Black gravel

I'm thinking of selling my cichlids and setting up for bristlenose again.
Does any one use black gravel. I'm asking cause I heard it raises the ph.
Would the amount it raises still be ok for Bristlenose. I have plenty of
wood in my tank will this help keep the ph down.

What kind of gravel is it, there are some that are made to buffer ph and so on but I don't think that regular black gravel would raise the the ph or anything like that.

I dont think using black gravel would cause to much probz with your PH after all its quite easy to adjust your PH with other elements....
And its great that your thinking of setting up with BN's again...Great news mate...
Also Black Gravel looks awsome in a setup and make's a good background for taking easy pics...
Kurosaki J was slightly obsessed with black in his tanks but i can see why...they look great..

My Lfs said it would raise the ph. I wanted to do the tank with
no gravel and paint the back and the bottom black but my tank has mirror
on the bottom.

the colour of the grave is not important, its what its made from. Some of the eco-complete soil range are black and they are designed to buffer the pH to about 6.5 so its more about whats in the gravel. My black gravel is inert and all the pH buffering is done by the interaction between KH and CO2.

Black gravel is in. Picked up a new piece of drift wood, its big, to big for me to soak so in the tank it goes.
Cichlids are being re homed tomorrow, new BN's picked up on thursday.
Will post pix of the make over when its done.

be careful with DW going straight into the tank. has it been presoaked before? if not then it will leach tannins and humic acid at a very fast rate which can cause problems with the tank, not to mention discolour the water. If there is fish in there i would seriously recommend taking it out and giving it a soak in your bath, rainwater tank or large bucket or something. Bath is best as you can treat the wood too, a mild bleach bath is always a wise move, even with store-bought wood.

If the tank is fishless then no worries.

Thanx for that. I new it wood leach tanins I put an internal
power filter with charcoal in it. The woods been in for 5
days tank has had cichlids till today.Fish were all heathy. I've scubbed it with
a brush and hot water 3 times.
I'll have to find a large heavy duty bag to soak it in.
The lfs said it wood be ok to put it in the tank after I
scubbed it. How long does the acid stay in the tank and
is there anyway of getting rid of it. I've done water changes
today and yesterday. I'm picking up my Bristlenose tomorrow
nite. Thanx again.

ahh, good work with the carbon. just remember to take it out once its done its job.

It will leach acid til its dying day, the amount will drop exponetially. The hot water scrub would help. If its a store bought bit of wood then i would suggest that you would be ok with the hot water scrub. Just make sure you keep an eye on it and watch for anything.

I wouldnt worry about doing it in a bag. the bag might do more harm than good.

Thanx Doug.I appretiate yr advise. It is store bought.
I've taken it out I'll give it another clean tomorrow
and put it back in. The water parameters have been perfect
since I changed the gravel.Hopefully all will be ok.

munter i have posted some pics with my albino's in black gravel, your welcome to check them out...

it is extra fine and ok for BN and cory's though can be a little hard to clean as it gets sucked up the tubes on a water change...

though any lost gravel is placed back in the tank at a later date....

my bog wood clearly leached for nearly 3 months and it was pre washed, then i washed it and scrubbed it... then i soaked it for one month and after i noticed it was still leaching i decided to jet balst it in a bucket...lol...

kinda worked very good in the end, but leaching of acid / tannins can vary greatly...

I alwas soak most forms of wood for at least 4 weeks before placing in the tank....