Review on 18-Lb Black Decorative Polished Gravel for Aquarium, Garden, Landscaping – Natural River Rocks, Ornamental Stones, Decorative Pebbles by Angie Anderson

I found many reviews to be unhelpful because I didn't get the sizing and finish right. I hope to help you here. This is exactly what I was looking for: dark black shiny small stones to feed cactus/succulents. See photo. A few notes: 1) PRO TIP: Make sure you have a clear idea of what color stones you want. Turns out, handpicking 5 pounds of "wrongly colored" rocks isn't as fun as you might think. See photo :-). For your pleasure, I offer you a photo with two options: black (works) and multicolored (does not work). (The last photo shows the "wrong" color stones that had to be hand picked. Eyes roll back.) Shiny black stones REALLY look better with cacti. It is true. 2) SIZE: They are SMALL - will vary in size. French green peas to small red beans (or sometimes edamame beans) 3) POLISH: They are "polished" with something. I'm assuming it's some sort of sprayed wax or oil. Absolutely not - DO NOT put them in the aquarium! Unless you want to hand scrub things FIRST or something like that. (Which would be crazy.) 4) COST OF SMALL ROCKS: They cost about sixty dollars a pound. Yes, you can buy them at your local hardware store for about a dollar. Or. You can get them to your door via PRIME NEXT DAY. Why, surely. Hop in the car if you want to save a few bucks (you can call ahead and make sure the big store has some in stock.) [PS I'm less convinced that buying BIG bricks online is worth it to buy. As you will most likely need more - the size of the stone will determine your likely project - it just isn't cost effective. You can get 2-3x more for half or less at your big box store.] 5) COVER: These small ones are harder to value than the large ones I bought. However. Photo shows five cacti in a round bronze planter measuring 13 inches in diameter. I used about 5-6 "handfuls" to get good coverage of about 1.5 times the depth of the rock. I barely made a pump in my 18 lb box of stones (unlike the larger stones I bought from the same company). I think I could do six more 12-13 inch planters at about 1.5 stone deep. Easy. Hope the photos help!