Black Sand

ezee

ezee

Member
Hi all!
I was going to go with the 50/50 LS/PS for the substrate of a new tank but I saw that Caribsea has black sand! I think it looks really cool but I wanted some feedback. Does anyone have black sand that they seeded with LR? How does it look? Does it affect the folks in the tank?
Thanks!
 
squidd

squidd

Active Member
I had Tahitian Black sand in my 20 Nano for awhile...
Looks really cool when it was new and clean...
But over time light colored "stuff" builds up and it starts to look like...well, bad...
Sand washing off LR or new corals...caco3 ..."white" stuff that comes out of your return line when you turn it on...crab and snail shell particles....
It's an obsidian and does not have the "buffering" capabilities that aragonite supposedly does, but bacteria will grow on it feather dusters, worms, all the regular crew...pods etc...
And it does not "pack" or settle like aragonite it stays loose and can be blown around easily...
 
blitz99

blitz99

Member
they have an aragolive sand mix that is half black and half sand color...
i used that... so it's kinda like black and white mixed... i'm ok with it so far... i wanted all black but i also wanted something to cylce superfast so i went with this mixture... pure sand color is boring in my opinion.
all black would be awesome.
 
bowser220

bowser220

Member
Is your black sand staying clean and do you still like the white/ black mix? Is there any reason not use this type of sand?
Thanks
 
zanski

zanski

Member
i also use the black white mix. The only problem is the black part has bigger rocks and the sand snails over time have pushed them all to the top of my bed. Then the crabs moved them all to one side. I think im gonna change it. Ill post pics to show you what i mean later tonight
 
biggredd

biggredd

Member
No pic available but I have 120 pounds of the black and white argonite sand. It looks great. i agree the black has biger rock chunks that come to the surface. I've only had it set up for a month now but still looks great. I'd buy it over again if I had to set up a new tank.
 
bowser220

bowser220

Member
I am going back and forth on what I want to change to. Does the brilliant white sand get dirty quick? Black or white, Black or white, I am so confused. My tank is all black with a black stand
 
whitey_028

whitey_028

Member
I am using brilliant white in my tank andhavent had any problems with it "looking dirty". I have seen some pure black setups that look really cool but the black doesnt reflect the light like the white does. So imo if you are going to have alot of corals that feed off light then the black sand wouldnt be much of an option unless your adding buttloads of lights.
 
socalracer

socalracer

Member
i have seachem grey coast sand, its not exactly black but its close to it and it is a buffering substrate, looks good but i just set up my tank and i don't have the greatest lights so i have a little bit of brown algae growing, that is taking away from how good it usually looks, added to my cleaning crew hopefully that will help
 
steve24

steve24

Active Member
it to use the gray coast (black) sand... my tank has been up since Feb, not the best of pics but heres my tank...

myself, i like the black sand...
steve
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top