Metal found in sand during rinse using magnet

[Radu]

I was rinsing my Caribsea sand and noticed a large black flake in it.

Upon inspection I discovered that it was a coin sized piece of rusted metal, and after running a magnet through the rest of the sand I found many more particles.

To test for holes that could have allowed this metal to contaminate from an outside source I filled the bag the sand came in with water and found no holes.

I wanted to make others aware of this in case any of you have unknown metal in your sand bed right now.

 

[Azedenkae]

Welp :O

 

[Karen00]

That's not good!!!!

 

[JayA]

Wow, thanks for sharing!

 

[attiland]

I was rinsing my Caribsea sand and noticed a large black flake in it.

Upon inspection I discovered that it was a coin sized piece of rusted metal, and after running a magnet through the rest of the sand I found many more particles.

To test for holes that could have allowed this metal to contaminate from an outside source I filled the bag the sand came in with water and found no holes.

I wanted to make others aware of this in case any of you have unknown metal in your sand bed right now.

Now this would be the point I would put the sand to the bin or send it back and buy from an another source.

 

[ReefRondo]

I 100% have had this problem too! The only reason I noticed was parts of metal stuck to my flipper magnet and destroyed the front pain of my tank with scratches. I was and still am gutted about it and have completely fallen out of love with my tank because of it. Mine was Fiji pink sand.

 

[Karen00]

I 100% have had this problem too! The only reason I noticed was parts of metal stuck to my flipper magnet and destroyed the front pain of my tank with scratches. I was and still am gutted about it and have completely fallen out of love with my tank because of it. Mine was Fiji pink sand.

IMO, Caribsea should buy you a new tank. This would be so disheartening!!

 

[ReefRondo]

IMO, Caribsea should buy you a new tank. This would be so disheartening!!

Honestly it’s just horrible. Huge scratches too and very obvious to the eye. The parts of metal were almost jet black and even with close inspection of the magnet I couldn’t see them until I took it out of the water and rubbed my hand over the felt pad and there they were. Chunks of rusty metal. My tank has been a disaster because of this sand and I’m still finding bits over a year later. I really should tear every grain out and replace it…I have the fear of it happening again though. At least I know why every coral that has ever been in there has sulked until slowly dying.

 

[Karen00]

Honestly it’s just horrible. Huge scratches too and very obvious to the eye. The parts of metal were almost jet black and even with close inspection of the magnet I couldn’t see them until I took it out of the water and rubbed my hand over the felt pad and there they were. Chunks of rusty metal. My tank has been a disaster because of this sand and I’m still finding bits over a year later. I really should tear every grain out and replace it…I have the fear of it happening again though. At least I know why every coral that has ever been in there has sulked until slowly dying.

That is truly awful, especially if it affected the livestock!!!! :-( Did you contact the company? The company definitely needs to address this because obviously it's not an isolated case. Hopefully they provide answers about this problem. I nearly bought some of their freshwater sand. I'm not sure if the same problem is in that type of sand but after reading this I'm glad I didn't. I went with pool filter sand for that tank.

 

[dedragon]

I 100% have had this problem too! The only reason I noticed was parts of metal stuck to my flipper magnet and destroyed the front pain of my tank with scratches. I was and still am gutted about it and have completely fallen out of love with my tank because of it. Mine was Fiji pink sand.

I have found this being a problem in caribsea sand too, i used fijipink recently and didnt have the issue with it though, super weird, could be terrible quality control issues

 

[Blumy]

Have you ever been to the Caribbean off the beaten path? It’s a wonder a flip flop or plastic bottle doesn’t show up occasionally. Sad but true.

 

[Karen00]

Have you ever been to the Caribbean off the beaten path? It’s a wonder a flip flop or plastic bottle doesn’t show up occasionally. Sad but true.

Actually it's quite tragic which means we most certainly don't want any of that in the sand we buy. Yuck! It's also sad to think that at some point in the not too distant future our tanks will be the only thing left of a healthy aquatic ecosystem!!! :-(

 

[Sam816]

did they charge extra for that?

 

[ReefRondo]

I didn’t contact them as it was months before I fully realised what had happened. They need to sort this out and quick. I wonder how many people have left this hobby due to failure because of this sands quality issues. I’ve certainly considered it. Thankfully I have other tanks. Yet another huge pro for bare bottom…
I really want to promote this issue to try and stop it from happening again. Not to hurt the company at all though. I’ll send them a message.