Black Sand Substrate

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hi all... thinking about geting black sand substrate... so how much do u think i will need in my 190ltr corner tank (it says 1-2 lbs per gallon on the net) but what do you think?? plus how long will it take to settle and could i do this in 1 day??? so thats water out into contaners, plants ornaments and my slate out, then put the sand in and everything else back in including the fish??? is it posible or should i keep the fish in a contaner for a while??? my contaners hold 22ltrs so should be ok short term...oh if i do get this black sand whats the best plant food to put under the sand??? hers a link to the sand im thinking of geting

http/www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CaribSea-Super-Naturals-Tahitian-Moon-Black-Sand-Substrate-20lbs-for-aquarium-/261046156540?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item3cc7903cfc#ht_1462wt_1344
or
http/www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JBL-Sansibar-Black-Natural-substrate-Aquarium-gravel-EXCELLENT-Sand-/270967155954?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&var=&hash=item3f16e6acf2#ht_500wt_1127

 

[Akasha72]

I changed to sand this week. It's not something I'd like to do again in a hurry but if you want to do it here's a run down of what I did

1. wash the new sand really well (I used 30 kilo's for a 110 litre) and stored it in a large storage box. It took several hours to wash it all so forward planning is a good idea.

2. Moved my snails and oto's in to my spare tank and took out the decor - bog wood, plants, rocks.

3. started syphoning water, filled a 25 litre storage box with tank water and put the bog wood inside to keep it wet and to reduce fish stress. Whilst it was syphoning catch all the fish and added them to the storage box with the bog wood. Added a bubble stone and a heater and closed the lid (cover it with blanket/towels if it's a clear box to also reduce stress)

4. Started scooping out the old gravel with my fish net and chucking it in an old bucket.

5. once all the gravel had gone I chucked in some warm water and cleaned the glass, the bottom and around the filter box and syphoned it back out.

6. Get the hose out and started trickling in some water and adding the sand (I found it settled better by adding water slowly with it)

7. level off the sand to how I wanted it and added the plants back. Checked the temp and added a double dose of stresscoat and King British Safe Water (bottled bacteria - I've had good results with it in the past).

8. put the bog wood back and started re-adding the fish

9. switched off the lights for the rest of the day to give the fish chance to settle in.

10. Fed very lightly after a couple of hour but they wern't that bothered to be honest. They were investigating their new enviroment and a little stressed.

It took about 24 hours for the water to clear. I washed the life out of the sand but it still stayed cloudy.

If there's anythign else you want to know just ask

 

[Tizer]

I would look at the Unipac black sand if you have firemouths, rams and other fish that like to sift through the substrate for food. The close up pictures of both those you linked look rather sharp to my eyes. I might be wrong.

 

[[email protected]]

I would look at the Unipac black sand if you have firemouths, rams and other fish that like to sift through the substrate for food. The close up pictures of both those you linked look rather sharp to my eyes. I might be wrong.

hi there yeah i looked at the unipac black sand and the grains are bigger in this sand aprox 1mm where as the stuff i posted earlyer is 0.2-0.5mm now im not sure which would be best ??? 1mm sand will surly settle better but is that the case ??? anyone got any knowlage on this ???

 

[Dieses Madchen]

I would look at the Unipac black sand if you have firemouths, rams and other fish that like to sift through the substrate for food. The close up pictures of both those you linked look rather sharp to my eyes. I might be wrong.

That's the same sand I have in my planted tanks, its actually surprisingly smooth.

 

[[email protected]]

I would look at the Unipac black sand if you have firemouths, rams and other fish that like to sift through the substrate for food. The close up pictures of both those you linked look rather sharp to my eyes. I might be wrong.

That's the same sand I have in my planted tanks, its actually surprisingly smooth.

which 1 ??? the unipac or the 1s in the links i put up ???

 

[Tizer]

well, obviously the Unipac one because she quoted me?

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Ive used both actually. They are both good quality. Either would be fine for fish that dig, as both are much smoother than playsand. THe price is the problem I have with it, so playsand works fine for me in most cases. I don't see a difference in the health or behavior of my fish either way

 

[[email protected]]

Ive used both actually. They are both good quality. Either would be fine for fish that dig, as both are much smoother than playsand. THe price is the problem I have with it, so playsand works fine for me in most cases. I don't see a difference in the health or behavior of my fish either way

ok thx.. yeah its not cheep its gonna be like £40 or $62 to do my tank with that sand but i like the idea of black sand lol... still a little unsure about it... so im gonna have a look in to the benifits of having sand... i supose its gonna be better for the plants to grow in for a start but how much better is it than just normal tank gravel... this is the stuff i had in my 80ltr tank before the bottom decided to crack
http/www.petsathome.com/wcsstore/ConsumerDirectStorefrontAssetStore/images/products/medium/24199.jpg
it looked realy good to be honest and was totaly gutted to lose it

 

[JDs4me]

I have just put 60KG of JBL black Sansibar sand into my 5'...its looks beautiful, better than the Unipac which actually looks a dark brown which I have in my 4'...to my mind better than the Caribsea Tahitian Moon, but certainly not as black as that one.

Took an underwater shot of the sand as its the best match to actual colour (darker in reality).

It is volcanic sand, very fine and rounded grains; the Caribsea has a glossy finish to its grains, is bigger and doesn't look as natural as this stuff IMO.

I found the JBL is a little cheaper than the other two I've mentioned, but requires some serious cleaning; I used some 60litres of water to clean 2kg of sand and took about 3 hours to do the 60kg...worth it again IMO!