# Tahitian Moon Black Sand for Cichlids?



## Demasoni17

Greetings all, new user here, hoping to tap into the expertise of everyone for this issue:

I am going to completely redo my cichlid tank and I was shopping for a new substrate. I have the "generic" red gravel which I hate so I was looking for something more exotic. I really like the black moon sand from Caribsea but the guy at the fish store yesterday advised me not to use it with cichlids.

He brought up the fact that you will get pockets of no oxygen due to the particle size which could release toxins if disturbed. He also thought that because they like to dig the sand isn't the best substrate for this species.

I'm just curious if anyone on here is acutally using this substrate in their cichlid tanks and if so, what problems have you had or maintenance advice can you give. Obviously I don't want to risk the health of my fish by pushing the cool looking substrate on them, but I really like the way this stuff looks.


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## tmds3

I actually went with the Black Beauty in my 55gl tank. The fish do love to move the sand around to the way they want, I also have it in a 10 gl tank and have not had any ill effects from either tank. I do keep up with water changes and swirl the sand because I have heard where it can trap gases . One of the LFS here that sells both salt and fresh put the Black Beauty in all of his fresh tank, over 1000lbs, so I figure if he trusts it I could to. Good Luck either way, Black Beauty is sand blasting sand that you get at Northern Tool or places like that, and must be rinsed very well.


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## spankdog

Interesting, thanks for the info. I was thinking of putting black sand in my new tank and have a northern right down the road from me.


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## cichlidfeesh

I've been using the black moon sand in my 55 gall, my 30 gal, and my 10 gal for years and I have never had a fish die.


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## tmds3

spankdog said:


> Interesting, thanks for the info. I was thinking of putting black sand in my new tank and have a northern right down the road from me.


You may have to ask for it, at mine they have it in the back for some reason.


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## tmds3

Here is my 55 with the Black Diamond, when I put it in the sand was level all the way across the tank, you can see how they move it around.Click the pic for the full Size version


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## Demasoni17

Thanks for the info and posting the picture! I have used the generic black gravel before but I really didn't like the way that it looked. I LOVE the way the sand looks and I really think it will bring out the color of my cichlids. I do have some more questions:

Looks like you have 2-3 inches of substrate, how ofter do you stir it up to keep dead zones from forming?

When you disturb this sand, does it float around for awhile? or does it settle back down quickly? I want to put this in one of my 75 gallon tanks, I run 2 Emporer 400 filters. Would you recommend shutting off the filters while you disturb the sand? I also read that this stuff can wreck filters if it gets into them.


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## tmds3

Demasoni17 said:


> Looks like you have 2-3 inches of substrate, how ofter do you stir it up to keep dead zones from forming?


I clean the tank once a week because you really see the poop on top of the sand, that is when I stir it up.



Demasoni17 said:


> When you disturb this sand, does it float around for awhile? or does it settle back down quickly? I want to put this in one of my 75 gallon tanks, I run 2 Emporer 400 filters. Would you recommend shutting off the filters while you disturb the sand? I also read that this stuff can wreck filters if it gets into them.


The first couple of times I stirred the sand it did stay floating for a while, now though it does settle down pretty quick. You can shut the filters off because they wont be off long, one suggestion is to keep the inputs for the filters at least 4" off the bottom. If you wash the sand really well it will take out all of the light stuff that floats. Any other questions just ask. I know I did before I went with the sand.


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## tmds3

Also it does make the color of the fish stand out, in the pic you can see one of my Demasoni and his color, and he is not the dominant one in the tank, the dominant one is even better colored.


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## tmds3

Couple of close-up pics


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## Demasoni17

This is awesome, I was pretty deflated after speaking with the fish store guy yesterday, he made it sound like all the fish would suffer if I made this choice.

Thanks again for your input tmds3, I also just found a video demonstrating how to clean the sand on here as well.

I can't wait to get going on this tank! Unfortunately I have to play musical aquariums (3 total) to try and get this to happen so it's going to take awhile. . .


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## Aura

I have the Tahitian Moon Sand in a tank as well. My fish dig in it and move it all around.

If you go with the TMS, rinse it really well before it goes into the tank. Mine was really dirty!


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## tmds3

Demasoni17 said:


> This is awesome, I was pretty deflated after speaking with the fish store guy yesterday, he made it sound like all the fish would suffer if I made this choice.
> 
> Thanks again for your input tmds3, I also just found a video demonstrating how to clean the sand on here as well.
> 
> I can't wait to get going on this tank! Unfortunately I have to play musical aquariums (3 total) to try and get this to happen so it's going to take awhile. . .


