Switching to black sand.

[boosted chemist]

I see some people use it, looks cool, any negative effects? Im moving in a few weeks, breaking down the tank (only a nano) but figure set it up with the black sand would be optimal now. Has anyone have had problems with it?

I REALLY hate the white sand as of now.

 

[Willistein]

I don't like the stuff because it shows everything, kinda like a black car. ...and I have a black car. Coralline will make it look "white" eventually too.

 

[Geoff_Poz]

I would think if you get a diamond goby the sand would constantly be getting turned, so it would look good for quite a long time. I have no experience with this though, so ...

 

[boosted chemist]

I don't like the stuff because it shows everything, kinda like a black car. ...and I have a black car. Coralline will make it look "white" eventually too.

I love my black car, idk i have 6 nas snails and a conch on the bed, so its always moving around. I just hate the white sand for some reason, maybe barebottom?

 

[boosted chemist]

I would think if you get a diamond goby the sand would constantly be getting turned, so it would look good for quite a long time. I have no experience with this though, so ...

I had one of those, absolutly hated it, piled sand, not moved it. :mad2:

 

[Eastamherstbias]

Black sand is great! I had people tell me how bad black sand was for years (heat, leeching). I researched and called Caribsea. They sent me a sample of Hawaiian Black and I spoke to customer service. I have had it for almost a year. I like that it has a wide range of grain size.

 

[boosted chemist]

Cool, no problems with calc or alk? I think it will help my acans pop better against the black bottom compared to white. Does arc sell the black sand?

 

[Eastamherstbias]

I dose both so I have never noticed a problem.

 

[boosted chemist]

Yeah your tank looked great with the black substrate, im def going to switch now.

 

[pascal32]

Caribbian sea is nice, saw another brand recently and it looked brown

 

[amazo]

I just started a seahorse tank using black sand,I used some dark blue and never had any issues in my 55gal.

 

[Eastamherstbias]

Yes, it is a nice change from white. I am happy with it.

 

[tmz]

I think it looks nice. The only downside I can think of would be a loss of reflective light off the bottom which may/may not be significant depending on the corals kept and overall lighting used.

 

[sscat22]

The black will look sick, but less reflection from the light

 

[Eastamherstbias]

It is not a light black hole! That is the rumor that stopped me years ago and it is not the case. When you have 2x250w mh you have enough light. It makes your sand corals pop. Par numbers are still good.

 

[toddmh]

I've been using black sand for about 2 years,I love it..It's not so fine that you get sand storms and dunes,but it is fine enough for my leopard wrasse to bury himself in..

It will get a salt and pepper look after a wile,no way around it with live rock around,but even then it still looks way cool..

The only down side for me is..being volcanic sand you have to watch out for some being caught in your glass magnet,it may scratch your tank..

I just put 120 lbs in my 200 build,looks awesome

 

[boosted chemist]

Which black sand are you running todd? I saw the hawaii stuff, with the larger pieces in it, really dig it, I was thinking the Tahiti moon particle size was probably too small.

thanks for the feedback guys.

 

[toddmh]

CaribSea Tahitian Moon Black Sand,perfect size imo

 

[Eastamherstbias]

Caribe Sea Hawaiian Black- Lots of different sand sizes. 5-20lb bags.

 

[toddmh]

Caribe Sea Hawaiian Black- Lots of different sand sizes. 5-20lb bags.

this sand is really fine compared to the sand I use..