# Volcano mineral out of stock everywhere in uk?



## ojustaboo (11 Dec 2020)

I wanted  Jbl volcano mineral for my new tank but the entire UK seems to be out of stock?

Is this COVID related or is there some other reason why no one has it?

Is there something I could use instead?  Last tank had soil/peat covered in netting covered in sand.  Today I watched one of the Aquascape vids and liked how they did their initial setup, thought I’d give it a try, approx first 3 mins of 



thanks


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## PARAGUAY (11 Dec 2020)

German company Olibetta have it and delivery pretty good  but it's a bit near to christmas so check


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## ojustaboo (11 Dec 2020)

Thanks,  when I go to buy, it’s preorder and will be dispatched within 6 to 10 days,  was hoping to get it quicker being the impatient person I am


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## dean (11 Dec 2020)

Why does it have to be that specific product ?


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## Mr.Shenanagins (11 Dec 2020)

It’s just crushed lava rock and you can get it very easily for much cheaper from sources that aren’t “aquarium” specific.


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## Wookii (11 Dec 2020)

25 kg crushed lava stones 1-5 mm - planting granulate - lava mulch | eBay
					

Find great deals for 25 kg crushed lava stones 1-5 mm - planting granulate - lava mulch. Shop with confidence on eBay!



					www.ebay.co.uk


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## ojustaboo (11 Dec 2020)

Thanks, I might go that route. It appears that the only place selling lava rock is in Germany.  I noticed Amazon   have the same company but £1.60 a kilo rather than 97p on eBay.

The reason I was looking for the JBL volcano mineral specifically is that my new tank turns up today and I wanted to make a start before Christmas. It appears my only choice is to buy from Germany and hopefully it will arrive near the 16 Dec rather than 24th 

The only other lava rock I’ve found in the UK is much more expensive per kg than the JBL


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## Wookii (11 Dec 2020)

ojustaboo said:


> Thanks, I might go that route. It appears that the only place selling lava rock is in Germany.  I noticed Amazon   have the same company but £1.60 a kilo rather than 97p on eBay.
> 
> The reason I was looking for the JBL volcano mineral specifically is that my new tank turns up today and I wanted to make a start before Christmas. It appears my only choice is to buy from Germany and hopefully it will arrive near the 16 Dec rather than 24th
> 
> The only other lava rock I’ve found in the UK is much more expensive per kg than the JBL



Your local garden centre may stock bags of it.


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## dsandson (11 Dec 2020)

I got some from Riverwood Aquatics about 2 weeks ago. They still have 3l bags in stock.

I actually only ordered the 3l but they sent a 9l bag. I even contacted them to ask was that a mistake, and offered to pay the balance but still no reply. Dont want to see an independent shop out of pocket for an honest mistake.


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## DeepMetropolis (11 Dec 2020)

Wookii said:


> Your local garden centre may stock bags of it.


Yes, they have it here always in the pond section it's used for filtration..


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## Nick potts (11 Dec 2020)

The eBay stuff should get to you before Christmas.

The same company on amazon but more expensive Amazon product


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## ojustaboo (11 Dec 2020)

Thanks all. Much appreciated, but I might have to do a complete rethink.

I'm downsizing from my old  190L tank to a 126L tank due to health issues and the 190L being a little too big for me to easily cope with now.  I'm also not going to use CO2. I want low maintenance (don't mind trimming plants etc)

I don't want sand, previously went the B&Q soil/netting/sand and while the plants are still growing, I don't like the look of the sand at all, I also find it a pain when cleaning with sand (and sand has scratched glass when cleaning) .
So I watched a few youtube clips and saw the one linked to in my first post and thought I would give that method a try  (as in the substrate/soil).  What I didn't realise is how much just the substrate and soil will cost me if I follow that exact route.

9L Volcano Mineral (or 25kg bad from ebay) £25
ADA Power Sand 6L  a whopping £70
Tropica Aquarium soil 9L (I do like the look of this as my top coat)  £35 a bag, one bag might to at a pinch but will probably need a little more and the 3L bags are £16
In the vid they then sprinkle Tropica Aquarium powder around their plants and that costs another £19

That makes a total of around £165 just for the substrate/soil.  That is about double the amount I want to pay.
I like the idea of the lava rock being used to build up the landscape  (want two raised corners at the back), I also don't mind paying for the Tropica soil.  But the power sand is simply too much. I will look at what others are doing on youtube plus read up on here.

Many thanks


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## Witcher (11 Dec 2020)

ojustaboo said:


> ADA Power Sand 6L a whopping £70


Mother of God... £70 for six litres of pumice mixed with peat and with a word "Power" in its name? Unbelievable.