The fish guy wants to sell you a 20lb bag for 40 bucks , while the Black Diamond is 8 bucks for 50lbs.


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## Demasoni17

Aura, love the pics, what size is your tank?

Tmds3, I've found 20 lb bags of TMS for $20 from Fosters and Smith. I've never seen the Black Diamond before, would a store like Home Depot or Menards carry it?

I was thinking of getting 100lbs of the TMS for a 75 gallon (putting in about 1lb/gallon, + having some left over) which would cost me $100. However the 50lbs of BD for $8 is much more appealing and it looks about the same?


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## Robtheheretic

does the black diamond buffer your ph any?


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## tmds3

Demasoni17 said:


> Aura, love the pics, what size is your tank?
> 
> Tmds3, I've found 20 lb bags of TMS for $20 from Fosters and Smith. I've never seen the Black Diamond before, would a store like Home Depot or Menards carry it?
> 
> I was thinking of getting 100lbs of the TMS for a 75 gallon (putting in about 1lb/gallon, + having some left over) which would cost me $100. However the 50lbs of BD for $8 is much more appealing and it looks about the same?


Note sure what Menards is but Home Depot does not carry it, check at stores like a Northern Tool or Tractor Supply Co. it comes in different kinds but I have 30/60 in my tanks,(the diff kinds are on the bottom of bag) I only have about 60lbs in my tank right now


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## tmds3

Robtheheretic said:


> does the black diamond buffer your ph any?


In my 10gl tank the ph stays about 7.6, havent checked the 55 yet as I have the Holey Rock in there as well and all of the fish swim without fins clamped


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## Aura

> Aura, love the pics, what size is your tank?


It's a 38 gallon. I used it to grow out my saulosi, but they were getting too cramped in there and I moved them to a 60.


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## vfc

I use Tahitian Moon sand in two tanks with cichlids. It is definately my favorite. My cichlids love digging in it. However, it does cause some fish to darken. Below are pictures of one of my Frontosa and Titanium Flowerhorn that were moved from a white sand tank to black.


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## Robtheheretic

darken some...i would say alot lol great looking fish


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## rarefaction

Be careful if you use a mag float to clean your glass. I have found the TMS to contain quite a bit of magnetic material that gets "pulled" into the scrubber. I use a credit card within 2 inches of the sand to keep from collecting it and scratching the glass.


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## heatherrom

when using tahitian moon sand in rift lale set-ups, aren't you guys constantly battling pH drops?? I thought that the TM sand doesn't have any buffering qualities......


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## DJRansome

If your water already has sufficient KH and GH there is no need for a substrate that buffers.


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## Demasoni17

I'm getting close to finishing my 75 gallon tank where I will be moving my cichlids. I siliconed the background into the tank yesterday and I will let it sit for a week.

I ended up going with the TMS, but now I am getting a little worried about my filters: I use 2 Emporer 400's for the tank and I'm worried about the sand wrecking them by getting sucked into them. Is there any kind of cover that you could use (mesh? panyhose?) to put over the intakes to prevent the sand from getting pulled up into them?

I figure any time I clean the tank I will simply shut off the filters until things settle down, but do i have to worry about the fish digging a kicking up sand?

Does anyone use sand with Emporer filters? Any input would be most helpful. . .


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## tmds3

On my 29 gl I have the 400 with the sand, I use a small filter that fits over the intake to keep the sand out. You could probably use pantyhose as well since you can get them in black so they would not stand out. The ones I use are for the small whisper filter, fits right over the intake.


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## LKO316

Or you can cut your intake shorter. I would go 6 " above sand should be ok


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## TamponVampireTBag

tmds3 said:


> I actually went with the Black Beauty in my 55gl tank. The fish do love to move the sand around to the way they want, I also have it in a 10 gl tank and have not had any ill effects from either tank. I do keep up with water changes and swirl the sand because I have heard where it can trap gases . One of the LFS here that sells both salt and fresh put the Black Beauty in all of his fresh tank, over 1000lbs, so I figure if he trusts it I could to. Good Luck either way, Black Beauty is sand blasting sand that you get at Northern Tool or places like that, and must be rinsed very well.


I know this thread is a few days old an all but .. Is that Black Diamond really sand ? I took your advice and went to look at the stuff and I thought it looked more like slag to me. Should say though that I couldn't really tell because they only had one bag in stock and it was old and real dirty.


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