Black Sand

[jgoal55]

I am thinking about possibly using black sand in my 90 set up but I cant get over the idea that although it looks bad ***, its not necessarily natural looking. So I know I have to make the looks decision on my own but other than aesthetics, is there something else that should be considered? quality? etc?

Also, a while back there was a thread on here that had a picture of a tank with black sand....it looked incredible. Does anyone remember whose it was? Also, I think some of my questions may have been answered in that thread.

Thanks,
Jorge

 

[blind1993]

Jins by any chance? i want to go with black and white sand so that it give contrast to all the colors.

 

[flyingarmy]

The only issue that I have heard with black sand is that unless you clean it all the time the detris build up makes it look dingy and eventually brownish. I thought about the same thing in the Finnex but opted out.

 

[jgoal55]

yeah it was jins. I just found a thread that i posted where i asked for the link to the same thread (1 year ago). lol.

Yeah Mark, I've heard that as well but Im pretty good about siphoning so it doesnt worry me much.

Well how about this. All you black sanders out there wanna post pics of your tank? I'd love to see what it looks like in a bunch of different tanks.

 

[mapleredta]

Jgoal55;272862 wrote: yeah it was jins. I just found a thread that i posted where i asked for the link to the same thread (1 year ago). lol.

Yeah Mark, I've heard that as well but Im pretty good about siphoning so it doesnt worry me much.

Well how about this. All you black sanders out there wanna post pics of your tank? I'd love to see what it looks like in a bunch of different tanks.

Ace had black sand in his little cube and it looked, :up: I will be using black sand in my new 20 gallon.

 

[jgoal55]

Well let's get Ace to post some pics....cmon now! ok j/k....but really it would be awesome to see some cool tank shots (cueing Jin to post).

 

[FutureInterest]

lol. I'll take some new shots just for you jorge. Got plenty of them on my blog which I need to update though... Link is in my sig.

 

[enderg60]

Fully black sand(like tahitian moon) looks awesome but after 2-3 days starts looking crappy.

I had it in my nano and would suck off the top layer and replace it every other week. Its a pain in the ***.

My next tank will the be black and white stuff aragalive has now. Less effort for almost as good a look.

 

[acroholic]

Chris at Einstein just got in a new Caribsea product, Hawaiian Black, which is an all black aragonite substrate, not the salt/pepper mix in Indo-Pacific Black.
Dave

 

[FutureInterest]

There is also another aragonite black one by another company... don't recall the name though. Natural something?

Blah... old age sucks.

 

[acroholic]

FutureInterest;273338 wrote: There is also another aragonite black one by another company... don't recall the name though. Natural something?

Blah... old age sucks.

Nature's Ocean is the company, but that substrate is magnetic, kind of dangerous for magnet algae scrapers, pump impellers, etc.

Found that out after I bought a couple bags for my 20" cube tank.

 

[eddie b_]

I have tahitian black sand this sand is solid black. i have about 140lbs. in my 75 that is about 4-5" sand bed . i like the solid black sand because it makes the colors pop.

 

[lukestimp]

Here's a little 12 Gallon nano Project I've been working on and I used the Nature's Ocean black Sand. Acroholic is 100% correct though if you have an Acrylic Tank Don't ever plan on using a magnetic Cleaner because this stuff grabs right on to your Magnet.

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[weaglereefer]

LukeStimp;273356 wrote: Here's a little 12 Gallon nano Project I've been working on and I used the Nature's Ocean black Sand. Acroholic is 100% correct though if you have an Acrylic Tank Don't ever plan on using a magnetic Cleaner because this stuff grabs right on to your Magnet.

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I think i need to go change my pants....holy cow that looks good, and now I'm totally thinking black sand for my 30...

Does it stay clean?

 

[acroholic]

au01st;273358 wrote: I think i need to go change my pants....holy cow that looks good, and now I'm totally thinking black sand for my 30...

Does it stay clean?

Think about it.....what shows dirt more readily.......white or black? Most car interiors are dark for a reason.
Dave

 

[percula]

Yeppers, I got in a bunch of hawaiian black, as we found out that the NaturesOcean stuff was magnetic! Co. should have informed all of us of that long ago!

 

[percula]

Oh, and au01st... that is going to look sooo stellar!

 

[lukestimp]

au01st- I can't really tell you if it stays clean, due to the fact that I've only added one little colony of Zoas, so nothing really in there makling a mess you know.. By the way the first Picture is of the 12 Gallon with a 70 Watt 14K MH over it, that hadn't burnt in yet. The Second Picture is with a normal Floresent light taken before I got my MH..

Here's a Pic with the same 70W 14K that has been running for about 2 weeks. i think the Black Makes all the Colors really POP!

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[enderg60]

the reason the totally black stuff sucks is because snail poop and rock bits and just about everything else is white.

the tahian moon sand is great sand, but i would mix in some white just so you dont HAVE to clean it all the time. looked great though

Ill see if i can find some of my old nano pics.

 

[FutureInterest]

The tahitian moon sand is magnetic as well. I've had that and Nature's Ocean in my tank for years though with no issues. Tank is acrylic but I only clean with a scraper not a magnet. Thankfully the tank is small so it makes this an easy task.

I don't get hung up on the sand being perfectly black or perfectly white. In fact my uchins regularly poop white sand... so much so my sand is now essentially black and white mixed. That and one of my wrasses would only sleep in white sand so I mixed some into the black . I've had it running this way for years now and enjoy the contrast.