as much water as possible. Now turn on the hose and repeat the process once more. After draining set this aside standing on its end and let it continue to drain. Give it about 15 minutes or so. Place it back in the first bag and cart this into the house. If the tank is full you may consider draining off a bit of water so it doesn't overflow when you add the substrate. Carefully place the bag into the tank at the desired location. It's important that you hold the plastic bags tightly and avoid stirring up the substrate too badly. Lower the bag to the bottom of the tank. Take a knife or razor and make a slit from end to end along the BOTTOM of the bag. Slowly work with the bag to release the substrate but don't go crazy here. Do this gently and try not to release too much dust. It may still get quite cloudy but this will pass in a day or two. Please note, this is fine stuff so it's expected to get some cloudiness. If the tank is empty, follow the same format for adding the substrate. After you have landscaped, place a small bowl or plate on the substrate. When adding water, do it slowly and let the water fall upon the plate or bowl. This will keep the water churning to a minimum. Once you get plants growing, you'll be very as you watch then flourish from day to day. My biggest recommendations are. 1, don't rinse this too much. The dust will indeed settle. Trust me, be patient and give it a couple of days. 2, landscape a deep layer. For a 46 or 55 gallon tank, you want a MINIMUM of 6 bags. I will certainly buy this product again and encourage anyone who is interested in planted tanks to give this a try!

Yes, the product is dusty and you can rinse it or you can put it in your tank and be very careful not to disturb it when you add water. I do both when I set up a new tank. This substrate looks good and is great for fish and plants. It will not alter the PH which is ideal when you have Neocaridina Shrimp, who do not like changes in water parameters. I've been using variations of this product for years without issues.

Love the color of Flourite Dark, it gives the aquarium a natural look. In bright aquarium light Flourite Dark has the color of Hershey's Milk Chocolate. The substrate pieces are irregular and rough and seem to grip the plants better. I had absolutely no problem with cloudiness. The attached picture was taken 30 minutes after I changed my old gravel substrate to Flourite Dark and placed all the rocks, driftwood and plants back. I followed the suggestion of one of the reviewers, C. Anderson, and rinsed Flourite Dark in paint strainer bags. This is what I did: 1. Poured half of the 7kg bag in a 5 gallon paint strainer bag. 2. Placed the paint strainer bag on a plastic outdoor chair with slotted seat. 3. Used a garden hose to rinse the Flourite in the paint strainer bag. The fine silt/mud/dust flowed out of the bag and through the slots of the chair. The Flourite remained in the bag. 4. After about 10 minutes the water flows clear. 5. What is left in the strainer bag are particles ranging in size from coarse sand to pieces approx 1/4 inch. 6. OPTIONAL: I opted to remove the coarse sand particles. So I dumped the cleaned Flourite into a Sifting Pan, 1/8” Mesh Screen and rinsed it again. This effectively removed the coarse sand particles. With the above process, I did not have any cloudiness. Even when the substrate is disturbed (to place the rocks, driftwood and plants) I did not experience any cloudiness.

Reviews built expectations that Flourite was among the most expensive of the high quality substrates available, but for whatever reason when I purchased a bag at the end of 2020 it was right in line with the least expensive options. A porous clay based plant substrate for use in aquariums, it does come with lots of dust. That dust is made up of the tiniest of soil particles. That's what clay is - the tiniest type of soil particles well suited to holding minerals and other nutrients, so by nature this will be the case. That is a problem for us, the aquarium keeper, but there are many methods of successfully dealing with it. I decided to combine the two best methods I had heard or seen used - I used a 3/8 in drill bit to poke holes around the lower portion of the bag and ran water from the faucet until the bag was full. I repeated this after draining and allowing an hour or so for it to dry a little. Then I left it overnight to allow remaining dust the chance to cement to larger pieces in the bag. I wasn't willing to wash most of the dust down the drain or to separate it dry and add to potting soil, I want as much as possible in my tank. Tomorrow I will add it to my tank, I am mixing it with lava rock that I already have on hand to sculpt two tiny 'mountains' as a structural base for plants to be added. I'm running a high flow canister filter throughout setup before switching to a more reasonable lower flow rate filter to try clearing the dust that results from all of these things. It made short work of the lava rock dust, with those bags treated in a similar way to the above. I can understand the complaints about dust among others here, what you get is far beyond anything with gravel. Just know that this isn't gravel and that there are ways to manage it if you want one of the best possible soils for your aquatic plants (and also is harmless to fish.)

I like the look. Overall it's medium-brown in color, like garden mulch, but there are a few darker and lighter shades mixed in. It has a rough, irregular texture that makes it look more natural. Comes damp and dirty. You need to put it in a bucket and rinse it out 5-10 times. Didn't take long. Fill bucket with water, agitate gravel, dump out dirty water, repeat. The tank will be a little cloudy at first, but it settles.

Love this stuff. Works great for my shrimp tanks.

Misleading! Picture appear to be black, but it's actually brown.