black sand?

[ando88]

I have white sand in my tank but I wished I had put in black sand.. The corals seem brighter looking.

 

[LauraCline]

I had black sand in one of my setups and it looked nice at first but I found it difficult to keep clean. Little pieces of rock and shell would inevitably end up on the sand and of course show up very well. In order to keep it looking clean, I spent a ton of time with a long handled plastic scoop. Even then, it was hard to get every bit of it out.

 

[wrestle1952]

I'm wondering where people are getting that black sand is unnatural?? The Big Island in Hawaii has black and green sand beaches. There are also coral reefs growing in those areas. Please define what people are calling natural? I've used black sand and liked it. I am currently using white sand due to the fact I couldn't find black sand at the time I started my current tank. When I get a bigger tank I will revert back to black sand. The reflection of light off the sand is not really a major factor in lighting your tank in fact it is miniscule. Ask people that use no substrate on the bottom of their tanks. Fish coloration is determined by diet not sand.

 

[syrinx]

Rabbitfish- some tangs and many groupers will be darker and less attractive on black sand.

 

[fishnub]

buddy of mine has black sand and it looks amazing. i will try to post up a pic

 

[mal1099]

i use black sand in my tank and my regal tang looks awesome as well as the other 2 fish i have in my 52 cube. but i will say keeping it clean sucks. Algea and debris stand out alot on it.

 

[ducatimikep]

 

[azsaltman]

I always loved the look of black sand, (When it was clean)

But keeping it clean was the hard part, and my gobies never took to it (Never sand sifted like they should've)

I think it was too coarse personaly.

 

[CBMullen]

+1 on black sand being hard to keep clean.. I actually went with it thinking it would be easier to keep clean vs. white sand but it does show empty shells to well and also that it tends to appear less black than when originally added. I am not sure positive this is from longevity or detritus but either way was not the look I wanted. Not sure what the answer is since white is great if clean and black is great if cleaner than any other lol..!~