Black sand

[Farid0926]

So I've seen more and more tank with this black sand. Can anyone tell me anything about it? Pros cons? I'm starting up a tank again but I want to have everything right and ready before I even start cycling it. What would you guys say is the best type of sand?

 

[DgenR8]

Black sand gets "dirty" looking fast, everything shows up on it.

 

[mlivvy]

I purchased some a few years ago to do a swap and it just sat in the garage for a year. It looks decent in some tanks but unnatural in most. To me it looks more like mud.

 

[Farid0926]

Hmmm I see.. lol scratch that off my list

 

[knukles55]

Agree with the other post I used to maintain a tank and from all the debris on the live rock getting into the sand work his sand bed ended up looking like salt and pepper.

 

[rovster]

Better off with black acrylic on the bottom or paint the bottom of tank black if you're after that look. I've also read accounts of certain black sands affecting water chemistry, but don't hold me to that....

 

[Farid0926]

Yeah I think I'm just going to spray the back black and use regular sand no big deal. Lol liked I said I had a tank 2 yrs ago and had 2 crashes that wiped me out. So this time I'm planning on buying everything I need and then start cycling it

 

[juniorrocketdad]

Ya I hear it just shows detritus after a while and ends up being more trouble than it's worth

 

[cfmx]

I have a 3 inch Hawaiian Black Arag-Alive sand bed with no issues I pick any larger white pieces of rock up and clean it every week with water change. It's been running for 5 years and is black and all my corals pop from the sand bed. If you do normal maintenance of your tank should not be a problem.