Hawaiian Black Rust?

[cosigner]

So I had decided on Hawaiian Black Sand for my 40B build and went to Petco today just to browse. I was looking at their prices on sand and saw rust all in the bag... the picture is only one spot, there were several.

What gives? Hopefully this was just a single event as the other bags didn't have any sign of rust.

I'll be going with Bahamas Oolite now...

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[tbub1221]

I don't think its rust unless that bag is just contaminated.
I have the same sand and it also has the red pieces in it.
I think its just volcanic rock rubble .
I could be wrong does it look like this ?

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After looking again it does look like something sat on it rusting.

 

[ringo®]

Isn't a lot of black sand iron based?

 

[cosigner]

Maybe it doesn't show up very well in the picture, but I'm referring to thr

Edit: ...the spots of rust on the inside of the plastic.

Edit: Just saw the last bit of your post. I also thought that it was just on the outside of the bag, but I tried to scrape it off and it was definitely on the inside of the bag.

 

[jbadd99]

Cosigner;933966 wrote:
I'll be going with Bahamas Oolite now...

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Skip the Oolite or you will hate yourself in six months... Ask me how I know :lol2:

Go with something a little heavier. Otherwise it will blow all over the place (I run 3-4 Koralia 1400's on my 120g). I had the sand moved out when I did a tank move in October and I couldn't be happier since then.

 

[tbub1221]

jbadd99;934053 wrote: Skip the Oolite or you will hate yourself in six months... Ask me how I know :lol2:

Go with something a little heavier. Otherwise it will blow all over the place (I run 3-4 Koralia 1400's on my 120g). I had the sand moved out when I did a tank move in October and I couldn't be happier since then.

+1 its light weight makes it get everywhere and it won't settle.
My pumps especially don't like it because the size and weight is just rite to stop things up.

Maybe look for another batch of sand , but either way gfo is made from and is iron rust and there are more than a few rusty ship hull's lying in the shallow reefs covered in all manor of life .

I would not intentionally introduced it to my system but in the event there was a little its not as harmful as soft metals such as copper and aluminum.
I found a screw beginning to rust in my sump a few months ago and did a fair amount of research on possible side effects but never saw any that I could tell.
Never discovered where the screw came from either.

 

[indecloudzua]

I mixed my oolite with a bag of crushed coral . stopped the sand from blowing away. Oolite by itself was a pita. Not sure what could be causing the rust in that sand.

 

[cosigner]

Thanks for the advice on the Oolite. It's just so nice looking!

I was dead set on black sand, but after I saw just how much red and white is mixed in it, I changed my mind. It look too much like freshwater substrate to me.

As for the rust, your probably right about some iron accidentally being sucked up and sold.

I think I'm still going to go with the Oolite. I have it in my 14G and like it, however it my be a different story as there will be more flow in this 40B I'm building. I like the small sand size because it makes the tank look larger than it is... kinda how freshwater tanks use tiny plants to achieve a larger looking tank.

Edit:

Tbub1221;933971 wrote: I don't think its rust unless that bag is just contaminated.
I have the same sand and it also has the red pieces in it.
I think its just volcanic rock rubble .
I could be wrong does it look like this ?

alt="" /></a>
After looking again it does look like something sat on it rusting.

Are you happy with your black sand? It was looking good to me until I saw it in person and I was turned off. Does it look better once it's in the tank and set up?

Edit: I was also thinking about the white and black pacific sand, but it just looks like an ashtray in the adds.

 

[tbub1221]

I like it , it looks really good and stays put.
I have some white sand mixed in with it in one tank and the black alone in the other .
IMO it makes the natural irredesance colors seem brighter under the moon lighting but other than looking sweet there is no benefit nor negative aspects about it that I know of.