Is that the mix you used to repot? If so, it does not look like you used enough perlite. Also if that is where it sits all the time it may not be getting enough light.

I usually keep it under a grow lite

"with good filtration at the bottom."

Pls tell us what this means. Did you put a layer of rocks down under the soil inside the pot? Or something else?

Yes, I see about 3 pieces of perlite, nowhere near enough perlite; needs to be more like 50/50 to be any good.

I don't see the darkening, nor would I worry about it. Correcting your soil is more important.

I can tell you is isn't an Aloe vera, but a lot of these are hard to identify...

Karen- yes rocks and activated charcoal. The bottom right limb is completely black. The rest of the limbs are still hard but do have small dark speckles in areas.

There is some more perlite through out the mix but still maybe not enough.

mesembs- interesting, they are hard to identify. I thought it looked too semetric to be an aloe but the nursery had it labeled as one.

Dylan, this is what your mix of perlite and soil should look like. This is a 50/50 mix.

Adding a layer of rocks or pottery shards or any such thing really does nothing to improve drainage. Fine particles will fill in around the rocks, etc. and in the end, you have not accomplished good drainage. You will do better to amend the mix with grit or perlite or pumice.

Take a few more pictures of your plant in better light and maybe we can nail down an ID for you. Be sure to get those dark spots you mentioned, too.

The dead leaf at the bottom is probably normal. The plant will absorb the water and nutrients from the oldest leaves. They will shrivel up and get hard. Crispy, even. So that is not a worry for me.

Are you new to growing Aloes?

Sorry to have to tell you, but unfortunately, rocks at the bottom are a problem, they make things worse, not better. Don't know why you'd need charcoal; completely unneccessary.

If you don't remove the rocks from down below & improve that soil, the combination of those 2 things can easily lead the plant to root rot.

Yes this IS an Aloe, just not A vera. A new photo in much better light might further attempts at ID.

Crenda- thanks for being so welcoming and helpful. I will post some more pictures when I'm home.

Karen- yes this is my first time growing any plants so there isn't a need to roast me for trying and inquiring.

I'm sorry you think I'm roasting you (whatever that means).

The questions I asked ALL have to do w/ diagnosing your plant & trying to help you, which IS after all what you asked. This was an assessment of the PLANT not you, a shame you seem unable to tell the difference.

Dylan

If the leaf you are concerned about is soft and dark, it may be rotting.

I agree that the soil is too fine and could be water retaining. It should be amended heavily with sifted perlite or pumice, and/or grit. I believe you meant 'symetric' or 'symetrical'? (..."I thought it looked too semetric to be an aloe"...) Many aloes are very symetrical...Look at the photos of Ale polyphylla, or A. plicatilis or many, many more.

Do not feel you are being 'roasted' or anything similar - everybody here wants to give best advice possible - that is what you are looking for, right? And sometimes it is very straight forward. But it is better to get straight facts rather than just a feel-good answers - hope you agree with that!

Crunchy is a good sign- probably not rotting.

Well the mix looks much better, the plant will do much better w/out the rocks at the bottom.

The dark part, meaning the leaf is crunchy? If so, just remove it, if crunchy, like dry & brittle, that leaf is dead, so just pull it off.

Any chance you could pls. show a pic of the entire pot & plant? I can't get a sense of the pot size, which seems large, whereas the size of the first pot was good. Could just be deceptive angle of the pic, hard to say.

Thanks! i think the pot is 8 inches? I could be wrong. However it was the only clay pot that wasn't being occupied. What could happen if the pot is too big?

What's wrong with rocks at the bottom?

Joshua read about perched water table here.

The OP's Aloe somewhat resembles Aloe reitzii, which is not an overly common species. Make sure it gets plenty of light.

Well the pot's 8" but I can't tell how big the plant is. Won't you pls post a long shot showing both?

Too large a pot for a succulent can promote rot, especially w/ water retentive soil (which was remedied) & too frequent watering (often happens w/ newer growers).

Josh, Dylan: for you newer C&S guys, it's great you want to learn, but there's a fair amount to know which can't be learned overnight, A fair amount is also subject to trial & error.