# black tahitian moon sand?



## ebjdftw (Aug 24, 2010)

was thinking about switching to this rather than black gravel. anyone have any suggestions, comments, pictures of their tanks with the sand in it? thanks


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## BioG (Oct 12, 2008)

I have moon sand in a few of my tanks. It's very pretty and, as my fish originate from a sand covered environment, they seem to enjoy it.

However, I learned real quick not to use an algae pad anywhere near the bottom as it picks up gravel and scratches glass and acrylic! So now I use the pad above and a long razor for the bottom.

It's also tough to clean as you would gravel. Some people kink the hose to avoid too much suction but I us reducers in the form of different sized hoses. It only takes two phases of reduction to keep the majority of the sand out of the hose.

Be sure to keep your filter intake at a higher water level, I would say at least 6-8 inches off the bottom to keep little grains of sand from entering the filter and destroying it.

Moon sand is all black and it's tough to keep pure black, especially if you have snails. When the snails die their shells break down and are broken up as you clean creating new brown grains of sand which, eventually make the sand look mixed. Every 2 years I completely replace my moon sand, just to keep it pretty.

This all makes sand sound impractical, however, look wise I feel it's unmatched. Seems very natural and the fish, if they dig, create their own sort of topography throughout the tank.

good luck

some one year old moon sand








After two years looks like this


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## jrf (Nov 10, 2009)

I have it in a 30 gallon. It looks good and the fish seem ok with it. However, the brand I have was a pain to rinse and it blows around a bit too easy.


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## Jmanolinsky (Jun 4, 2010)

I have the black tahitian moon sand in my 60 gallon mbuna tank. I like it a lot. Watch the video in the library on vacuuming tips. I use a bucket to catch the sand that gets sucked up and usually have about a handful to put back in the tank. I didn't shorten my filter inlets, but my tank is 24" tall. Always be sure to turn the filters off while cleaning and you should be fine. Here is a photo of it in my tank. Bad picture of the fish, but the sand looks good!


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## BillD (May 17, 2005)

That looks just like my black blasting sand.


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## Metroballah (Aug 26, 2010)

I have it in my 40 gallon breeder tank mixed with aragonite sand to keep my ph high for my african cichlids. I have had it for 3 years fish love it


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