Hawaiian Black Reef Sand

Augie P · Mar 15, 2019

Hey everyone!
Not sure if this has been answered or not I couldn’t find any info on it but was wondering if the Hawaiian Black Sand was safe for Sand sifting stars and Gobies and as well as fire fish and engineer gobies who like the move the substrate around. Looking at use this is my new 115 gallon reef because of the look but I don’t want it to be harmful to the fish and inverts I choose. Any info would be appreciated!

James M · Mar 15, 2019

Welcome to reef2reef !!!
It is safe for fish/inverts

Augie P · Mar 15, 2019

James M said:
Welcome to reef2reef !!!
It is safe for fish/inverts

Awesome thank you so much!

reeflover_3303 · Mar 15, 2019

Welcome
IMO it shouldn’t be used for sand dwellers. It’s too sharp for gobies but in a sense it’s fish and invert safe. Many people have problems with this type of sand
Any specific reason you want black ?

Jay Z · Mar 15, 2019

I have the Hawaiian black also.

My 2 cents on what you asked.
- its 2 coarse for gobies, and conchs to get under. Engineer, I can't comment on.
- snails have no issue
- sand sifter will have issues, can't traverse it very well, but can go up and down.
- it does have magnetic pieces in it, you drop a vortech wet side in, you have to pull it all part and clean it.
- need to pay special attention with mag cleaners also.
- over time, small pieces will settle below the bigger one, leaving a thicker look on the top.
- copods love it
Don't get me wrong, I love the look of mine and it works awesome for my mixed reef tank set up. Like a whole other world at night watching the critters in the gravel through the glass.

Just some food for thought before you get to far down the road.

Augie P · Mar 15, 2019

reeflover_3303 said:
Welcome
IMO it shouldn’t be used for sand dwellers. It’s too sharp for gobies but in a sense it’s fish and invert safe. Many people have problems with this type of sand
Any specific reason you want black ?

I just really like the look, this is the 6th time I’ll be starting a new tank and I’ve never used the black before so I wanted something different

Augie P · Mar 15, 2019

Jay Z said:
I have the Hawaiian black also.

My 2 cents on what you asked.
- its 2 coarse for gobies, and conchs to get under. Engineer, I can't comment on.
- snails have no issue
- sand sifter will have issues, can't traverse it very well, but can go up and down.
- it does have magnetic pieces in it, you drop a vortech wet side in, you have to pull it all part and clean it.
- need to pay special attention with mag cleaners also.
- over time, small pieces will settle below the bigger one, leaving a thicker look on the top.
- copods love it
Don't get me wrong, I love the look of mine and it works awesome for my mixed reef tank set up. Like a whole other world at night watching the critters in the gravel through the glass.

Just some food for thought before you get to far down the road.

Awesome thank you so much

Jay Z said:
I have the Hawaiian black also.

My 2 cents on what you asked.
- its 2 coarse for gobies, and conchs to get under. Engineer, I can't comment on.
- snails have no issue
- sand sifter will have issues, can't traverse it very well, but can go up and down.
- it does have magnetic pieces in it, you drop a vortech wet side in, you have to pull it all part and clean it.
- need to pay special attention with mag cleaners also.
- over time, small pieces will settle below the bigger one, leaving a thicker look on the top.
- copods love it
Don't get me wrong, I love the look of mine and it works awesome for my mixed reef tank set up. Like a whole other world at night watching the critters in the gravel through the glass.

Just some food for thought before you get to far down the road.

Awesome thank you so much for the response, in your opinion is it harmful for the starfish or gobies? Only thing I could think of is putting a Bella goby in and having the rock get caught and it suffocating which I defiantly don’t want to happen

Jay Z · Mar 15, 2019

Ive seen nothing to say its harmful. If they can't get underneath they adjust. Sand sifter is in good health, he just comes out to move from one spot to the next. No cut feet on my anemone, conchs, or starfish.

They can move it by mouth still, just can't shoot under it.

My conchs climb all over my tank, fun to watch them, excellent cleaners too.

S-t-r-e-t-c-h · Mar 15, 2019

Those magnetic pieces are metal and you definitely want those out.

Foothill Corals · Mar 15, 2019

I would do some research on the sand a lot of people have had issues with metal contamination from some brands of black sand.

Personally I would avoid it all together.

madweazl · Mar 15, 2019

Nature's Ocean bio-active black sand is fine for the reef, fish, conch, stars, etc.. I have all the above with this sand and there are no issues; no heavy metal problems, no sifting issues with the diamond goby, and the tiger sand conch motors through it without issue. Caribsea seems to be problematic.

Waynerock · Mar 15, 2019

I have had 3 tanks with black sand over the years. If you use a flipper glass scraper you are better off because rarely does the sand stick, I would say about 10% of the bag has magnetic properties. Hell you could dump the sand out before you use it and run a magnet through it and what’s there will stick and you can dispose. The flipper magnet does not go all the way to the edge so it safer. Yes it will stick but it looks better for me and I try and get crazy colored fluorescent corals and it looks awesome. It just looks so much cleaner over time. Plus after a few months it will take on a salt and pepper look, I don’t know why but it looks cool

Augie P · Mar 15, 2019

Waynerock said:
I have had 3 tanks with black sand over the years. If you use a flipper glass scraper you are better off because rarely does the sand stick, I would say about 10% of the bag has magnetic properties. Hell you could dump the sand out before you use it and run a magnet through it and what’s there will stick and you can dispose. The flipper magnet does not go all the way to the edge so it safer. Yes it will stick but it looks better for me and I try and get crazy colored fluorescent corals and it looks awesome. It just looks so much cleaner over time. Plus after a few months it will take on a salt and pepper look, I don’t know why but it looks cool

Thank you for the info! The tank looks amazing!

Waynerock · Mar 15, 2019

Augie P said:
Hey everyone!
Not sure if this has been answered or not I couldn’t find any info on it but was wondering if the Hawaiian Black Sand was safe for Sand sifting stars and Gobies and as well as fire fish and engineer gobies who like the move the substrate around. Looking at use this is my new 115 gallon reef because of the look but I don’t want it to be harmful to the fish and inverts I choose. Any info would be appreciated!

Any sand sifting stars are fine with the black Hawaiian sand I have what feels like a thousand little whiteish guys that come out at night

Augie P · Mar 15, 2019

Waynerock said:
I have had 3 tanks with black sand over the years. If you use a flipper glass scraper you are better off because rarely does the sand stick, I would say about 10% of the bag has magnetic properties. Hell you could dump the sand out before you use it and run a magnet through it and what’s there will stick and you can dispose. The flipper magnet does not go all the way to the edge so it safer. Yes it will stick but it looks better for me and I try and get crazy colored fluorescent corals and it looks awesome. It just looks so much cleaner over time. Plus after a few months it will take on a salt and pepper look, I don’t know why but it looks cool

What brand do you use natures ocean or CaribSea ?

Waynerock · Mar 15, 2019

Augie P said:
What brand do you use natures ocean or CaribSea ?

This one

Jay Z · Mar 15, 2019

S-t-r-e-t-c-h said:
Those magnetic pieces are metal and you definitely want those out.

Just the lodestone in the magnetite thats magnetic. Its not metal.

S-t-r-e-t-c-h · Mar 15, 2019

Jay Z said:
Just the lodestone in the magnetite thats magnetic. Its not metal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetite

Magnetite is a rock mineral and one of the main iron ores, with the chemical formula Fe3O4. It is one of the oxides of iron, and is ferrimagnetic; it is attracted to a magnet and can be magnetized to become a permanent magnet itself. It is the most magnetic of all the naturally-occurring minerals on Earth.