Black Sand question

[ciao]

I was reading some threads on reeffrontiers and somebody was looking for some black sand. It didn't really occur to me that it was an option until I read that request, but I thought it would look really cool in your tank. Is there a reason why you don't hear much about people using the stuff??? Thought it would provide a really awesome contrast to your rocks and coral as opposed to the regular aragonite or white sand.

 

 

Just thought I would ask and see if there was any particular reason why you don't see more of it.

[Byrd]

Not sure why, I know when I bought my 2nd tank (used) that guy had used black sand-the picture of his tank looked unappealing to me-I think the white brightens things obviously and black just looked-well not 4 me.

 

Might be something said for the fact of the 1000's of reef systems-how many have black sand-theres got to be something up with that

[Rick]

I think you will find that black sand comes in 2 varieties. If it's aragonite then it probably has dye in it to turn it black which can fade over time, if it is natural black then it is probably lava (probably silica) based rather than calcium based. That isn't to say there is anything wrong with it as I don't believe silica based sand will do any harm. (Though this seems to be a debated issue) It doesn't have the extra benefit of the calcium that argonite adds into the system though. One other issue is that black soaks up light whereas white will reflect it.

[ciao]

Really good points! I knew there had to be some underlying reasons why and those reasons seem as good as any. I can imagine the black sand now heating up the water from the MH shining on it for 8 hours.....too bad though. Thought it might look cool. Anybody have any pictures or could point me to some setups that have black sand?

[Rick]

I ran a search for Black Reef Sand and found a few. From what I can tell most of the people that use it like it at first and then over time decide it isn't so great. Shows a lot of detritus and there can be issues with any sand shifters since the silica(glass) shards can get stuff in the gills. The pictures I saw didn't necessarily look bad but they lack the brightness that the white aragonite has. I.E. They look kind of dull. Just my opinion though. In reality it's your tank so you should make it the way you want it to look and other than a couple of small things to consider (lack of calcium may require more dosing and less buffering and possibly avoiding sand shifters) I don't think there is any big issue. (I actually thought about using it in my growout tank which is currently bare bottom)

[darrellw]

I have black sand in my tank. I like the look. The only downside that I've seen is that it is magnetic, so if you have a magnetic glass cleaner, and drop it in the sand it will pick it up.

 

http://www.pnwmas.org/forums/showthread.php?t=9806

[Rick]

I have black sand in my tank. I like the look. The only downside that I've seen is that it is magnetic, so if you have a magnetic glass cleaner, and drop it in the sand it will pick it up.

 

http://www.pnwmas.org/forums/showthread.php?t=9806

 

Hmmm. That's both interesting and scary. (Having sand with metal particles in it would scare me)

[reefboy]

the biggest thing you need to be aware of as I have 2 clients using it is buffering capacity, it wont help like agronite sand does so you really need to pay attention to your ph/Alk otherwise is very cool and there is place with black volcanic sand when diving so its not a unreal display to use it.

[reefboy]

and never had issue with the shards or picking up metal but guessing brands may very.

[ThePremiumAquarium]

I tried black sand in one of my smaller tanks and in my experience it was kind of ugly. It wasn't so bad at first but mostly turned to a brownish grey color with time and as the tank matured. I used the Caribbean Sea brand stuff though I am not sure of its exact origins. I didn't have any problems with it being magnetic but I didn't get the magnet close enough to the sand most of the time to run in to that issue. I have learned my lesson there lol.

 

I personally would only use a white substrate. I like the reflectivity that it provides for my corals. I also like the buffering ability of aragonite. I think that it really helps buffer the tank and stabalize pH. I eventually mixed in white aragonite sugar grain sized sand with the black sand and was much happier but ultimately was the most satisfied when I switched back to white.

 

I like to have a mix of sugar sized grains and a bit larger grains. I use Caribbean Sea Floor Special and mix in some finer grain aragonite sand with it like rinsed Southdown or similar. I also usually add in a small ratio of the larger aragonite sand just to get a few larger grains for building homes and adding structural security and such.

[Michael7979]

Joel had that one tank with black sand........... maybe he'll chime in too.

[Hoss]

I've also heard that because it is magnetic and gets stuck to magnetic glass scrapers it will often leave scratches, especially in acrylic.

[snowpunk]

I looked into it for my upcoming tank but decided after much debate that it just isn't worth it. People complaints about it range from the buffering, to the light reflectiveness, and people even said anything in the sand is a lot more obvious when you are looking at it. The White helps to hide little things but black seems to bring them out(scratch). The thing that really did it for me is a couple google searches. I couldn't find one image of a black sand tank that I even remotely liked. Some of them were nice tanks, it just didn't have that eye catching flare that I want to have. so I said skip!

[matty]

I had it in my old 40g. I hated it. Not only does it have no buffering quality it shows every bit of detritus and gunk that falls on it. It's like a black car that you have to wash all the time.

[CA2OR]

I have a friend that has black sand in his Ric tank and let me tell you it looks awesome. He hasn't mentioned a single word about issues with it....but then again I haven't asked.