Black/coal/gravel

[Cathy G]

Hi,

In my quest to try to figure out what happened to some fry with deformed gills, I started checking on a substrate I purchased at my local fish store. It is basically a coal slag product, very fine, almost glass like and a bit sharp. It rates 7/9 on some mineral hardness chart - I just talked to the manufacturer. It's produced during the coal burning process, basically its over heated, fired up crystalized bits of coal. Sold in bags by Diaz pet supply and produced by Reed Minerals. Its quite pretty stuff, looks great with rams swimming above it!

Anyway, they said they'd been selling it for aquarium purposes since the 30's and that it is inert, etc. Does anyone know if this is NOT true? Or, better phrased, does anyone know if I should NOT use it in my tanks?

Cathy
PS When you look close at the stuff, there are almost beads and other cool shaped tiny crystals...

 

[aquaticclarity]

The bags have "Black Beauty" printed on the side. Great stuff! They package several sizes/grades. I've been using it for years and never had any "side effects". Even with discus, zebra plecos, countless species of Apistos., etc. I've never had a problem.

Just rinse the stuff VERY well before using it as there tends to be a lot of fine powder in the mix that will destroy filter pads quickly and just plain make a mess.

Jeff

 

[Mike Wise]

Coal slag is basically silica + some carbon and metal (mostly iron) impurities left after the coal is burned. It should be inert. The sharp edges could be a problem with young fish. Still, I would look for your problems more in the water quality or genetics of the fish.

 

[Cathy G]

Yeh I suppose, I thought I did everything the same - very frequent water changes, etc. but something must not have clicked this time.
Cathy