Setting up another small mantis tank and I want to try black sand to see if I like it. It's an acrylic tank and I've read so many horror stories about the black sands containing magetite which sticks to Magfloats and powerheads and scratches everything up. Has anyone found a black sand the is tried and true to not be magentic. Not worried about buffering capability in this tank so black sand is fine. I also want true black, not white/black mix like many. Looking at the CaribseaTahitian Moon and Hawaiian Black right now.
Black Sand
- Thread starter jonboyb
- Start date
Tahitian moon is not magnetic. I used it in my nano and I use it mixed with Indo Pacific in my current tank. I cant comment on the hawaiian black though.
I can tell you this, black sand is AWESOME looking....for about 2 weeks. After that small bits of rock and snail poop and such will leave lots of little white specs all over the place.
I wound up sucking off the top layer of sand and replacing it with freash black sand every water change in my nano to keep it looking good. It sucked.
I would highly recommend mixing in at least 10-15% white sand to keep the work level down.
I can tell you this, black sand is AWESOME looking....for about 2 weeks. After that small bits of rock and snail poop and such will leave lots of little white specs all over the place.
I wound up sucking off the top layer of sand and replacing it with freash black sand every water change in my nano to keep it looking good. It sucked.
I would highly recommend mixing in at least 10-15% white sand to keep the work level down.
its not that big a deal, but I would go for something like fiji pink to mix with it.
The indo pacific I mixed mine with has alot of different sizes in it, and it mixed pretty well. Only places I get segregation are where the flow hits the bottom and blows away all the lighter sand leaveing larger peices of both white and black.
The indo pacific I mixed mine with has alot of different sizes in it, and it mixed pretty well. Only places I get segregation are where the flow hits the bottom and blows away all the lighter sand leaveing larger peices of both white and black.
Just so happen to have about 70 pounds of figi pink at my disposal
On another note, I could still go pure black and judge how I think it looks alone, how dirty it gets, etc, and if I decide I need to mix in white that can be done gradually during vacuming.
Won't be able to seed the black though....I don't know anyone running it.
On another note, I could still go pure black and judge how I think it looks alone, how dirty it gets, etc, and if I decide I need to mix in white that can be done gradually during vacuming.Won't be able to seed the black though....I don't know anyone running it.
There's been certain critter's I've never seen in my tanks seeded by LR alone but were everywhere in my tanks with a true seeded sand bed....most notably spaghetti worms. Had balls of them in the 2 tanks I seeded and I've never seen a single one in my 93:sad:
I have been running black sand in my 90 gal bow for about a year now. It's a shallow sand bed and looks awesome. I had problems with the snail poop and stuff from the rocks laying on top of it but with the clean up crew and watchman and two spot goby it keeps the top layer looking clean. I can't remember what brand it is but it was a pain getting ready to put in the tank. But its different and worth it IMO.
