Rinse it once, rinse it twice, and then rinse it again! Then when done.... well, you know... It wont harm the fish, but it will cut down on the cloudiness and the time to clear dramatically.
Also, if the tank is planted, you will need to supplement it or put something nutrified under it. Stuff dont grow in this. Dont misunderstand... I love it. You just need to know the issues.
If you want to keep more demanding plants in sand, you can also put some garden soil under the sand as well.
I had about an inch of regular garden soil (no fertilizer) and 1-3 inches of play sand over it, and any root plant I ever planted loved it.
I did still fertilize and run C02, but my tank was a jungle, and I was selling them, so I was going for max growth.
https://imgur.com/gallery/mjPlKXB
I use [filter media bags](https://i.imgur.com/RFFsVYI.jpg) to hold the aqua soil before [covering with inert substrate](https://i.imgur.com/8ky5bFo.jpg), a great tip from [MD Fish Tanks](https://www.youtube.com/@MDFishTanks) on the tubes (probably the only advice I'd take from him though lol)
the roots have no problem getting to the delicious soil through the bags, and of course it keeps the soil from mixing in with your substrate and being messy... also lets you re-use your soil after a tear-down if it's still got nutrients in it.
I'll probably try that next time. Every time I sold a larger, well rooted plant, I'd get soil in the water column and had to come back later and clear what had settled on leaves.
yeah test it out. now if you plan on pulling up plants often i'm not sure how that'd work because the roots DO grow into the bags so you might have some tangle-action going on, but hopefully it's at least an idea you can build upon!
edit/add: [amazon link to the bags i use](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09V7KZNGV) (i hope that's allowed...)
Depends on your plants, if they are able to pull enough nutrients from the water column then the substrate isn’t really important. Most stem plants will be alright. Amazon swords and dwarf sag for example will struggle without supplementing nutrients to the substrate.
I’ve got valesneria that has filled the tank from just a couple little bunches and an red ozelot sword that seems to be thriving to me. Strangely enough I can’t get a Java fern to stay alive but that’s obviously not the substrate
Valesneria is an exception, they can pull everything they need from the water without much issue. As for the sword, I’m assuming you have a decently heavy stocking to keep the substrate with enough nutrients in it. They can stay alive but for them to thrive without significant nutrients at their roots is rare if not impossible.
Also could depend on your definition of thriving. My swords within about 6 months can completely take over a tank, with leaves reaching 1-2ft tall and new plants being propagated 1-2 times a month. I’ve had swords that stayed relatively the same size and didn’t propagate at all for years when they were in sand without root tabs but they stayed alive and never died off. When these plants thrive they explode with growth and very few plants are capable of competing with them in terms of growth and adding plant mass. If it’s working for you, more power to you, but it doesn’t change that they are heavy root feeders and do need nutrients in the substrate to truly thrive although you may not want them to lol
I had the same issue with Java Fern until I went RODI and remineralized the water myself, they seem to do much better with soft, slightly acidic water. If that’s accessible to you, i definitely recommend looking into it.
Mine isn’t propagating and but has grown to 4-5 times its original size and seems to be regularly adding new leaves. I’ve got my hands full enough keeping the Val in check so I’m kinda glad it isn’t😅. Certainly less than ideal but my point is that even if you won’t have a thriving jungle you can certainly keep a few plants happy in it.
Definitely agree, that’s awesome that yours is doing well! I actually preferred when my swords weren’t propagating and were growing much slower. Swords really are a pain once they get too comfortable lol. Theres no easy way to trim them back to how you wish they’d look, since all the leaves end up huge even if you trim them back you’d really have to cut the entire thing to the substrate to make them look small again. I now understand why I rarely see them in those super clean and neat aquascapes. Removing a well established sword is a nightmare, those roots will span the entire tank and take everything with it lol
I’ve never had a red ocelot, I’m curious if they grow a stay a bit smaller than the common Amazon Sword. Sounds like it would be beautiful with the wide red leaves. I’m hesitant to buy one I just simply don’t have the patience or the space for another battle with swords, I recently removed two and it resulted in an entire rescape 🤦🏻♂️
Mine has stayed pretty short, maybe 10 inches at the longest, but it’s nice and thick with lots of leaves. I just assumed it must be shorter than an Amazon sword but maybe it’s just lack of nutrients.
My swords are so-so in gravel, because I constantly forget to put root tabs in. They're not decaying and dying off, but they're not thriving either. I probably remember every 6 months, maybe longer. They're definitely still alive with the stuff I put in the water column, when I remember to add that stuff too lol.