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## dw1305 (11 Dec 2020)

Hi all, 


ojustaboo said:


> That makes a total of around £165 just for the substrate/soil.





Witcher said:


> Mother of God... £70 for six litres of pumice mixed with peat and with a word "Power" in its name?


No, its not "Power" that is important, its "ADA".  

How about <"garden soil">, topped with  <"Moler clay cat litter">?

Ten years on, I might go into the <"substrate business after all"> (below), the ADA thing is a bit more tricky, but I wonder about a name change (via deed poll) to get around trademark issues? It worked for <"Joe Lycett">. 






cheers Darrel


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## Nick potts (11 Dec 2020)

ojustaboo said:


> Thanks all. Much appreciated, but I might have to do a complete rethink.
> 
> I'm downsizing from my old  190L tank to a 126L tank due to health issues and the 190L being a little too big for me to easily cope with now.  I'm also not going to use CO2. I want low maintenance (don't mind trimming plants etc)
> 
> ...



The power sand IMO is not worth the money, it is basically lava rock with some powders/nutrients added and is totally unnecessary

The Tropica powder is another extra that is not needed, most use it simply for aesthetics.


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## papa_c (11 Dec 2020)

Witcher said:


> with a word "Power" in its name? Unbelievable.



Just goes to demonstrate the power of a marketing machine!


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## Paul27 (11 Dec 2020)

I'm no expert when it comes to substrate  or aquascaping but I think your massively over thinking it. You could get some plastic mesh bags and get some cheap gravel and put that in there to bank the substrate up if you dont use crushed lava rock. Then use tropica soil on top and that would be it.


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## Nick potts (11 Dec 2020)

Paul27 said:


> I'm no expert when it comes to substrate  or aquascaping but I think your massively over thinking it. You could get some plastic mesh bags and get some cheap gravel and put that in there to bank the substrate up if you dont use crushed lava rock. Then use tropica soil on top and that would be it.



Good point, I have used cheap pea gravel (£2.50 for 25kg) in mesh bags for this, worked fine. You do lose out on the benefits of lava stone, but it is a small trade-off.


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## Siege (11 Dec 2020)

Nick potts said:


> The power sand IMO is not worth the money, it is basically lava rock with some powders/nutrients added and is totally unnecessary
> 
> The Tropica powder is another extra that is not needed, most use it simply for aesthetics.



Both are proven performers that work.

power sand advance will outperform any other base layer (note quoted above above is the wrong size and size bag for your tank I think?)

powder will hold up slopes and hold carpet plants in much more securely.

the substrate is the bedrock of the tank, no point on skimping on it. You can get away without the power sand but really don’t think you can replace it with pea gravel, good if your substrate is a foot deep but you are not building a massive steep sloped tank so, not worth it.
What is going to happen when the stem plants roots hit the pea gravel?  They will stop and spread everywhere looking for food leading to weaker stems..👍😃


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## dean (11 Dec 2020)

What about BBQ lava rock 
Should be able to pick that up cheaply now 


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## ojustaboo (11 Dec 2020)

Yay
Superfish Lava Rock Filter Media Pond & Aquarium 10L


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## Nick potts (11 Dec 2020)

Siege said:


> Both are proven performers that work.
> 
> power sand advance will outperform any other base layer (note quoted above above is the wrong size and size bag for your tank I think?)
> 
> ...



My recommendation is for the cheaper lava rock gravel, I am not saying the power sand doesn't work, I just don't think it is necessary or good value for what it is.

Good point on the powder soil, it is great for carpet plants, but again in IMO if trying to save some money it is not needed to grow a carpet in any way.


ojustaboo said:


> Yay
> Superfish Lava Rock Filter Media Pond & Aquarium 10L


Bare in mind that the superfish is rather large lumps of lava rock, rather than a gravel type substrate.


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## Tim Harrison (11 Dec 2020)

I got mine from 25 kg crushed lava rock granules 4-11 mm - lava mulch 4250913213356 | eBay
Although you might want to go for the next grade down 2-8mm

As someone with more than a smattering of geology under his belt, trust me there really is no difference between this product a few root tabs and ADA power sand...
But then again, @Siege is right if you want a predictable outcome and you're relatively new to the hobby then ADA power sand is the way to go.


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## Geoffrey Rea (11 Dec 2020)

ojustaboo said:


> Today I watched one of the Aquascape vids and liked how they did their initial setup, thought I’d give it a try, approx first 3 mins of



Can I ask what it is you liked about it? Only asking as you’ve honed in on using a powersand advance equivalent and not really understanding why it’s a necessary choice for the intended goals? None have been stated so it’s unclear what the goal is currently.




