black live sand

[MikeyZO]

A buddy of mine wants to start a tank and is interested in using black live sand. Anyone have any suggestions on a good brand and kind of black live sand? Thanks.

 

[masterswimmer]

Carib Sea carries a black sand. Shoot Timbo a PM. He's using it on his nano.

swimmer

 

[littlebuck70]

They sell black sand at pet co not sure of the actual name of it

 

[Alex]

carib sea has the Tahitian black moon sand but it's not live its dried out. Also available is Gray coast calcite from Tidal marine and Black beach from Natures ocean. Out of these I believe that Black Beach is the only one that is live,they call it Bio-active reef sand, and it appears a bit brown rather than black.
I've been looking at getting some black sand myself so I've been doing the research. Let me know what you come up with.

 

[lfsmarineguy]

We use the Nature's ocean in our nano display in the store. It comes out a nice slate grey rather than the dark black it looks like in the bag. No problems so far and the corals look great against the black on black.

 

[DAN-O]

Does the darker substrate change the look of the lighting onto the tank at all? Does it hold the heat more from the lights because it is darker?
These are some questions I would want to know. Anybody have any
experiences with these two questions.

 

[lfsmarineguy]

Haven't noticed any problems with the heat. As for the light question I think there is less glare from the tank. The light isn't reflected up from the substrate like with white sand. I personally like the dark sand look. It's different from every other tank you see and it makes the colors "pop" more.

 

[DAN-O]

i would think the corals stand out more and the tank probably looks outrageous with the actinics on.

 

[Alex]

lfsmarineguy do you have any pics of the tank ?

 

[Alex]

Personally I've seen the tahitian sand it looks nice, the colors of the corals standout more. The tank I saw is a friends tank, 34gal red sea tank with power compacts. I don't know how it would look with MH.

 

[lfsmarineguy]

My pics of it never come out as nice as it looks in person but I'll try and get a good one lol.

 

[Alex]

thanks, what kind of camera do you have? if you have a camera that has exposure compensation you can use it to get the correct exposure for the sand.

 

[MikeyZO]

I was on Carib-sea's website and I didnt see Tahitian moon anywhere. Do they still make it or was it discontinued perhaps? As for the Natures Ocean one, are Alex and lfsmarineguy talking about the same sand? One said it was more brown, one said grey. How brown/grey are we talking?

 

[Alex]

Here is the link, it's dry sand not the arag-alive. also the natures ocean I've only seen pics and the website so it appears a bit brown. lfsmarineguy said he's seen it in person,which is why I wanted to see a pic.

 

[nibalm3]

"Colored sands cause abnormal visual responses in some fish and inverts that have color vision. In some cases, the dyes used to give color leach into the tank's water. It's best to keep away from colored sand."
Coral Reef Aquarium, Ron Shimek.Phd (pg. 80)

 

[MikeyZO]

:lol: you forgot the link Alex.

"Colored sands cause abnormal visual responses in some fish and inverts that have color vision. In some cases, the dyes used to give color leach into the tank's water. It's best to keep away from colored sand."
Coral Reef Aquarium, Ron Shimek.Phd (pg. 80)

I dont think the black sand is colored using dye. There are beaches where the sand is black. Its usually a form of volcanic sand.

 

[Alex]

Sorry forgot, here we go
http://www.caribsea.com/pages/products/super_nat.html

 

[DAN-O]

i don't think these reputable companies would sell the colored sand if it caused any danger to the livestock in an aquarium.

 

[Alex]

I believe that is correct dan-o. in addition, the black beach sand is aragonite.

 

[ReeferGoneMad]

"Colored sands cause abnormal visual responses in some fish and inverts that have color vision. In some cases, the dyes used to give color leach into the tank's water. It's best to keep away from colored sand."
Coral Reef Aquarium, Ron Shimek.Phd (pg. 80)

the sands the have been posted are substrate sufficient for use in reef aquaria and they dont leach any colors what so ever. these sands are actually collected from beaches with black sand. most of the black is a lava and aragonite mix