# Black or White??



## MCKP (Aug 17, 2009)

Going to be setting up a new tank soon - I have the play sand in my current tank but would like something different in my new tank.... I like black sand and white sand.....
Soo.......

What are the Pros and Cons of both??

And what types/brands would you recommend?


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## Cento (Mar 30, 2005)

IMO, what you chose is 3/4 personal preference. The rest is arguably driven by what fish you want and what kind of setup you have (filters, rock-work, plants, etc).

I've seen both setup quite beautifully. I myself prefer black sand (I have Caribsea: Black Tahitian Moon). They say that with brightly coloured fish, the black contrasts the fish, helping their colour to "pop". Also, I've read that black can have a "calming" effect on the fish, though I've never read any scientific data on that. Makes sense though, in theory.

If you go black, everyone who's a fan of black sand will tell you to get 3M Colorquartz. Its heavier then most sand so it won't get sucked up into the filters and grind down the filter's moving parts. Its also round so its very safe with soft belly fish and sand sifters. I wanted 3M, but it was gonna be too much of a hassle to get my hands on them. I like my BTM sand, but it was more of a pain to clean then expected.


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## cjacob316 (Dec 4, 2008)

i put black in my brichardi tank, it was kind of a pain to clean, i would advise puting a prefilter on your intakes to help, some say more so that white washes out the color rather than black helping it, but i really think it depends on the fish, since my brichardi are so light colored i felt the black would help, if you want blue fish i would go for white


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## larry.beck (Jul 31, 2009)

I just put white into the new 55gal I set up about 6 weeks ago and love it, but I also bought black and will be putting it into my old 55gal this weekend. I went with 3M colorquart and find it to be very easy to clean before putting into the tank and my wife seems to have no problems with the bi-weekly vacuuming either.


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## LKO316 (Aug 31, 2009)

3m sand is hard to find this day. I just called around here in LA CA . None are carry them or don't sale to public . :x


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## Ed_209 (Dec 22, 2004)

Cento: My 3M colorquartz is sharp. I have the T-grade. I think it's the S grade that's rounded. I wish I got that instead.
I also had a very difficult time cleaning it.50 pounds took hours. I'd go with the Tahitian moon sand in the chance it would be easier to clean.
It does look good once it's in there. My signature has a link to a tank with the 3M t grade.


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## cjacob316 (Dec 4, 2008)

yeah i just can't find 3m here and i heard it's been discontinued


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## cjacob316 (Dec 4, 2008)

they make a black flourite sand too for plants


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## Gerry Binczik (Jan 30, 2005)

Yup, the S-grade Colorquartz is nice and smooth (I love it!), but I thought even the T-grade is smoother than many natural sands?...

Your videos are awesome, Ed! :thumb:


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## MCKP (Aug 17, 2009)

Thanks everyone..... I guess I need to figure out what fish I am going to put in that tank first.... Was contemplating Discus.... I really like them alot and have been reading up on how to take care of them... It will be a 125 tank....

I will have to do some thinking as well as see what I can actually get around here.....


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## cjacob316 (Dec 4, 2008)

if you do discus, black would be nice, and you can get the black flourite since well let's face it with new world cichlids plants just look better, even the red flourite would look nice, but my lfs has discus in black sand and i really like it


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## MCKP (Aug 17, 2009)

Not going to do the Discus right now..... Have decided to do Labs, Greshakei, and Fryeri.... Plus I will have my Catfish and Shark in there...

Have to sell the current inhabitants first, then move them to the 125... We are then going to take our 55 and turn it saltwater.....


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