Siege said:


> Both are proven performers that work.



Can agree with @Siege on this given its use in a showroom scape in the mentioned video. There are reasons beyond cost why you would choose certain products. They are aquascaping products and serve a predictable outcome beyond obvious function due to standardised processes.

Show of hands for people who’ve scratched the hell out of their brand new £1000 optiwhite tank by using crushed volcanic rock rather than a product that has been screened for sharp edges.


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## ojustaboo (11 Dec 2020)

Geoffrey Rea said:


> Can I ask what it is you liked about it? Only asking as you’ve honed in on using a powersand advance equivalent and not really understanding why it’s a necessary choice for the intended goals? None have been stated so it’s unclear what the goal is currently.


To be honest, it’s more what I didn’t like about the way I did my old tank.

It was just over 3 years ago that I went the dirty tank route in my Juwel 190L bow fronted tank. I followed a ton of advice on here (and got great answers to my many questions) , used soil at bottom, then netting, then silica sand.

I put gravel in old tights to raise the back corners.

I had been using C02 since around 2011.

I tried possibly too hard to get everything right.

I also went the macro/micro dosing route.

That all turned out fine (for a while)

But I remember the amount of physical effort involved on just washing the sand for what felt like 1000 times when setting up, I simply am unable to do that now.

Over time the raised corners effectively became flat

I also found I was in a non stop fight with my CO2 (don’t think the bow front helped)  and the amount of both time and money spent on different diffusers both the external UP type to various glass etc internal ones.

At one point I had two external filters, an external pre filter to try and get co2 more mixed etc

Sure in large parts of my tank, the plants took off with the CO2, but I never got it right, you could always see where the co2 was missing.

To cut a long story short, health isn’t what it was (nothing terminal) and for a few months all  I did was min water changes, removed fire extinguisher when it was empty, didn’t bother putting in any plant fertiliser at all, and fed the Fish.

Roll on a few more months and most of the plants were still growing. Roll on about a year, still zero CO2 or fertiliser yet plants still growing.

There was one brief period a few months ago  where most  my fish died, I put various things in to treat the water and the fish, don’t know what caused it, maybe gas trapped under sand?

Anyway while I can just about manage the weekly water change, it’s very painful and a bit too much for me. At one point I was regrettably thinking of getting rid of the tank altogether but I didn’t really want to.  My wife suggested  a smaller tank that’s more manageable for me.

So for Christmas (but I’m allowed it early   ) my wife bought me the Eheim  Vivaline LED 126 which arrived today.

I can keep both tanks while setting the new one up, so I can take my time with it.

In the past my tanks have been second hand, now I have a nice sparkling new one.

I don’t intend using the internal filter supplied with the tank, might treat myself to a new external, my Eheim 2317 that I got second hand 3 years ago has done well, but is now in poor condition and new heads aren’t available. Maybe get an inline heater too.

When I saw that vid in my OP that looked like an easy (just pouring in straight from bags) way for me to get a good healthy foundation for my tank to grow plants in with no co2.  I presumed everything was there for a reason, and I presumed it might be a good starting point.

I don’t have to use any of that but I haven’t got the energy to mess around with tons of cleaning gravel/sand while setting the tank up.

My goal is to have a nice looking low maintenance tank, don’t want sand and I really liked the look of the Tropica soil.

I  would like a few bits of wood with some sort of moss like plants attached,  I’m thinking of raising one back edge quite high and making some sort of rock/ plant display on there, along with the wood, not 100% sure how I’m going to plant the rest, want some grass like plants near front but don’t want it to be carpeted.

Dont want it too overloaded with big plants, but I want it interesting and also fun for the fish.

I would like it to have a good sense of depth

While I will put my few existing fish in there, I intend to end up with a shoal of something like Tetras.

I’m hoping most weeks it will be a small water change and maybe a bit of trimming. I have an Eheim prefilter that  I’ve never used, not sure it will comfortably  (to the eye) fit in nicely in the smaller tank, but if it does, hopefully that will make the main filter go for a few months without being looked at.


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## Geoffrey Rea (12 Dec 2020)

So the new tank is:

(Width) 80.00 cm
(Height) 45.00 cm
(Depth) 35.00 cm

It’s sold as a package including lighting, cabinet, filter, heater and filter media. That’s that taken care of and you’re going to use an external filter rather than the internal one supplied. 

The impression from the above is you originally liked the idea of Co2, but like many, the water changes that usually accompany Co2 injected tanks with EI dosing proved a pain given circumstances.

