Aqua NaturalMidnight Pearl 20lb Gravel Substrate for aquascaping, Aquariums, vivariums and terrariums 2-4mm, Brown

The gravel was a bit smaller then excepted. However the way it looks is fantastic!I gives this wonderful natural color prefect for accenting colorful plants and fish inside and outside of an aquarium.Washing the gravel is always a chore, but so worth it. Easy to clean with a gravel vacuum.

I really like the blend of colors present in this gravel! Decently uniform grain size, and it’s not too rough. Most of the pieces have rounded edges, but there are some that seem a little rough. I used the Aqua Naturals Sugar White sand for my foreground, the two work well together.Seems to be a decent plant substrate, holds them down well. Just pop some root tabs under your heavy root feeders to keep them happy, since this substrate is inert and doesn’t provide nutrients by itself.As for the reviews where people are complaining about having to wash the gravel because it’s dirty, lift a finger to help yourselves. Even if the manufacturer triple washes it, it’ll still get jostled around and ground up a little in transit. Cleans up really nicely.The price on this was much better on Amazon than in a big box store, almost half price.

Not as depicted. Mine has a lot of red rocks--so hardly midnight pearl color. Dealing with it--the rocks are fairly smooth. Using it to cap substrate and sand in my tanks. Got tired of sand on top because fish waste doesn't really sink in to feed my plants. Not wanting to disturb my mature tanks too much, I swirled the sand into the substrate when I vacuumed lightly and then added the rocks on top--so waste doesn't just sit on top. My tanks are heavily planted, filtered and naturally scaped. So this did fit the bill. I now have sand, mixed with Seachem black Flourite and this is now on top layer. Gradual process, adding more rocks here and there during regular tank maintenance. It doesn't look half bad. Took star off due to the color being so off--but I really couldn't find anything better. Fixing my various color schemes by adding some smooth, larger river stones in appropriate colors to accent fish colors, where needed. Have three small aquariums ranging in size from 10-16 gallon and this is enough rocks to do what wanted to do with all three tanks.

I let me children design my tank initially and it lasted a few years with the neon rocks and funny sculptures. I changed the bedding to these rocks and updated some of the plants and it looks beautiful now! The rocks give a real freshwater stream look. I've received lots of compliments on them.Make sure to wash the rocks really well before putting them in the tank. There is lots of fine dust and particles on the rocks that you don't want in your tank. I threw it into a 5 gallon bucket and rinsed 4 or 5 times. Once the water was mostly clear, I added it to the tank and it looked great immediately. I would recommend this.

I never rinse this, just pop it in and the filter clears water in 30 mins. My mystery snails love it. Small enough for them to dig in but still be able to get back out at pea size(the snails).I use a 5lb bag in my 5.5 gallon. 10lb bag in my 10 gallon.Kind of expensive, but worth it.

UPDATE: MARCH 4, 2023 (03/04/2023)So obviously since I was really pleased with my first order, I came back to order a 4th bag of gravel, I needed it to use with the final bag that I had left from my previous order.What I received is NOT Aqua Naturals Midnight Pearl gravel. It is almost as if someone took the Aqua naturals midnight pearl gravel bag and dumped some cheap alternative into the Aqua Naturals product bag. The gravel I received is MUCH sharper, larger, and red colored than any aqua naturals midnight pearl I have ever used (and I currently have it in 3 tanks.) I have included pictures comparing the two bags. No amount of rinsing this product will change the color, size, and shape of it.So, it’s a luck of the draw on whether or not you will receive the correct product! My first order was 3 correct bags. My second order I only purchased one bag, and it was not the true product. However all bags were in fact 20 lbs. Good luck!Previous Review December 2022 -For those who are skeptical to order because they aren’t sure of the size of the bag due to the picture, I ordered three bags and all three were in fact 20 lb bags of gravel. I love Aqua Naturals gravel, it is the perfect size and shape in my opinion, all of the individual “grains” are small-ish and round and none of them have any sharp parts. Midnight Pearl is my favorite color variation they offer. Very pleased I was able to get these larger bags of it!

Looks good, very medium toned substrate, not dark, nowhere near "midnight". Was clean, uniform size gravel, packaged securely and shipped quickly. Would buy again!

These are pretty rocks but new people remember to rinse them over & over otherwise your tank will look like pic. Even though they say triple rinsed they still come to you dirty I’ve never bought a brand that didn’t need to be rinsed a bunch of times.

As other reviews suggest, the gravel requires thorough rising and the colour you recieve may vary from the advertisement; my gravel appears quite reddish and not as dark as advertised, but camouflages poop and debris well. Works fine for my needs so I am giving 5 stars.

Super clean