Black Sand

[Loraxx]

I'm going to be getting a new 30 gallon tank soon and I have decided to go the sand route. I was wondering if anyone here knew of an aquarium safe sand that was black. I know Tahitian Moon Sand is black but the price is a bit steep and I haven't been able to find any play sand in black. Also, how much sand do you think a 30 gallon would need?

I also have to admit I'm a bit nervous about using sand, as I've only ever used gravel. I've heard some people say that their fish got sick after they put sand in, has anyone else had this problem?

And one more question, though this is a bit odd, I've read all 400 posts on how to clean sand so I know that you hold the sipion above that sand etc, has anyone ever sucked up their fish this way? If so, were they okay? For some reason, that has always been a fear of mine.

 

[Teelie]

I have a 10gallon with black sand and it took about a quarter of the bag, which is 20 pounds ao my guess is a single 20 pound bag ought to do it.

 

[Karah's_Mommy]

I recently got 2 5-pound bags of black sand from my lfs for $3.99 each. 10 pounds put just over an inch of sand in the bottom of my 10 gallon tank. I don't remember the name on the bag though, sorry.

 

[Fish Buddy]

I once sucked up a zebra danio in the siphon. As the water was collecting in a bucket, I was able to get him out and he was no worse for wear.
Hagen makes a black sand but I don't know how much it is...you can order it through their web site I suppose.

 

[Teelie]

I miissed the sucking up fish part. I've had Black Neons come near the siphon and female bettas but the only thing I've sucked up by accident was an apple snail once and an african dwarf frog who took a trip to the bucket.

 

[Sky042]

Black sand isn't cheap sorry to say it.
Tahitian moon sand may be your best bet.

Personally I went marble in the one tank mixing about 15 lbs of black with about 20 lbs of white and it's a very eye pleasing combination.

I'll have to let you guys know about the tahitian stuff as I ordered 40 lbs from bigal's and am waiting for it to show up.

 

[Squirrelbuddies]

I had a 29 gallon setup with the black tahitian moon sand. It was 30 inches wide and I only used one bag. It's very pretty especially with green plants. However, I prefer the color of natural (light colored) sand as the fish I have show up better with the lighter colored sand.

You definitely need to be faithful about cleaning the sand weekly though, because the fish poop shows up easily on the black - but it's easy to siphon off. I just make sure my finger is close to the hole of the siphon to keep the fish from getting sucked up (which means submersing your entire arm in the water.)

Here's a pic of what it looked like:

 

[Loraxx]

That is a gorgeous tank. After seeing that I am now quite set on using sand.

As long as I only have to use one bag I guess the price isn't too bad. About the same or a bit cheaper then gravel. I'm a bit worried about some of my fish disappering in the dark substrate but I like the look of dark alot better and I've heard that some fish prefer it. Plus I'm hoping debris is slightly less noticable on black then on white.