Problem with sand.

[h8z2luze]

So I got some black sand from a friend with the tank I bought from him. He was using it as a FOWLR Tank. I heard about running a magnet through it and if it stick to it then its not safe? Well I disreguarded that since he had used it but when I put my powerhead in I dropped the magnet for it and sand stuck to it. I grabbed an actual magnet pushed it in the sand and it was covered and it wouldn't come off easily. He said he ran a heavy magnet through it when he got it and it didnt stick. My question is should I be concerned? I know its not the caribsea. He said he paid 200 for it and id say there is probably 30-40 pounds.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Is the sand black sand?

All of it sticks, or just an occasional stray black grain?

The concern is that for it to stick, it must contain metals, and there is greater possibility of those metals dissolving and contaminating the water than if it were calcium carbonate or silica.

 

[akitareefer]

Even the caribsea black sticks to magnets. I ran black magnetic sand in my 90g fowlr/softy for 2 years with no problems. I'll never run it again due to sticking to my mag float and tearing up my vortechs

 

[Damon]

I'm running black(the Fiji) now without any problems besides the sticking to the magnet initially. But I upgraded to a magnavore and even that isn't a problem anymore. But with any of the sand and magnet, you have to be careful.

I honestly stayed away from the black for the longest or of reading the metals stories and fears. But after seeing a few extremely nice systems(been running for a couple years with the black), I went for it. The only thing about it, and this really isn't a con at all, is that you have to have truly sufficient flow. Before I put my powerheads in, you could easily see dust from your rock and other things on it. But after getting some flow, it looks great!

But me, I am not too concerned about any contamination in it now. That's just me..

 

[sprinklerdudes]

no pros or cons here, I ran it for a long time in a fresh water and a nano salt water tank with out any problems, I am running crushed coral and sand mix for the last 5 years because for me it is easier to clean , just my preference. Black sand does look awsome, but you do have to have the flow .

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Even the caribsea black sticks to magnets. I ran black magnetic sand in my 90g fowlr/softy for 2 years with no problems. I'll never run it again due to sticking to my mag float and tearing up my vortechs

There are different types of sand, and natural sands from a beach, whether black or white, likely have had the bad things dissolved away from the surface of the grains.

But a man made ground material, or worse, coal slag, may be very different, and undesirable (IMO).

 

[h8z2luze]

He said he paid 200 bucks for it and it was not man made and guaranteed not magnetic. But it is.. Its pretty much all of it. I have a video of me using a magnet in it.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-GuJEbBh-Q&list=UUYsfDnzWXDAkXK8RX1JiZVw

 

[Damon]

He said he paid 200 bucks for it and it was not man made and guaranteed not magnetic. But it is.. Its pretty much all of it. I have a video of me using a magnet in it.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-GuJEbBh-Q&list=UUYsfDnzWXDAkXK8RX1JiZVw

Lol, that's the same carib sea I'm running. I have it in my reef right now.

But here's the thing. If your that afraid to use it, don't. Simply from the standpoint of you will always second guess or have it in the back of your head. That's what I would do

 

[NanaReefer]

I'm sorry but that's just plain scary

 

[h8z2luze]

Well he had it in his tank with no problems. I have done a lot of reading since posting this and it seems tha almost all black sand is magnetic. Nobody has anything negative to say about it other than it sticks to the mag float.... Ive already pretty much put it out of my mind. If it causes obvious problems I will switch it out.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Well he had it in his tank with no problems. I have done a lot of reading since posting this and it seems tha almost all black sand is magnetic. Nobody has anything negative to say about it other than it sticks to the mag float.... Ive already pretty much put it out of my mind. If it causes obvious problems I will switch it out.

Sounds like a fine plan.

Good luck and Happy Reefing.

 

[h8z2luze]

Thank you for the replies! It took me all day but it is up and running.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjSLppzCPWg

 

[sprinklerdudes]

looks good to me.

 

[h8z2luze]

Thanks. It hasn't stuck to my mag float yet. So that's a plus.

 

[Cory]

Well he had it in his tank with no problems. I have done a lot of reading since posting this and it seems tha almost all black sand is magnetic. Nobody has anything negative to say about it other than it sticks to the mag float.... Ive already pretty much put it out of my mind. If it causes obvious problems I will switch it out.

As Randy hs said there can be concern if it has metals, the concern is what metals? If it's iron that may be fine, but if it's something toxic then your reef may suffer. Some things are very sensitive to metals like copper. I'd personally not use it, unless I was running a metallic binder like polyfilter.

 

[Cory]

From Wikipedia:

"Placer environments typically contain black sand, a conspicuous shiny black mixture of iron oxides, mostly magnetite with variable amounts of ilmenite and hematite. Valuable mineral components often occurring with black sands are monazite, rutile, zircon, chromite, wolframite, and cassiterite."

Of those I'd be worried about chromite but maybe Randy has a better opinion. The hematite is good I think and could be a source of po4 reduction.

 

[h8z2luze]

Thanks for the input. I will keep a close eye on it.