Help with making a decision about a Black Sand Bed in Tank?

[HandsyLobster]

Hi All,

I have a question about sand. I really want to go with a black sand bed but have seen mixed reviews about some options.

1. Has anyone used the Caribsea Black sand. I know its magnetic but Ive also heard that it will stunt coral growth due to other stuff in it.
2. Ive heard to use carbon media for a sand bed. Has anyone done this or recommend it. The issue is I'm worried about snails and inverts who like fine sand with this option.
3. Should I just say screw the black sand and just stick this the basics with white sand.
4. I don't want a bare bottom its not my thing.

Any help or other ideas would be appreciated!

Thanks

 

[Raptor72]

Post in thread 'CaribSea Hawaiian Black Sand Can Poison Your Tank'
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/c...and-can-poison-your-tank.726493/post-12105730

 

[littlefoxx]

Hi All,

I have a question about sand. I really want to go with a black sand bed but have seen mixed reviews about some options.

1. Has anyone used the Caribsea Black sand. I know its magnetic but Ive also heard that it will stunt coral growth due to other stuff in it.
2. Ive heard to use carbon media for a sand bed. Has anyone done this or recommend it. The issue is I'm worried about snails and inverts who like fine sand with this option.
3. Should I just say screw the black sand and just stick this the basics with white sand.
4. I don't want a bare bottom its not my thing.

Any help or other ideas would be appreciated!

Thanks

I have this sand in two of my tanks. I went with 1/4th of the sand black and the rest white sand. Never seen any issues with my inverts and I have tunneling fish in both tanks

 

[HandsyLobster]

I have this sand in two of my tanks. I went with 1/4th of the sand black and the rest white sand. Never seen any issues with my inverts and I have tunneling fish in both tanks

Yeah After reading I'm not going to take the risk. How about using the carbon media have you used that before?

 

[littlefoxx]

Yeah After reading I'm not going to take the risk. How about using the carbon media have you used that before?

I use it in one tank only since I have tangs in my other tank. I was reading the other thread on the sand and Im not sure I would use it again. I have one 5 pound bag in each of my tanks the rest is all white sand

 

[Cichlid Dad]

@Reefer Matt has black sand

 

[OliverH]

I think i got another option for you. Dry sand and substrate conditioner.

 

[KQuillan]

I have a small tank with black sand. Never had any issues.

 

[Reefer Matt Verified Media Partner]

As long as you can go without a magnetic glass scraper, black sand is okay. It is volcanic ash, and has iron in it. This actually comes from the ocean this way. I have not had issues, other than scratching the glass. I have been using it for 5 years in this tank. But honestly, I am now removing it, and replacing with white sand. It shows the detritus on top, and turns white in some spots anyway.

 

[HandsyLobster]

As long as you can go without a magnetic glass scraper, black sand is okay. It is volcanic ash, and has iron in it. This actually comes from the ocean this way. I have not had issues, other than scratching the glass. I have been using it for 5 years in this tank. But honestly, I am now removing it, and replacing with white sand. It shows the detritus on top, and turns white in some spots anyway.

Your Tank is stunning! After deciding I'm going to go with a fine white sand and keep it simple. I don't want to take the risk no do I want to scratch my glass.

Thank you all for the help!!

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Your Tank is stunning! After deciding I'm going to go with a fine white sand and keep it simple. I don't want to take the risk no do I want to scratch my glass.

Thank you all for the help!!

Here's a better look at his reef

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I'm not a fan of black sand for the potential to release trace metals. Real ocean black sand is likely better than ground up stuff (even if from the ocean) since the most readily released metals are probably already washed away from the surfaces of natural sand (any color).

GAC semes like a poor choice. it is very light and will blow around as well as break into small pieces.

 

[michealprater]

I had black sand in my old 250 and I literally had to vacuum all of it out. I always had a brown coating on everything... I thought it was algae, but never could defeat it. Once I removed it, all of the brown just disappeared. Based off Randy's comments, it was likely some form of trace metal being released in the aquarium causing it. It looked very cool, but was not worth the nightmare it caused.

 

[twentyleagues]

I have black in my 30g now. I hate it, so dirty looking so fast. It shows everything like a black car. I wont use it again just because of this.

 

[themcnertney]

I'm going through this same deal right now. Looking to add sand to my tank so that I can do a YWG and pistol shrimp. I was looking at Pink Fiji originally, but like the idea of Black. After doing some more research, Pink is what I am choosing. It works better for me and my tank isn't high flow. The smaller substrate would soot a YWG better then the larger Black would. Pink Fiji is my choice.

Another option is Indo-Pacific Black, kind of a combination of both.

Indo-Pacific Black Arag-Alive! Live Reef Sand

Caribsea's Arag-Alive! Live Reef Sand is a great choice for new aquarists and new reef tank setups. Arag-Alive sands clear quickly and contain millions of live bacteria, speeding up your tanks cycle and leading to less nuisance algae. Contains live bacteria to assist with a faster cycle Grain...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[michealprater]

I really want to reiterate this.... you will regret black sand.

 

[mike_mania]

I have this sand in two of my tanks. I went with 1/4th of the sand black and the rest white sand. Never seen any issues with my inverts and I have tunneling fish in both tanks

Can I see a picture of how you laid that out? I was going to split the black with the pink Fiji. Thoughts?

 

[littlefoxx]

Can I see a picture of how you laid that out? I was going to split the black with the pink Fiji. Thoughts?

I think that would be cool. Basically I mixed it around initially and let my sand sifting fish do the rest. Put all the white in first and then the black on top and stirred. My eels love to dig so the sand looks different every day which is cool! Sometimes theres big black spots from their digging. Excuse the stuff in the water, I just fed the fish!

 

[michealprater]

Here is a video of my old tank with black sand. You will notice a brown coating on most of the tank. Once I removed the black sand, this went away in a week. It was heavy metals in the water from the sand. I would say I never used black sand again, but to be honest, I flat out never used sand again. This was the experience that pushed me barebottom forever.