natural style substrate choices

[Owain4]

i was seeing if i could take some from my local lakes, which is legal here, clean them very well, i might just go with the single 24" t5ho for the 55 and have a few plants nothing special, make it river style for the minnows, and maybe get a double bulb long light for the 125. Any suggestions for a brand of black gravel?? i'll probably have to order it considering pet land here is super expensive and petsmart probably wont have it.. as for now ill be stocking my current 55gallon column with minnows from the lake until i get my bigger tank and a longer 55

 

[Gill Blue]

I have 3M color quartz and I really like it. It has been discontinued for a couple years, but it is great stuff.

I use the black S grade colorquartz in my 55 and am very happy with it as a substrate. the plants grow great in it and it's so smooth I stirred it by hand for over an hour to get out the clay I tried to work into it, and my hand wasn't even red. the cories love it for sifting through. 3M no longer makes colorquartz, but the SpectraQuartz Colored Minerals for Swimming Pool Plaster (spectraquartz.com/) is supposed to be identical.