# Petco brand black sand....



## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

Well...I have my texas holey rock out of bleach and air drying for the last couple days....they look good.

I went and bought some black sand from petco...it is petco brand. Anyways....this stuff appears very dirty and I have rinsed, rinsed and rinsed some more and it still make the water in the bucket cloudy. Makes my hands kind of black with the dust. I think this is because they paint the sand.

Anyways...anybody else have experience with this brand? I want to add it to my tank tomorrow.


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## Guest (Apr 19, 2012)

13razorbackfan said:


> Well...I have my texas holey rock out of bleach and air drying for the last couple days....they look good.
> 
> I went and bought some black sand from petco...it is petco brand. Anyways....this stuff appears very dirty and I have rinsed, rinsed and rinsed some more and it still make the water in the bucket cloudy. Makes my hands kind of black with the dust. I think this is because they paint the sand.
> 
> Anyways...anybody else have experience with this brand? I want to add it to my tank tomorrow.


Razorback,

I've bought aquarium sand from petco and it was quite dusty. What I recommend you to do is leave all the sand in a bucket or whatever and stick your water hose at the very bottom so that way the water over flows out of the bucket. But make sure the water pressure isn't flowing out your sand as well lol. Just leave the hose running til the water that's overflowing is clear water. Remember to stir the sand around every few minutes for even circulation. I hope this post helps you out somehow.

-Phi(fee)


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

phister said:


> 13razorbackfan said:
> 
> 
> > Well...I have my texas holey rock out of bleach and air drying for the last couple days....they look good.
> ...


Well...I tried that but the o2 from the water was floating a lot of sand to the top and out of the VERY large rubbermaid container. I filled it up and stirred with my hands at least 15-20 times...at least. It is clearer but not crystal clear. I will go back out there and do it again tomorrow...definitely don't want to add and cloud my tank.


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## Guest (Apr 19, 2012)

Oh man, sorry for the lost sands lol.

That's probably the only best way I can think of.

Or you can do what I did for half my batch of sand, clean a good small batch of sand individually until you complete the whole batch of sand you have lol


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## frank1rizzo (Mar 14, 2005)

i use a pillowcase, it strains it perfectly w/o losing sand


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

frank1rizzo said:


> i use a pillowcase, it strains it perfectly w/o losing sand


I never thought of that...what a GREAT IDEA!!!

I just have to find one that does not have any bounce or other fabric softner on it.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

Well...I went back out there and stirred it up some more and rinsed rinsed rinsed. It appears as though the more I stir it up the cloudier it gets and the more black residue comes off. I am pretty sure this sand is painted which leads me to believe that I am rubbing the outer layer of paint off. I am just not sure. The sand is still very black however.

I went ahead and dumped all the water out and refilled it very slowly and it is pretty clear. I put a power head in there to keep it circulating throughout the night. If it is still clear in the morning I will probably stir it up again and rinsed it then add it to my tank and fill the tank very slowly as not to disturb the sand too much. I am hoping as they dig if they do stir up anything that my filters filter it out.


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## lilcountrygal (Dec 27, 2011)

I bought Petco brand black sand for my 55. I barely (and I mean BARELY) rinsed it and it wasnt cloudy at all? I was very careful how I filled the tank and I never once had a problem.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

lilcountrygal said:


> I bought Petco brand black sand for my 55. I barely (and I mean BARELY) rinsed it and it wasnt cloudy at all? I was very careful how I filled the tank and I never once had a problem.


I just finished installing it with the holey rock....looks great and clear. I will take pics later after the all the little o2 bubbles finish dissolving.


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## vann59 (Jun 20, 2011)

I think as a rule, it's best to just rinse a small amount in the bottom of a five gallon bucket. It's taller than it is wide and this makes the lighter stuff wash out without losing the heavier sand.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

vann59 said:


> I think as a rule, it's best to just rinse a small amount in the bottom of a five gallon bucket. It's taller than it is wide and this makes the lighter stuff wash out without losing the heavier sand.


I just gave up on trying to make it any clearer when rinsing. I put it in the tank and it is crystal clear.

I think that the painted rock the more I cleaned and rubbed them together was making the water cloudier.


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## lilcountrygal (Dec 27, 2011)

Cant wait to see the pictures!! I have black in the 55 and white in the 125. Certain fish absolutely pop against the black (yellow labs especially).


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

Ok....here are a few pics I just snapped. My camera is not the best and the rocks are so bright they put a glare on the back glass when taking pics....


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## vann59 (Jun 20, 2011)

You did good

:thumb:

Of course the rocks will get some character, but that's only natural.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

vann59 said:


> You did good
> 
> :thumb:
> 
> Of course the rocks will get some character, but that's only natural.


Yeah...they are already spitting the black sand all over the rocks..little buggers. I will have to wait to find out where they don't like to dig so I can get some live plants to put in those spots.


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## JAyliffe (Feb 29, 2012)

13razorbackfan said:


> vann59 said:
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> > You did good
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I have that problem with my sunken wood, the white coral sand keeps getting distributed over it by the mbuna.. interestingly my borleyi seems to think its food so he clears most of it back off when he's feeding!


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

JAyliffe said:


> 13razorbackfan said:
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> > vann59 said:
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Yeah...the sand is getting down inside all the holes in the rock. My problem with this is psychological....I have OCD so that exacerbates the issue. It jsut drives me crazy sometimes.


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## JAyliffe (Feb 29, 2012)

13razorbackfan said:


> JAyliffe said:
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> > 13razorbackfan said:
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Why do I see an excercise in rock painting somewhere in your future :lol:


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

JAyliffe said:


> 13razorbackfan said:
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> > JAyliffe said:
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LOL...I would then move onto something else. If I listed the things I obsess over in regards to this hobby you would probably try and have me committed.


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## cichlid85 (Feb 20, 2005)

Hi,

I set up a small 3 gallon desktop tank on thursday and used the black sand. It was not foggy at all in the water but alot of it floated to the top. Of course i was working with a small amount, maybe thats why it was clear. Glad it worked out for u!


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

cichlid85 said:


> Hi,
> 
> I set up a small 3 gallon desktop tank on thursday and used the black sand. It was not foggy at all in the water but alot of it floated to the top. Of course i was working with a small amount, maybe thats why it was clear. Glad it worked out for u!


Yeah...my water is crystal clear. I think I was rubbing the sand together too hard in my vigorous approach to cleaning. I really like it a lot. The fish really pop. The orange and reds are amazing against the black.


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## cichlid85 (Feb 20, 2005)

13razorbackfan said:


> cichlid85 said:
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> 
> > Hi,
> ...


I agree. I had a light sand in at first and i wasnt liking it for this tank. The black sand really does make the fish stand out. It makes the plants look brighter too in contrast.


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