Dan West—January 29, 2026✓ Verified purchase
Perfect consistency for Cory’s slight coarser than a true sand but close. Color is a true black with “sparkling “ crystal dispersed throughout. I did need to rinse before adding to aquarium but I did so about 3lbs at a time. And after only a few minutes was able to add to an existing aquarium by using a solo cup to transport it to the bottom and spread it out over my existing gravel with no noticeable change in water clarity. Yes a few stray grains floated around for a few hours but the water remained clear and I was never concerned about harm to the fish. In the end does what it’s supposed to do at reasonable price and looks good doing it Read more
CAITLIN SCOTT—February 20, 2026✓ Verified purchase
Very beautiful! My turtle tank i had completely cleaned the day before i got it. And since i didnt want to do another water change..i just turned off my filter and took my turtle out for an hour, and the water barely got cloudy afterwards and fully cleared back up in a couple hours. Very pleased! Read more
Kerlin J.—January 10, 2026✓ Verified purchase
The media could not be loaded. The sand absolutely sparkles in light. It looks great in a fish tank. It’s currently sitting in a 10 gallon tank. When you first pour it in it does get the water a little cloudy but with any good filter it clears up very quickly. I absolutely recommend it for anyone. Read more
Chuck—August 23, 2024✓ Verified purchase
To address other reviews: It does sparkle, but primarily when dry. It does say it is quartz gravel. However, when wet/underwater, it doesn't really sparkle much. It's not that dirty of gravel. If you ever buy natural gravel from any brand, it's always dirty and needs lots of rinsing, even when prewashed. Just being moved around, the gravel will grind away on itself and create dust. I'd say that I didn't have to wash this gravel nearly as much as the super cheap stuff at Petco, but i still rinsed about 3-4 times to get it to stop clouding water. It's also kind of in a space between gravel and course sand. It's one of those situations where we have to start debating the semantics of sand vs gravel before we can really call it one or the other. It's very fine gravel, or very course sand. It's mostly a bit smaller than the listing says, as i don't think that many of the pieces are actually around 2mm. There are some lighter-colored pieces in the mix. There aren't a ton of them, but enough that I could see fish confusing them for food or something. However, I doubt it's as big of a problem as people make it out to be. I personally like the black gravel with a small amount of lighter bits, as it makes it feel more natural and gives it more of a visual "texture". I can understand being disappointed if you want all jet-black gravel, but honestly I've never seen any gravel that was entirely black without it being artificially colored. I like this gravel because it's a good size for my pea puffer. It's not as problematic to work with as normal, finer sands, as very few pieces in the mix will float in the water column, even when being stirred/cleaned in a big bucket full of water. I find it attractive and easy to clean. My actual only complaint about it is that it's very pricey compared to many regular sands or gravels. Read more
TRMBCC—March 5, 2026✓ Verified purchase
This is my favorite sand. Very fine black sand that glimmers! After rinsing briefly I had no issues with clouding. Looks amazing in the tank with large seiryu stone. Definitely more expensive than options like blasting sand etc, but worth it in my opinion. Read more
Starlight—November 22, 2024✓ Verified purchase
I ordered this to add a “sediment” layer for my aquatic plants, and to give a different landscape for my betta Tatsu. I rinsed and soaked them in a bucket overnight to get all the debris out and peace of mind that it’s clean; definitely helped with the cloudiness prior to adding. I added a thin layer across the pea gravel I already have; it was plenty of material for my 10 gallon tank. If used alone with no other substrate/rocks, you’d probably need 2 bags of this for a 10 gal. My pet peeves but doesn’t totally kill the vibe: 1. They don’t sparkle under water at all ☹️ 2. If you have a foam filter like mine that sits at the bottom, these quart rocks are as small as sand and my filter sucked them up and clogged it. I will be getting a top flow filter instead, so not too annoying. 3. I will update once I do a complete tank clean to share how difficult it is to clean with how small they are - by the looks of it, it’ll be a challenge. Wish they were larger size! Read more
Kristy S.—February 25, 2026✓ Verified purchase
There is nothing wrong with it, but please note: This is sand, not gravel Read more
Customer—October 4, 2025✓ Verified purchase
This substrate is really pretty- it shimmers and sparkles in the water, but it's more like sand than gravel. Makes cleaning the tanks tricky- it will get sucked up by the tank vacuum unless you are careful. Looks good, annoying to deal with. Read more