OUsnakebyte February 12, 2011 Share February 12, 2011 Well, as I said on my closed loop thread, two weekends ago I reworked all my rockwork, and took all the sand out - sort of resetting my system. I've got the aquascaping all finished (I think), but I have yet to put any sand in there. For now, I am bare-bottom, but I really don't like the look (though I do enjoy being able to remove detritus easily...). My intention was to never fully cover all the tank bottom with sand, as I want to be able to easily siphon out detritus, so I only want a small, thin layer of sand/gravel just to cover the glass on the front and sides of the aquarium. When redoing the rockwork, I built two pvc stands to attach rocks to, so under those stands and the back of the tank, there will be no substrate. In the meantime, I have painted the underside of the bottom of the tank black to keep light from shining through at night (I leave the fuge light on all the time, and I felt bad for the fish). But, as I never intended to completely cover the bottom, the black paint helps out in that regard too. The point of all this is that I am really digging the black look of the bottom of the tank. I also really like Mitch's Sulawesi/Lembeh black sand tank at Omaha Zoo. I spoke to Mitch, and he said he used the CaribSea Tahitian Moon and that it ended up solidifying and he really didn't like it much. So, I was thinking this here: Black Sand I could care less about all the "Instant Cycle, add fish now, removal of this waste and that, yadda, yadda, yadda" business. I'll just add very small amounts over the course of a few weeks, enough to just cover the glass. I realize there will be less light reflected up from the bottom, but... I'm not keeping any reef crest acros on the bottom of the tank. Comments? Cheers Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbartco February 12, 2011 Share February 12, 2011 To each his own I guess. Seems unnatural to me, but I have never been to a black sand beach Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inspector February 12, 2011 Share February 12, 2011 It all depends on your personal perferance. I do like the black back and black sand look, but it doesn't necessarily look natural. Bottom line is: What is your goal? look natural, easy maintance, look cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
encideought February 12, 2011 Share February 12, 2011 I think black sand looks awesome, really makes the colors pop. Do you think it would make fish colors more intense too? I think I've read that for freshwater tanks, but I'm not sure about how marine fish feel about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OUsnakebyte February 12, 2011 Author Share February 12, 2011 Well, Sulawesi does have some black sand, volcanic beaches - I dove (dived?) a few there. And, when I was on the west coast of Costa Rica, there were black sand beaches there too. So, they do exist in nature, though I will agree that the coral sand is much more prevalent and well-recognized. I was also thinking about the colors and having more contrast, but that was not my main reason for going that route. Really, I've done the white sand for over ten years now - I guess I was just looking to try something new. I can always siphon it out if I don't like it, huh? Cheers Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu February 12, 2011 Share February 12, 2011 I used black sand on a ricordea garden nano I kept a few years ago. It looked amazing at first and really made the corals pop. Over time, though, pieces of live rock, detritus, hermit shells, epoxy from frags, and basically any small pieces of rubble (which were usually white, grayish, or coralline purple) would accumulate on the sand. It became a real pain to keep it clean. I would only do it if you know you're going to be dedicated enough to pick or siphon those little bits off on a regular basis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FearTheTerps February 12, 2011 Share February 12, 2011 Ive wanted to do black sand in one of my set ups as well, but I always hear about the sand getting dirty and not keeping the black color. So my thought was to mix the black sand with another blend of sand that some black in already mixed in like Caribsea Arag-Alive Indo-Pacific Black . I figured I would mix 2 parts hawaiian black to one part indo pacific black, I think that would give it a much darker look then just the indo-pacific, but with having some of the "white" in there it wouldnt look dirty like the pure black would look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDiver February 13, 2011 Share February 13, 2011 i have black sand in my 120 and love it....it makes all my corals pop.I've always wondered why you never see reef tanks with black sand so i decided i'd do something different this time around and i really liked how it looked.As for the natural factor, it really depends on what you mean by natural.Sure you never see black sand in the GBR where all the nice acroporas grow but then black sand is everywhere in Lembeh so in that sense, it is natural. this is the stuff i use... http://www.livesand.