Co2 or non Co2 injected tank, creating an easy way to siphon water out and replace it appears to make many much happier in their hobby. The question to always ask is how can this be done without lifting a single ounce of water? That way removing 10% or 50% requires the same effort and you won’t shy away from water changes.

Two cheap hoses can help, one for draining the tank, the other for connecting to a mixer tap to fill up at correct temperature. Then dechlorinate the water in tank with a product like Seachem Prime. Just one method and if you have this in mind before you put the tank together, you can make sure there’s accommodations for where you will extract water from and return it without disturbing the setup.

Before going any further consider what plants you want, see whether they realistically need/don’t need Co2 injection to thrive if you want to go low tech to create a good list of species for the setup, then look at how to use the 80x45x35cm space. You can create a very nice setup in those dimensions.




ojustaboo said:


> My goal is to have a nice looking low maintenance tank, don’t want sand and I really liked the look of the Tropica soil.



Seems pretty well defined.




ojustaboo said:


> I would like a few bits of wood with some sort of moss like plants attached, I’m thinking of raising one back edge quite high and making some sort of rock/ plant display on there



One point, it’s far easier to have a piece of hard scape (rock/wood) create the height than to bank soil up and attempt to keep the gradient. Gravity will have its way with it eventually even with the best planning.


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## ForestDave (19 Dec 2020)

Could someone please let me know if you really need Lava rock or Volcano Mineral under a banked substrate or can you just use a solid layer of complete substrate? I've seen some talk of anerobic build up if not used  and the lava rock being an added filtration/bacteria area. I managed to get some heavily discounted bags of Dennerle Scapers soil so I have plenty of complete substrate and was planning on using just that with a layer of JBL aqua basis plus underneath with possibly a scattering of Osmocote?  I would have gone the Tropica/ADA route that seems most popular but the Dennerle stuff was less than half the price and I couldn't turn it down.


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## Nick potts (19 Dec 2020)

ForestDave said:


> Could someone please let me know if you really need Lava rock or Volcano Mineral under a banked substrate or can you just use a solid layer of complete substrate? I've seen some talk of anerobic build up if not used  and the lava rock being an added filtration/bacteria area. I managed to get some heavily discounted bags of Dennerle Scapers soil so I have plenty of complete substrate and was planning on using just that with a layer of JBL aqua basis plus underneath with possibly a scattering of Osmocote?  I would have gone the Tropica/ADA route that seems most popular but the Dennerle stuff was less than half the price and I couldn't turn it down.


It's not essential.

Aquasoil doesn't tend to compact like sand and other substrates so less of an issue with anaerobic conditions. Even sand etc has to be very deep to cause issues.


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## ForestDave (19 Dec 2020)

Thanks Nick.


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## bushaaayyy (10 Jan 2021)

Just reviving this thread as I’m currently on the hunt for some crushed lava rock/Pumice myself. But finding the same issue as OP seems to be out of stock everywhere (including links in this thread)

Any one point me in the direction of somewhere that still has stock?


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## PARAGUAY (10 Jan 2021)

Last time l looked olibetta still have it jbl deliver within two weeks check first though . Notice the price as crept up. Ha ha


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## ojustaboo (10 Jan 2021)

I got mine from the Ebay link

25 Kg Crushed Lava Rock Granules 2 8 Mm for sale online | eBay


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## bushaaayyy (10 Jan 2021)

ojustaboo said:


> I got mine from the Ebay link
> 
> 25 Kg Crushed Lava Rock Granules 2 8 Mm for sale online | eBay


 This listing is no longer available. Have contacted the seller though will see what they say


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## bushaaayyy (10 Jan 2021)

PARAGUAY said:


> Last time l looked olibetta still have it jbl deliver within two weeks check first though . Notice the price as crept up. Ha ha


Can’t seem to find it on the website?
I wonder what’s causing  the shortage? COVID? Brexit?


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## ojustaboo (10 Jan 2021)

Wonder if they have paused delivery to Uk while sorting customs paperwork out due to brexit. They had tons a week before xmas, many different sizes too.


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## PARAGUAY (10 Jan 2021)

Try the look for bar on Olibettas website


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## ojustaboo (10 Jan 2021)

Just checked the details, the actual company that it came from was Der Naturstein Garten (even though ebay shop said sun-of-india) aand sure enough on their site, they still have tons, so it must be something to do with delivering to the UK

Lava


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## bushaaayyy (10 Jan 2021)

PARAGUAY said:


> Try the look for bar on Olibettas website


Managed to find it, but quite pricey 








						ProScape Volcano 9L
					

Substrate for Aquariums. Price: £10.79. Sizes: 3L - 9L. 29 Customer Reviews. Free delivery from £42.90.




					www.olibetta.uk
				




not clear how much it weighs though, around 9kg? Seems very expensive compared to the eBay product


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## bushaaayyy (10 Jan 2021)

ojustaboo said:


> Just checked the details, the actual company that it came from was Der Naturstein Garten (even though ebay shop said sun-of-india) aand sure enough on their site, they still have tons, so it must be something to do with delivering to the UK
> 
> Lava


Interesting, let’s hope it’s only temporary then

thanks for the detective work!


