Bioscape Breakwater Brown Fine 1-2mm

• Won't affect pH – an inert gravel, so it won't push your water chemistry away from what your fish or plants are already set up for.
• Triple washed – less dust to settle out than an unwashed gravel, though we'd still recommend a quick rinse before adding it, since transit and handling can stir dust back up.
• Fine 1-2mm grade – sits close around root systems and gives a smoother, more even-looking base than a coarse gravel.
• Works as a base or a highlight – use it as the full substrate, mix it with a nutrient-rich plant soil, or use it as a scaping accent against a coarser gravel.

Grade: fine, 1-2mm grain size. Colour: brown. Material: natural gravel, inert (does not affect pH). Bioscape hasn't published a depth-per-bag coverage figure for this grade – as a guide, dry-fill a footprint you can measure before committing to a full layout, since the depth you end up with depends on how deep and how tightly you pack it.

Bioscape sells the Breakwater Brown range in more than one grade, so it's worth checking you've got the right one before ordering:

• Suitable for: freshwater and marine aquariums, planted tanks and paludariums where roots sit close to the substrate, and as a base or drainage-adjacent layer in terrariums.
• Not suitable for: setups that need an active, buffering substrate – this gravel is inert, so it won't raise KH or hardness the way a cichlid-specific substrate would, and it won't lower pH the way an aquasoil does. It's also not a true drainage layer on its own in a terrarium, since the fine grade packs tighter than a coarse gravel – use the Coarse 2-4mm or 3-5mm underneath if you specifically want open drainage.

Rinse before use, even though it's triple washed – a few minutes under a hose or in a bucket clears any dust picked up in transit and stops the tank clouding on fill; fine grades hold a little more dust than coarse gravel, so give it slightly longer. Once it's in the tank, an occasional gravel vacuum during water changes is all it needs; it doesn't need replacing on any schedule.

Any fault on arrival – a torn bag or contamination – is covered under your consumer guarantee rights under Australian Consumer Law. As a natural material, colour and exact grain mix vary a little bag to bag; the product photo is representative rather than exact.

Will this gravel change my water's pH or hardness?

No. It's an inert gravel, so it won't push pH, KH or general hardness in either direction.

Is this fine enough for a planted tank?

Yes – the 1-2mm grade is the finer end of the Breakwater Brown range and sits close around root systems, which is why it's the one most planted-tank keepers reach for over the coarse grades.

Do I need to rinse it before adding it to my tank?

It's triple washed at the factory, but we'd still rinse it – fine gravel holds onto a bit more dust than coarse, so a thorough rinse saves you a cloudy tank on day one.

What's the difference between this and the Coarse 2-4mm?

Grain size – this is 1-2mm, the Coarse grade is 2-4mm. The fine grade gives a smoother look and suits tighter root systems, while the coarser grade compacts less and lets more water move through the bed.