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OUsnakebyte February 13, 2011 Author Share February 13, 2011 (edited) Hmmm... I hadn't thought of the dirty look. That's something to consider. i have black sand in my 120 and love it....it makes all my corals pop.I've always wondered why you never see reef tanks with black sand so i decided i'd do something different this time around and i really liked how it looked.As for the natural factor, it really depends on what you mean by natural.Sure you never see black sand in the GBR where all the nice acroporas grow but then black sand is everywhere in Lembeh so in that sense, it is natural. this is the stuff i use... http://www.livesand.com Yeah, Mitch's tank was modeled after a trip he took to Lembeh - and my trip to Sulawesi is what got me thinking about it. Do you have a photo of your tank you could share? Thanks again everyone. Cheers Mike Edited February 13, 2011 by OUsnakebyte Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDiver February 14, 2011 Share February 14, 2011 Hmmm... I hadn't thought of the dirty look. That's something to consider. Yeah, Mitch's tank was modeled after a trip he took to Lembeh - and my trip to Sulawesi is what got me thinking about it. Do you have a photo of your tank you could share? Thanks again everyone. Cheers Mike i haven't posted a recent FTS in a while, i will try to take one for ya tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trockafella February 14, 2011 Share February 14, 2011 Ive wanted to do black sand in one of my set ups as well, but I always hear about the sand getting dirty and not keeping the black color. So my thought was to mix the black sand with another blend of sand that some black in already mixed in like Caribsea Arag-Alive Indo-Pacific Black . I figured I would mix 2 parts hawaiian black to one part indo pacific black, I think that would give it a much darker look then just the indo-pacific, but with having some of the "white" in there it wouldnt look dirty like the pure black would look. I use this indo-pac black sand, I really like it. Gives you a nice contrast, and I feel a natural look as well.. Though I do like the all black sand as well.. There is a tank on RC with all black and some crazy colored corals on the bottom.. It really is all in the eye of the beholder.!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigWyll February 14, 2011 Share February 14, 2011 I second the caution on black sand cleaning. though i think I fall into the black sand isn't for beginners category, I did have to rake, siphon, and remove "contaminated" black sand and add a fresh coat to the top every once in a while to keep the clean black look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jager February 14, 2011 Share February 14, 2011 http://www.livesand.com/ has "black" sand though their non live sand natures ocean black aragonite is more a greyish mix then true silicate black sand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FearTheTerps March 6, 2011 Share March 6, 2011 I know its been awhile since your first post but I finally got my black sand, and a battery charger for my camera which I lost. Anyways, heres of a pic of my sand and why I like it so much. I used Natures Ocean brand, it was 40 pounds of the black sand and 10 pounds of their natural white mixed together. Overall I love the look of it, but the part I like best is looking at it up close. The black sand is not entirely black. Theres black, grey, green, brown, even some red. There are also lots of pieces that are fairly large, as you can see in the picture. Theres alot of flow in this area so the smaller particles of sand have blown away leaving behind the colorful large pieces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vadim March 6, 2011 Share March 6, 2011 that looks awesome feartheterps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilary March 6, 2011 Share March 6, 2011 I'm using black sand in two of my smaller tanks, and really like the look. For awhile the sand in the horse tank really did look "dirty" with detritus kicked up by the snapping shrimp, but once I picked up the flow it looks great (I think). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OUsnakebyte March 7, 2011 Author Share March 7, 2011 (edited) So, I did end up trying the black aragonite from livesand.com, and as others have stated it isn't completely black, but more of a very dark grey, almost dark charcoal or ash. But, do I like it? Well, for now it's okay; it might grow on me more. I do have a trachyphyllia and elegance sitting on the bottom, and yes, they do very much "pop" when fully inflated. I'll have to see how it compares when the corals on the upper rims grow out (montis, acros, etc.). If I don't like it, then I'll just siphon it out and add back in some white... Thanks all for the thoughts. Cheers Mike Edited March 7, 2011 by OUsnakebyte Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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