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## PARAGUAY (10 Jan 2021)

Seems to have incresed think l got mine around the £20 mark before Chistmas delivery wasnt bad but things with covid now


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## PARAGUAY (10 Jan 2021)

They are a german company but efficient on delivery IME


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## ojustaboo (10 Jan 2021)

Just tried a dummy order putting my UK address in, seems you can order from them to the UK, but only by bank transfer


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## bushaaayyy (10 Jan 2021)

ojustaboo said:


> Just tried a dummy order putting my UK address in, seems you can order from them to the UK, but only by bank transfer
> 
> View attachment 160325


Okay good to know, thanks! did you find an option to put the website in English? Was going to try this myself later when I had my laptop. Couldn’t seem to translate the page on my phone


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## ojustaboo (10 Jan 2021)

I just right mouse click on a blank bit of the web page using chrome,  and have option to translate.


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## Andrew Butler (10 Jan 2021)

You could always speak to me 
I've around 3x 9 Litre bags of JBL Volcano mineral that I'm going to sell as I'm not going to be using them due to change in circumstance.
Price you pay depends how much you have and if there's anything else you want at the same time.

Just remember there's likely additional taxes for products into the UK now so check they fill the customs declaration in their end else there's a standard minimum they charge you.


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## bushaaayyy (11 Jan 2021)

I emailed the company to enquire if they could deliver to the UK, here’s the response I received

“Due to the still unsure transition period at the UK border we have 
closed our UK presence for the time being until deliveries can run 
smoothly again. We may start again by next week.

As soon as our goods are offered again on the UK site, deliveries are 
resumed.

We are sorry for the inconvenience and hope for your understanding.”

So as we suspected it’s due to brexit but hopefully will be resuming again soon...


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## dean (27 Jan 2021)

Have a look for it in garden supplies as there’s now a company selling it to garden centres for house plants etc 


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## Hartscape (9 Feb 2021)

Going to bump this thread as there still seems to be a supply issue with the JBL volcano mineral.

Are there any good alternatives to help bulk out Tropica aqua soil? Would the JBL Manado work to the same effect?


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## Wookii (10 Feb 2021)

Hartscape said:


> Going to bump this thread as there still seems to be a supply issue with the JBL volcano mineral.
> 
> Are there any good alternatives to help bulk out Tropica aqua soil? Would the JBL Manado work to the same effect?



Some alternatives to JBL Lava Rock linked in this thread: https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/crushed-lava-rock-pumice-for-base-substrate.63937/

I bought some of this last week:









						Aquarium Gravel Substrate Sand Plant Fish Tank Volcanic Lava 10kg 3-5mm  | eBay
					

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for  Aquarium Gravel Substrate Sand Plant Fish Tank Volcanic Lava 10kg 3-5mm at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.



					www.ebay.co.uk
				




There is also this product suggested by @MirandaB:









						Velda Superdensa Oxy Plant Substrate
					

Bradshaws Direct is a leading UK supplier of Velda Superdensa Oxy Plant Substrate. Buy online today.




					bradshawsdirect.co.uk


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## PARAGUAY (10 Feb 2021)

I ordered again two weeks ago from Olibetta it should have a arrival of this Friday Olibetta have emailed to say there is a delay but hope to send in the next few days.l cant fault their customer service the option of full refund, another product purchase or order sent soon. I opted to leave the order as is. Think the EU brexit as observed lately with Plants maybe the issue?


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## PARAGUAY (18 Feb 2021)

Order from olibetta jbl volcanic arrived yesterday. Ordered 26th Jan so under the present situation pleased


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## Riverside Scaper (14 Jul 2021)

Andrew Butler said:


> You could always speak to me
> I've around 3x 9 Litre bags of JBL Volcano mineral that I'm going to sell as I'm not going to be using them due to change in circumstance.
> Price you pay depends how much you have and if there's anything else you want at the same time.
> 
> Just remember there's likely additional taxes for products into the UK now so check they fill the customs declaration in their end else there's a standard minimum they charge you.


I know this was a while ago, but do you still have the volcano mineral?


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