Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

mustafa,

Thanks for that link to the cheap nice gravel. I'll try it in the next shrimp tank I set up.

YuccaPatrol wrote:mustafa,

Thanks for that link to the cheap nice gravel. I'll try it in the next shrimp tank I set up.

You're welcome. Let us know how you like it once you get it.

small note, just tried clicking on the Big Al's link provided by Mustafa, and I'm getting a "page cannot be found error."

Just sent you a pm

Neonshrimp wrote:Just sent you a pm

thanks!

You can make black gravel. It takes a little while but it works, at least for me.

If you take the quartzite pea gravel from Home Depot (vigoro) and soak it in concentratedsugar water for a month. Drain it anf give it a quick rinse to remove the sugar from the outside. Bake the gravel at 450 degrees until it turns black. This take a few hours depending on how much gravel you put in.

Let it cool on its own, don't quench it or the gravel may break and this could hurt you due to flying rock.

This is an old lapidary trick used with opals. The sugur soaks into the stone over time. Heating carbonizes the sugar in the rock matrix. The color is permanant and non-toxic. The more porus the stone, the better it works. Quartzite is fairly porus.

Let it cool on its own, don't quench it or the gravel may break and this could hurt you due to flying rock.

Thanks for the instructions, especially this part