Crushed lava rock

[Vonnie]

Can I use crushed lava rock as my main substrate? I have guppies, panda Cory and bristlenose plecos. 

Edited February 26, 2023 by Vonnie

[wuht]

Absolutely, it's pretty much the same as any other gravel.

I got mine from a bonsai supply store, has a real nice gradient of colors.

[Lennie]

Lava rock tend to be sharp. I wouldn't use it with corys myself. I use some in the bottom of one of my planted tanks tho, it is cheap and good substrate for plants, so it makes it easy to increase the substrate level you may like visually on top.

[BlueLineAquaticsSC]

I agree with @Lennie, crushed lava rock sounds too sharp for cories to me.

[Vonnie]

Thank you for your response. 
 

I was thinking of getting some and crushing it myself. 

[Lennie]

Sometimes, my sterbais literally  bury down the substrate with almost all their head! I can see them injuring themselves on lava rock, beyond potential barbel erosion. They really enjoy sifting around and diving into the substrate even, from what I've been seeing.

[Tanked]

On 2/26/2023 at 1:42 PM, Vonnie said:

Thank you for your response. 
 

I was thinking of getting some and crushing it myself. 

I've used the lava rock used for the patio grill.   Crushing the rocks down to a fine uniform gravel proved to be time and labor intensive.  If I were to try again, I would buy the Bonsai substrate.  It may also have fewer sharp edges.

[nabokovfan87]

There is tumbled lava rock. There is also eco complete which is lava rock and some have reported issues with corydoras and that substrate. Others have reported no issues.

If you want black, I'd check out fluorite black.