black sand

[uclajay]

does anyone have a reef with black sand? i saw one a long time ago and thought it was one of the coolest things... if anyone has one, can you post some pictures... i've been thinking about using it in my tank...

 

[reefnetworth]

the only ive seen was fine grain, and not suitable for reefs. i have Carib-Sea, "Caribiean" mix. its black volcanic sand and aragonite. $8.99 for 20 pounds. REEF-ON!

 

[essexboy73]

yea they look great but i think they are hard to keep clean..

 

[thor32766]

there has been quite a few people on this board who have it. looks really sweet in my opionion.

 

[EnderG60]

yup its very cool looking but its a MAJOR PITA to keep looking good.

It only looked like that for about 3-5 days, and every time i did a water change I had to suck out the top layer of sand and put some new freash stuff in. Went through a 20lb bag in about 8 months.

I would go with the half and half aragalive stuff if I did it again, that way all the white bits dont stand out so much.

 

[uclajay]

reefnetworth: where can i get that mix for 8.99/ 20lbs... is it the stuff i see at Petsmart.com - "Tahitian Moon Black Sand"... I'm glad i posted this because i didn't know that there would be a problem with the substrate being too fine...

 

[thor32766]

yeah petsmart does carry it.

 

[EnderG60]

Tahitian Moon is what I was using, it was fine for me. Its about the same size as aragalive fiji pink sand(which most people use) if you need something larger sea chem makes a black substrate thats almost gravel size you might want to look into

 

[Ludwigia73]

Here's mine... loved that tank

 

[Ludwigia73]

by the way, only problem is that black sand makes your tank "need" more light. It absorbs the light instead of reflecting it. Also, detritus shows up better. All things being equal, I'd definitely do it again. That tank had 192w of power compacts over 18 gallon tall viaaqua.

 

[Philwd]

My reef is black sand. I keep it clean through strong undertow created by my Vortechs. It may look a little darker but I really like the contrast between the black sand and oranges/reds. The type I use is also Tahitian Moon Black sand.

 

[thor32766]

those tanks that do have it are pretty sweet