Seachem Flourite Black Clay Gravel – Stable Porous Natural Planted Aquarium Substrate 15.4 lbs
$35.72
Price: $35.72
(as of Apr 16, 2025 01:12:41 UTC – Details)
Seachem Flourite Black is a specially fracted stable porous clay gravel for the natural planted aquarium. Its appearance is best suited to planted aquaria, but may be used in any freshwater aquarium environment.
For over three decades, Seachem has been a company rooted in sound science. Our experience in the hobby and an educated staff of chemists and biologists are part of the package when you purchase Seachem products. Seachem remains as one of the few surviving independent and privately owned pet care companies. Seachem is owned and operated by hobbyists. All of our employees are hobbyists who maintain aquariums at home and at the office. Seachem itself was started because one such passionate hobbyist – Dr. Leo G. Morin (Founder) – recognized that the available solutions to aquarists problem wanting. This resulted in Seachem’s very first product: Cupraplex (today known as Cupramine). Over thirty years later Seachem is still approaching old problems in a new way.
Seachem’s philosophy is that the knowledgeable hobbyist makes the best customer. This is reflected in solid and reliable customer education and support as well as products proven in science and performance. While Seachem has grown rapidly into a national and international firm, it retains the culture of a small company and is readily available to its customers.
Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
Product Dimensions : 17 x 11.75 x 1.75 inches; 15.4 Pounds
Item model number : 3725
Department : Unisex-Adult
Date First Available : May 15, 2008
Manufacturer : Seachem Laboratories, Inc.
ASIN : B0019J0ISU
GRAVEL: Seachem Flourite Black is a specially fracted stable porous clay gravel for the natural planted aquarium. Its appearance is best suited to planted aquaria, but may be used in any freshwater aquarium environment.
AQUARIUM BED: Gravel modifiers such as laterite are not necessary when using Seachem Flourite Black as this product is most effective when used alone as an integral substrate bed, but it may be mixed with other gravels.
SET-UP: When adding water to the aquarium, fill slowly to avoid disturbing Flourite Black substrate bed. Place a bowl in the aquarium and add water directly to the bowl, allowing water to overflow softly on to the gravel bed. Initial cloudiness is normal, but to remove this simply use mechanical filtration
COMPATIBLE: Flourite Black substrates will work fine with an under gravel filter and will not soften or decompose to an unsuitable state within your tank.Flourite substrates will work fine with an UGF
SAFETY: Seachem Flourite Black is not chemically coated or treated, thus does not alter the pH of the water. Flourite Black is beneficial for the life of the aquarium and need not be replaced.
Customers say
Customers find the substrate works well for planted tanks, with plants thriving and large rooted plants growing well. The color receives positive feedback, with one customer noting it serves as a nice dark canvas for brighter fish. While some customers say it’s great once rinsed, others find it very dirty, and while some report clear water, others mention it makes water murky. The bag durability and value for money receive mixed reviews, with some saying it holds up over time while others report torn bags, and while some consider it a good buy for the price, others find it pricey.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
11 reviews for Seachem Flourite Black Clay Gravel – Stable Porous Natural Planted Aquarium Substrate 15.4 lbs
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$35.72
Jim –
Keeps its color.
We got this because the color is not supposed to fade. It is a naturally black gravel. It is not painted/coated like most colored gravels. It looks great in our glow tank. I highly recommend washing this gravel prior to use. Despite what it might say, it is very dirty right out of the bag. (We got 3 bags and all were dirty). If you desire quality black gravel, and have a little extra money to spend, this is for you.
Ally –
Great product
I had no issues with it making the water cloudy. I’m not sure if I got lucky, but I purchased 3 bags (but only used 2) in a 29 gallon tank.In case it helps anyone, I worked with one bag at a time and did the following:1) Drill 2 dozen 3/16″ holes on one area of the lid, mostly near the edge. (Any size smaller than most of the flourite should work. Also more holes would probably have made it faster; and fewer may not have been an issue. I just drilled holes until I felt I had enough).2) I added 2 gallons of tap water in a clean 5 gallon bucket and emptied 1 bag of Flourite.3) Put the lid on, and make sure it’s sealed well. Agitate it gently; I swung the bucket side-to-side.4) Gently pour the water out. It helps to take the lid off and pour it slowly onto the lid so it can drain through the holes to the ground. I liked pouring onto the lid so if I accidentally spilled it I wouldn’t lose it; luckily that didn’t happen.5) Add 2 gallons of water, and repeat steps 3-4 until it runs relatively clear. In my case it only took 4 total washes.6) The Fluorite will still be damp. Pour it into the tank you are using it in. Then spread it fairly evenly using your hands, a paint brush, or spatula. It doesn’t need to be perfect as it will likely be displaced when adding water.7) To add water, I half-filled a 5 gallon bucket with tap water from the bath tub. When it was done, I put another bucket to fill while I went to pour it into the tank.8) I placed a clean dog bowl upside down in the tank and slowly poured the water onto the dog bowl.9) I got the bucket that was filling in the tub, and left the first bucket to fill while I poured the second bucket into the tank using the dog ball as described in step 8. I repeated this until the tank was full.In my case, it was fully settled in about 2 hours. I hope that helped someone! I will hopefully update it after I plant the tank and see how it grows.
