Black sand exerience?

[digidana]

I'm thinking of using the bio-activ black aragonite sand in the new tank. anybody have experience with it?

 

[omreardon]

I have black sand in my cube. I absolutely love it. I think it looks good and it has stayed looking nice unlike my white sand which always seemed to get crap on top of it or you could see layers of crap from the sides. The corals, rock and everything look great since the black really makes the colors pop.

 

[SushiGirl]

My black sand experience was the total opposite. It was dirty (detritus and little chips from rock are not black) within a month.

 

[cee]

Gotta go with the lava-based stuff.

 

[digidana]

i've done some reading, and it sounds like the lava-based stuff can actually have some magnetic properties, which could be a problem with the magfloat. and i like the idea of more of the sand consistency for gobies, snails, etc. i was thinking that maybe when it starts looking crappy that i could mix in some white for the salt and pepper look.

olivia...how long have you had the black? do you have any pics? which did you buy? i'm thinking of the bio-active which is supposed to still be aragonite so you still get the benefits. have you had a problem with bits of rock etc making it look bad? it seems like people either love it or hate it. i LOVE the look...but how hard is it to KEEP the look? thanks!

 

[SushiGirl]

The lava-based stuff will get stuck in the magfloat and scratch your glass. The consistency supposedly isn't very good for the gobies, but I kept a Diamond Watchman successfully with it. He couldn't keep it clean though, and believe me, he tried! I had a lot of trouble with bits of rock and detritus showing on it. When my tank got zapped during a thunderstorm & killed everything, I replaced it with regular sand. You actually won't have to take much effort for the salt & pepper look LOL.

 

[ironman2]

One of the locals here just switched to it. Personally im not a fan. the tank has been running for a few months with it and it really looks rough. you see a layer of brown detritus, you see any little spec of rock that has broken off, and all his magnetic frag plugs are full of the stuff so he cant move them or they scratch the glass. I think he likes the black sand, but he keeps buying snails and stuff to try and keep the sand stirred more. Personally i would avoid it.

 

[omreardon]

Here is an old shot of my tank, I don't have any new ones but it looks the same regarding the sand. I haven't had problems at all with stuff on top but I do have a sand sifting star which I heard was pretty needed with black sand. Maybe that's the trick to keeping it looking nice? I forget what I purchased, I think it was CaribSea Aquarium Sand... maybe... or not... I do know I got it at the Coral Reef. The tank has been up and running for about 9 months now I think. I have a gobie/shrimp combo in the tank and they have no problems making tunnels.

 

[digidana]

that looks really nice, i love the looks. i think i'll take the plunge...great tip on the starfish too. maybe i'll get one of those back scratchers that looks like a hand to rake it up if need be. thanks O!