Black sand?
- Thread starter Rare Cichlids
- Start date
Is that supposed to be good?
Anyway, It would cost me several hundred dollars for that, and I know that there has to be some kind of good cheap sand available somewhere.
Thanks for the info JeffP. Can you recommend anything?
I have used Black Beauty in my planted tanks and found it quite inert - my ph 6.7 (pressurized CO2).
No real problems with it except that it is quite fine and shows off mulm in exposed areas, so you need to vaccum it regularly to make sure it stays cleanlooking and black.
I have kept amano shrimp and ghost shrimp in the tank, they are both very sensative to heavy metals and I haven't had problems.
No real problems with it except that it is quite fine and shows off mulm in exposed areas, so you need to vaccum it regularly to make sure it stays cleanlooking and black.
I have kept amano shrimp and ghost shrimp in the tank, they are both very sensative to heavy metals and I haven't had problems.
Thanks, Inxs. But actually the thing that I am most concerned about now, is that on the other page I was reading, the guy mention he had a fish die from injesting the sand, and it was cutting through its stomach. That worries me as I wouldn't be surprised if some of my fish got a mouthful of something once in a while. I think what I'll do is go around to a few blasting places and get about a cup of each kind of black sand, and then do various tests on them to find out how suitable they would be.
Read everything with a grain of salt. I guess anything is possible...even substrate sand cutting through fish stomachs. With regard to your other reference page, consider who did the "autopsy" and how the cause of death was determined.
To borrow one of WetmanNY's sayings...I'm "somewhat skeptical."
As far as leaching goes, IMO it's probably not a major issue with black beauty. I can tell you that the federal govt and many state governments have special programs in place to recycle slag-related wastes: abrasives (like black beauty), road bed additive, soil amendments in agriculture, etc. Leaching concerns seem to be of most concern for fly ash and bottom ash which are chemically and physically different than slag (which is what black beauty is made from). However, leachate problems could be a concern under highly acidic conditions (pH2/3) but these are obviously not tank conditions.
My suggestion is to buy a bag and see how you like it first hand. Put some in a white or clear bucket or spare 10G if you have one and see how you like the look of it wet. Setup one tank and go from there.
To borrow one of WetmanNY's sayings...I'm "somewhat skeptical."
As far as leaching goes, IMO it's probably not a major issue with black beauty. I can tell you that the federal govt and many state governments have special programs in place to recycle slag-related wastes: abrasives (like black beauty), road bed additive, soil amendments in agriculture, etc. Leaching concerns seem to be of most concern for fly ash and bottom ash which are chemically and physically different than slag (which is what black beauty is made from). However, leachate problems could be a concern under highly acidic conditions (pH2/3) but these are obviously not tank conditions.
My suggestion is to buy a bag and see how you like it first hand. Put some in a white or clear bucket or spare 10G if you have one and see how you like the look of it wet. Setup one tank and go from there.
i use coarse black sandblasting sand. i have had it for about 2 months now and have had no casualties. also, it is really cheap. i highly recommend it.