Sky1114 –
Plants loved it
Looks beautiful. Plants loved it
Jan S –
This is a beautiful but a LOT of work
I eventually had 3 bags for a 29 gallon aquarium (with live plants so it had to be deep). I washed and rinsed a quarter of a bag at a time – and rinsed about 6 times, then poured it into the empty aquarium. Did that until all 3 bags were used up and I was exhausted. I rinsed each section in a fine colander but it wasn’t fine enough – a ton of the stuff went down my garbage disposal. I removed as much as I could with my hands but the disposal still didn’t work. Used the disposal key to unlock the blades, that didn’t work. Finally reset the disposal off and on and it magically worked like a charm. This was probably the most boring an biggest deterent to setting up a tank but when I put water in it – slowly with a Python hose I had NO dust or settlement – just crystal clear water. I have about 3″ of substrate which is great for planting plants. I don’t know if other substrates are as hard to clean but while beautiful – it took some time. BTW I bought it in black and it looks beautiful behind my black backdrop. There are some diamond looking sparkles but very subtle. Lots of work but I think it was worth it!
Mitchell Hawley –
Great just rinse first
Works great looks good grows strong plants just rinse first to get rid of dust
Brett –
Great for Aquascaping
Yes, probably best to wash it… but honestly not the end of the world if you don’t (unless you try adding it to an existing tank with no backup tank to put existing fish from that tank).It will take a couple of days for the dust to settle if you don’t rinse it. And if you stir it up again by moving things or planting, it will take a couple more. However, over time, the dust settles down beneath the rocks and is harder to disrupt.I didn’t wash mine on a new tank setup and it was barely cloudy for a few days. No fish went in right away so no problem. I think the dust is probably good for the plants since the smaller particles are easier to absorb than whole rocks.I got a second bag of the dark reddish flourite and put that into an existing tank and it got very cloudy, like a storm on Mars or something. Even that cleared up within about 36 hours. (I did have to relocate my fishes to other tanks though because I don’t want them choking on the dust)I used the flourite as well as fertilizing tabs by seachern, and my plants are very healthy and grow very fast, including a nice thick carpeting of monte carlo.In contrast with another tank I have without “plant supporting” substrate, the tanks with the flourite grow plants much faster (with same brand lighting, and no Co2, just liquid fertilizer from seachern.)I’d recommend a light rinsing if you’re in a hurry to get a tank setup, and definitely if you’re adding it to an existing tank.The color is awesome and looks very natural, which is rare for a black substrate. I’ve bought a couple different brands I threw out because they just looked unnatural in black (one was obviously painted :/ )So I really like this substrate and have already bought more. I think you’ll like it too as long as you’re prepared to let the dust settle over a few days. 😀
Wayne –
Easy to install just rinse let settle .
Ricardo Bustamante –
Produtos da marca seachem, vc pode comprar de olho fechado, pois até o momento, não conheço nenhum que seja ruim. Utilizo vários produtos da seachem, como ração clorella flakers, purigen, seagel, acid buffer, alkaline buffer, prime, stability, flourish e stress guard, todos muito bons e agora o substrato flourith black.
Marissa Laney –
Great inert substrate if you donât want to alter your water chemistry by using substrates like aqua soil etc.Canât speak to its utility for planted tanks as Iâm using it in a sparsely planted shrimp breeding tank.Incredibly dusty so be sure to rinse thoroughly before adding it to aquarium. Rinse in a bucket until water runs clear and be careful when filling aquarium not to disturb it.
Pablo Duken –
Used Flourite to replace 66% of the gravel in my 200l aquarium while the fish were in it. Washed the Flourite in colander till water was clear. 1) Removed plants and vacuumed old gravel. 2) Took out the gravel where the plants were (fish loved it, kept getting in the way, especially the guppies) this did cause murkiness. 3) Waited an hour for murkiness to subside, added the Flourite and it definitely did not add to murkiness. 4) Filled aquarium, ran filter for two hours, water quite clear. 5) Switch of filters, replace plants. 6) Switch on filters (2 internal canister filters and under gravel filter with 3 200l/h power heads). Two hours later water 90% clear, by morning glass clear. I also used the same batch of Flourite for a new 50l nano tank, zero murkiness. Have had aquariums for 30 years, used many gravels that I always pre-washed, so I can confidently state that the Flourite after washing is among the cleanest substrates. Fish all alive and well and plants definitely happier than in my old plain gravel.
Andrew Fredericks –
Bought this for my new 75gal tank that will be planted. I love it, it looks amazing and most of the reviews complained about it leaving a thick grey film or really cloudy water well it says right on the bags to rinse it, so that what I did, I used an old wash tub with a window screen over it and a medium sized colander. I did one bag at a time, poured it into the colander and rinsed it with a low flow of water, mixing it until the water ran mostly clear. Put it in my tank and the water was a little cloudy but 24 hours later with my filter running the water is crystal clear. I would definitely buy this again for another aquarium.