# black sand?



## Hayley4amigos (Dec 27, 2015)

What's everyones thoughts or experiences with black sand for peacocks


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## james1983 (Dec 23, 2007)

I hated it. Every speck that lands on it is highly noticeable. I just recently took out 100+ pounds and replaced it with white pool filter sand. The black sand is now filling a hole in the driveway.


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## Hayley4amigos (Dec 27, 2015)

oh me, not so good then. thanks for replying James.


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## JimA (Nov 7, 2009)

james1983 said:


> I hated it. Every speck that lands on it is highly noticeable. I just recently took out 100+ pounds and replaced it with white pool filter sand. The black sand is now filling a hole in the driveway.


 Plus 1 I had a 55 with black sand and black rocks with a group of Yellow labs. Looked fantastic, but like mentioned it showed every little spec of poo no matter how well I cleaned it or increased the flow in the tank.


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## fltekdiver (Sep 27, 2015)

I would have to dis-agree? I have black sand, but no fish yet , still cycling 

I do how ever have a friend with a fresh water tank, and pool sand, and it shows everything

Poo is black, yes it will show up on black sand, but stand even more out in white sand , no?

I thought and read this also when I set my tank up using black sand, I thought about mixing it down the road 50/50 if it doesn't work out


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## Hayley4amigos (Dec 27, 2015)

I can't decide whether to go for white or black now :/


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Why not do a combination of both colors? I like to mix black, brown and white together until I get a combination that appeals to me.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Choose what you like, since the fish don't care either way. I have both. Problems with black:
1-Feces is food-colored (brown) so it shows the same on either color
2-Harder to clean initially (true of any substrate sold for aquariums)
3-Harder to maintain as 20 grain works best (not sucked up by Python to grind pumps and household plumbing apparatus) and I have not found 20 grain available in black
4-The light brown colors look more like Lake Malawi
5-Some fish will dull colors over black. I did not find this with my peacocks however.
6-50 pounds of PFS costs $10 whereas you will pay $80 or more for the same amount of black sand

I have black in 1 tank and PFS in 7 and aragonite (beige) in 1 tank. I like the black, but I like the natural sand better.


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## fltekdiver (Sep 27, 2015)

That's great advise.

FYI to the OP, Petco had the black sand for around $11 a bag shipped on sale if you deceided to go that route


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

How many pounds in a bag?


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Do they even have Petco's in Scotland?


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## tanker3 (May 18, 2015)

LOL, I know, difficult to choose. I have black sand in my tanks and I love it. IMO, it does not wash out the colors of the fish. I even use "Black Lava Rock" too. So.............


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## JimA (Nov 7, 2009)

Pro's and cons for both.


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## fltekdiver (Sep 27, 2015)

20lb bags for I think $11.00 a bag. That's what I paid for mine from Petco on sale


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## Hayley4amigos (Dec 27, 2015)

Thanks for all the replys, I'm thinking now to have white sand, black rock and black background?? I have black river rock and white river rock so didn't know whether to do the black sand with the white rock or the white sand with the black rock.......

We don't have a Petco here in Scotland, we do have a Pets At Home store but i don't find they have a large selection of aquarium things, so i just do online shopping.


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## tanker3 (May 18, 2015)

Pool Filter sand comes in white and is really cheap.


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## BillD (May 17, 2005)

Black blasting sand, which could be any of a number of different slags, is as cheap as silica and available in #20, and #12. PFS doesn't have to be white, it can look like this http://www.redflint.com/pool_filtration_sand.htm. As well there is garnet (reddish) which is inert , sold as an abrasive in the same grit sizes as other blasting media.


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

I'm surprised to see some people say waste shows more on white than black sand. I have both in some of my 75g tanks and I find fish waste to be much more noticeable on white sand than black by a pretty large margin IMO. I like them both, but my 75 with white sand shows waste with in hours of doing cleaning where as my 75 with black sand takes a close up looking for waste to actually see it against the black sand. Both colors look good though so it's more a matter of what you like the look of best, a more dramatic looking tank (black sand) or a bit more flashy looking tank (white sand) can't really go wrong with either.

The one thing I will suggest though is to not waste your money buying sand from pet shops. If you want black sand go to Tractor Supply Company and buy a 50lb bag of Black Diamond blasting sand for $7.50 and you will be saving yourself a ton of money. It is 100% fish safe and is a really nice black with a little brown mix in it and looks great.


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## Hayley4amigos (Dec 27, 2015)

Great advice Steve C.

I'm in the uk and as far as i know we don't have Tractor supply here. But i will have a look online.


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Ahh didn't realize you were in the UK, yeah most likely no TSC there and shipping on a 50lb bag would kill ya. Check some of your local industrial supply stores though and look for the blasting sand called Black Diamond, might be able to find it there too, if you go the route of black sand that is.


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## Hayley4amigos (Dec 27, 2015)

Great thanks Steve C


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## Roger That (Aug 12, 2015)

I'm using CaribSea African Cichlid Mix Ivory Coast Sand in my 125. Yeah....I paid way too much for it at $15 a 20 lb bag at the LFS but it's the look I wanted. I thought about black sand but ultimately didn't think it was the natural look I was going for....unless I was trying to emulate a Hawaiian hardscape.

CaribSea is based on Florida's east coast north of me. I know from observing very closely that they are using Florida coast beach sand, at least they are for this particular mix. It is not really sand, it's mostly tiny bits of ground up pieces of coral and some rock. It is multi-grain in size and multi-colored from white to dark brown and all in between for a lighter toned mixture that gives a very natural look and feel to the hardscape. The fish love it and are constantly sifting through it, spitting it all over the rocks and digging.


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## james1983 (Dec 23, 2007)

Maybe I should have specified, my pfs has different colors in it so I guess it camouflages the poop better. With black sand the orange/brown new life spectrum poop sticks out more.


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## JimA (Nov 7, 2009)

Roger That said:


> I'm using CaribSea African Cichlid Mix Ivory Coast Sand in my 125. Yeah....I paid way too much for it at $15 a 20 lb bag at the LFS but it's the look I wanted. I thought about black sand but ultimately didn't think it was the natural look I was going for....unless I was trying to emulate a Hawaiian hardscape.
> 
> CaribSea is based on Florida's east coast north of me. I know from observing very closely that they are using Florida coast beach sand, at least they are for this particular mix. It is not really sand, it's mostly tiny bits of ground up pieces of coral and some rock. It is multi-grain in size and multi-colored from white to dark brown and all in between for a lighter toned mixture that gives a very natural look and feel to the hardscape. The fish love it and are constantly sifting through it, spitting it all over the rocks and digging.


 That's pretty much what I used with a 40lb bag of pool sand mixed in. The beige PFS toned the brightness of the white cichlid mix down.


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