Review on 🐠 Seachem Matrix: Ultra-Effective Aquarium Filter Media, 4 L / 1 gal. by Melissa Richards

I bought a 4 liter container from a vendor at the market. It was listed as 'used' with minor packaging defects. I received the box with slight signs of wear. Inside, some of the fill material has been replaced with random stones. The fill should be a light, porous "rock" or "pebble" that feels like "pumice" and comes in a variety of sizes and shapes and is primarily white (although some darker grey/brown bits may be interspersed). My batch consisted of about 5% random sedimentary/igneous rocks that I had to sort. But aside from having to deal with that, the rest was fine. My guess is that someone bought too much of what they needed, replaced it with fake media, and returned it. Although it could also be that Seachem simply has less control over the quality of the 4 liter pails because the volume of medium is so large. The product label says 1 liter is for 200 gallons of water so a 4 liter bucket is quite large and will last you a long time unless you have several large aquariums or ponds. Also, Seachem is one of my favorite aquarium supplies manufacturers and I had no issues with the actual/genuine media I received.