# Help Needed: Black Petco Gravel



## Axelrodi202 (Jun 7, 2009)

*Help Needed: Black Petco Gravel Toxicity?*

I have a 46 gallon tank with two inches of white/brown gravel that I don't like the look of, so I bought two 25 pound bags of black Petco brand gravel. My plan is to remove a small amount of white gravel and put the black gravel on top of the existing gravel. I opened one and washed it with a hose then left it in the sun for a few hours to dry. As I was about to start putting the gravel in the tank, I noticed that it had an odd odor and that some of it had small white streaks, so I didn't put it in the tank. I opened several pieces, and found that the insides were white and the coloring was artificial. I'm a bit concerned about putting this in my tank, as the tank is several years old and has cardinal tetras, livebearers, marbled hatchets, and lone red cherry shrimp. Also, I wish to introduce some Amano shrimp in the future. I assume that putting the gravel out in the sun messed up the coloring a bit. Is it risky to put the gravel in? I really don't want to take any risks. If it is indeed toxic, are there any other inert black gravels I can use?

Thanks in advance.


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi Axelrodi202,

It is probably a coating of epoxy paint you are seeing and smelling. It should be non-toxic but it is subject to chipping and wear.

Alternatives you may want to check out are: Turface; Aquariumplants.com substrate; Green Leaf Aquariums substrate; or Black Diamond Blasting Sand (about $8 per 50#). Black Diamond is really black. Some people have claimed it has injured their catfish because of sharp edges but members of GSAS have used it in their aquariums with absolutely no problems, including in tanks with digging cichlids.


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## Axelrodi202 (Jun 7, 2009)

Thanks for the help. I guess I'll go ahead and put it in.


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## Amante_di_Betta (Aug 31, 2010)

I use to work for petco and most all of the colored gravel (including SOME of the "natural" gravel" is painted


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