# Flourite Black vs Other Black Gravel



## looniebin (Jul 15, 2010)

Hello, 

I am very new to this idea of having plants in freshwater aquarium. I am not planning on having heavy plants, just want the plants to fill up half my tank. 
So, I went to LFS yesterday and I was thinking of getting more gravel in my tank since after reviewing around, plants needs a lot of gravel and I barely have 1 inch. 

Well, somebody approach me and asked what am I looking for, can I help you, yada yada yada... So I told him that I am planning on having plants inside my tank and that I am looking to buy more gravel for it. 

He told me that I cannot use regular gravel for plants. I need Fluorite. And you all probably know the price is more expensive than the regular gravel. I just wonder, is it really necessary to have Fluorite brand for plants? So the plants cannot survive without it? 

What is the difference between the Flourite Black, Onyx Sand and regular gravel? If I get this Seachem brand, will it look different than other gravel when place in tank?


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## coldmantis (Apr 5, 2010)

you don't "need" flourite but it will make plants grow a little faster and more better looking, instead of buying 2-4 bags of flourite which is like 100 bucks I just spend 10 bucks at a pool store and buy 50lbs of pool filter sand, works great for me. My plants grow fast because I have co2 and they grow very green and healthy. But I have to admit that flourite black does look beautiful.... at a price though


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## bumbleboo (Jun 6, 2010)

I find flourite black works pretty well.  Another thing you can do to save a bit of money is mixing the flourite with other substrates. It might look a bit unsightly, but if you plan on having a ground cover, you won't see it anyway!


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## Joeee (Apr 3, 2010)

Yeah... Unofficial rule number 1 of these forums, "Never trust fish store workers, with the exception of a select few who are oftenly mentioned in a positive light on these forums"

What types of plants do you want in specific? For the most part, you don't need flourite black, I've had plants grow in regular gravel. Flourite black just helps things grow faster. I'm no expert at aquarium plants, but I've been able to grow hygrophilia, scarlet temple, and cabombas in gravel just fine. I'm not sure about sand but I'm sure someone on these forums can clear that up for you.


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## Optis (Jun 24, 2010)

I used onyx sand one time, it was great for my plants that were weak at the base where you plant them, such as Rotala indica. In sand they rooted and grew like crazy. Constant trimming was required. 

I just put Rotala in my new tank, with regular flourite and that eco stuff mixed in, Some of the stems keep popping up, I'm guessing because I wasnt careful enough planting them and getting the stems deep enough into the substrate. I didnt see any rot at the bottom and the roots seem to be ok. A lot easier in the sand though, never a problem.


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## looniebin (Jul 15, 2010)

Joeee said:


> Yeah... Unofficial rule number 1 of these forums, "Never trust fish store workers, with the exception of a select few who are oftenly mentioned in a positive light on these forums"
> 
> What types of plants do you want in specific? For the most part, you don't need flourite black, I've had plants grow in regular gravel. Flourite black just helps things grow faster. I'm no expert at aquarium plants, but I've been able to grow hygrophilia, scarlet temple, and cabombas in gravel just fine. I'm not sure about sand but I'm sure someone on these forums can clear that up for you.


I'd like stem plants that do not require these fancy stuff like fluorite, special lights, CO2... I am not into having them grow like crazy. Just want them to be healthy and alive.

These are the plants that I am thinking of having:
Anarchis
Cabomba
Hornhort
water sprite
Amazon Sword

will these plants do ok in regular aquarium light and gravel?
Any other ideas for stem plants that are easy going?


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## ShrimpieLove (Apr 26, 2010)

Im no expert by any means but I have gravel in my tanks and my plants seem to do fine in it...its natural gravel from Menagerie, i find its a bit smaller than say the regular gravel but not by much. Plants that ive found easy to grow is any type of Anubias... I have Anubias - Barteri Broad Leaf, Hastifolia, Nana, Afzelli, etc Their roots dig right into the gravel and mine dont seem to lose any leaves so they arent messy. Ive changed my lighting setup a few times as well, sometimes a few of my other plants havent liked the change but My Anubias dont seem to ever be affected- tough plants  My Java Fern also is growing just fine in gravel, i dont have co2 either


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## Optis (Jun 24, 2010)

I totally agree with Guppylove. I go with alot of low tech low light stuff cuz I'm poor  ... lol. Anubius and Java Fern are both awesome and dont require gravel at all. Both of those plants anchor themselves (over time)with their roots to whatever they come in contact with. I've had some awesome peices of driftwood and rock covered in anubius and java ferns. One friend had a little buddha in his aquarium and the anubius attached to him. Looked awesome  

An important thing to know about both of those plants if you do decide to let them grow in gravel is to not cover up their main stem. It will tend to rot if it is. Both are low light low maintenance plants.


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## waj8 (Jun 30, 2010)

I use mixtures of black sand blasting sand, pool filter sand and the red stuff they use on baseball diamonds. I think fluorite is a little better initially but after a while plain sand substrates mature and are just about as good as Fluorite.


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## bae (May 11, 2007)

Optis said:


> I just put Rotala in my new tank, with regular flourite and that eco stuff mixed in, Some of the stems keep popping up, I'm guessing because I wasnt careful enough planting them and getting the stems deep enough into the substrate. I didnt see any rot at the bottom and the roots seem to be ok. A lot easier in the sand though, never a problem.


These baked clay products like Turface and Flourite are less dense than the usual sands and gravels, so they don't hold the plants down very well. I use pebbles to keep the plants down until they get rooted.


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## Joeee (Apr 3, 2010)

looniebin said:


> I'd like stem plants that do not require these fancy stuff like fluorite, special lights, CO2... I am not into having them grow like crazy. Just want them to be healthy and alive.
> 
> These are the plants that I am thinking of having:
> Anarchis
> ...


Cabombas and hornworts should be fine, I think amazon swords are fine. I've never heard of Anarchis (because I'm not a plant person) and I don't know about water sprite.

Cabombas and hornworts are fine with low lighting too.


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## Lee_D (Jun 11, 2010)

For those gravel users out there. Does the size of the grain matter? I've always used gravel that is about 2 mm in diameter but it is really hard to find. The smallest non marine gravel at Big Als is twice that size.


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