whats the best black sand ?

[reefsane88]

hey guys i was wondering wich black sand is the best for a reef tank, i have a all black set up and background so i was trying to keep it matching . i know some might be against the black sand ,if you are please tell me why ?

and if you have some share the pros and cons along with a image or two please

 

[Dekon]

I had it in my BC29 and really liked it. I thought it made the colors pop more. Just be careful, some black sand is magnetic.

 

[kotu100]

I have the fine black sand from petco as well as the black caribsea "live" sand, the fine black sand is BLACK and looks really nice and clean, however the particles are small and they do get blown about a lil more than the aragonite. The Caribsea black is more of a mixture of black sand and regular white caribsea.

I'll post up a pic when i get home from work in a bit.

 

[reefsane88]

thanx kotu100

 

[kotu100]

In these pics its pretty easy to tell the difference between the sands. The fine black sand is all black, the white specks either came from rock or the caribsea sand. Pics are kinda crappy but it gets the point across. Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[reefsane88]

kool so mixing them doesnt look bad at all ,i might have to due that thanx alot

 

[kotu100]

top left of the 1st pic is what it would look like mixed, blacker but with big chunks. I pretty much put all the fine sand on 1 side and the caribsea on the opposite, figured flow, CUC, and fish would eventually mix it.

I would go at least 2 bags of the petco sand for 1 bag of caribsea to keep it dark.

 

[dcforester1]

I love the look of black sand, but it always gets white stuff in it. I don't know if its bits of rock/coral, but thats when I think it starts to look nasty. Some don't mind the white, but it bothers me.

Derek

 

[Dekon]

Here is my BC29 before I upgraded

 

[reefsane88]

thats cool ,i really like the look of it and how it all matches,and them corals pop out like the green zoa i believe in the left back corner

 

[inverted]

I like Seachem gray coast. The gray color dosn't show crud quite as much as pure black. The only thing is the particles are a bit large, but they don't blow around which is a plus.

 

[reefsane88]

wouldnt it trap deitrus i didnt get much on the web

 

[inverted]

wouldnt it trap deitrus i didnt get much on the web

It's not that big. The worst sand for detritus, in my opinion though is fine sand, as you can't crank up the flow. With a medium grain sand, it's almost like having a BB tank, for those who prefer a sand bed. You can pretty much use as much flow as you want, without thought of a sandstorm. However, aesthetically, I like smaller better, and gray coast is on the larger side of "medium grain".

 

[reefsane88]

i rather have flow than a dsb ,so i think ill check it out