# Flourite Black as soil cap for ElNatural?



## mmillerr (Oct 4, 2008)

I'm about to set up my first El Natural tank, a 75 gallon. I want a black substrate cap but the only black sand I could find was either Tahitian Moon, EcoComplete or Fluorite. The Tahitian Moon looked way too fine, EcoComplete is rather pricey and I got a good deal on the regular black Flourite (not the sand version).
Does anyone that has Walstad experience see this as a problem?
LMK Thanks,
Mark


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## ObiQuiet (Oct 9, 2009)

I used Flourite Black gravel for my first tank, and had no problems.


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## GadgetGirl (Sep 25, 2013)

I'm using Fluorite Black Sand right now. It's very fine. I like it! No problems. The corys and shrimp seem to really like it too.


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## mmillerr (Oct 4, 2008)

I used Onyx sand years ago as a stand alone substrate with good results.
I'm just wondering if the soil and Flourite combo might overload the system with nutrients.

Mark


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## redthumb (Apr 17, 2014)

I use black diamond blasting sand for a black cap in my tanks


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## DanD5303 (Oct 12, 2004)

I don't believe that Flourite contains any nutrients. You should be fine with it.


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## mmillerr (Oct 4, 2008)

Tank was setup with MGOPS capped with Fluorite. Doing fine so far.


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## TropTrea (Jan 10, 2014)

I think there must be different brands of the black flourite. The stuff I got was much coarser than what I would have liked it to be. I personally feel that the finer the better for a planted tank. I would love to find the old black diamond that I used to get years ago it was just a tad coarser than beach sand.


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## mmillerr (Oct 4, 2008)

It's available in two grain sizes. The original is maybe a bit finer than the Oil Zorb that many use for planted tanks, this is what I used. They also have a 'sand' but I've never seen it to compare it to play sand or other sands.


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## GadgetGirl (Sep 25, 2013)

The sand is very fine and also works just fine! No crevices for food and debris to get into. It's just a little bit finer than play sand. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


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