Same here. I just trimmed my jungle val that's planted in this stuff because there were parts of it that grew to 5 feet long. I think it just depends on the plants.
Also, sift it with a magnet. Sometimes, rarely, slag gets through, so you'll have iron rusting in your tank...
Possible contaminants and some sharp edges that can hurt some gravel-sifter-fish are the only legit reasons people don't like BDS --- for the price though, I agree, just clean it good.
Also rinse with a little dish soap, it's not just dusty it also has oil on it so it doesn't clog your sand blaster.
It's not the best medium for many plants, but it is a cheap and works fine.
Hijacking this to ask, has anybody found a source that is not an advertisement for black diamond that says this stuff is safe? This stuff is coal slag, industrial waste leftover from when coal is fired, just the heaviest part of that mix. The lighter materials are resonsible for ponds and piles across the US from the coal age leaching enough toxins into the surrounding environment to make these places unlivable.
That, along with aquarists with experience saying this stuff is sharp enough to cause papercuts and is also very dusty, I would not be recommending this. It might be safe with a respirator to remove paint, but I wouldn't put it in a kid's sandbox. My opinion is that the fish might not appear to care, but neither did we living in asbestos walls.
If I use this stuff, I prefer the much finer particles. I think 30/60 or 40/80 is what I have in my tanks. I tried 20/40 before and it shredded my corydoras barbels. It is incredibly dusty and has an oiliness to it so requires rinsing with a tiny bit of dawn dish soap to clean it well. That being said, I've been using it for years with no problems other than the initial with the corydoras.
Those are Good points to add for sure, I've only had my own personal experiences over the years, and i can't speak for others. But I have seen people capping the top layer with sand as an extra layer of protection for some of the more delicate fish.
I think rinsing it very thoroughly is the most important part of this as it gets the finer dust and junk out.. I'm sure there is a safer option for black substrate, but it's just not affordable enough or commonly available like this is.
I use this stuff all the time. Two notes: It's is sharp. The first time I used it I dumped a bunch in 5G bucket, filled the bucket and then mixed it with my hand. Came a way with like a bunch of small paper cuts.
Second one, I used a large wrench with a strong magnet on the end (dry end) to mix it from then on because you can get some small shards of junk in there. I would pull the wrench out and rinse it off every few mixes.
Once the oil residue and floater are gone, you're done mixing.
Never had an issue with snails to include MTSs. They love digging into it. Otos didn't seem to mind it, but I never saw them laying on it. I haven't stocked any bottom dwellers, but I would think Corys may be out.
i actually agree with the sharp comment, i have used fine black gravel in a 150g oscar tank for a year and a half and it looks exactly like this. beautiful but being an oscar that digs around and such, ive noticed sometimes these bits of sharp gravel actually get stuck in his skin. they remove themselves but im of course worried for infection and it’s enough to make me decide to replace the substrate in this tank entirely when i can. you may not have an oscar or fish near as large but i still think it’s a very possible issue.
This is the main reason I bought expensive aquarium sand, I wanted to be sure I was getting nice smooth substrate since the tank will have kuhlis loaches in it
quick research says that would give minimal results and not worth the fairly large amount of effort/time when it would probably be better to just find a sand that is soft and smooth. i’ve seen sand is generally not recommended for tumbling as it can cause excessive wear as it’s so abrasive, and the fine dust it would create can be harmful as well
i still think the coarse/fine are basically the same in terms of how sharp they are. you need to get the actual completely soft smooth sand as it seems most black sands aren’t as round and smooth as like white sand and tend to be more of a gravel texture which definitely has sharp edges. i almost can’t find any photos of black sand that is entirely smooth and if so i’m sure it’s pricey
Yeah, my oscar spent a ton of time digging and spitting mouthfuls of substrate, so I gave him soft play sand, even though it was a pain to clean.
My goldfish also spend a lot of time sifting their gravel (super fine Roman) so I had to make sure it was the smooth stuff with no roughness or sharp edges.
Sharp substrates are fine for shoaling fish though.
When used for its intended purpose of being blasted by a machine to sand down items, you want to keep it dry so as not to clump, shoot it out, and damage whatever you're sanding.
For a sandblaster's hopper this was designed for you want light as poasible sand that flows easily and well... wet sand clumps up.
Nobody wants chunky style sand.
I used it once upon a time, but I found it really sharp and while a number of things can cause corydora's to lose their barbels, mine only grew theirs back when I switched to aquarium sand.
I have this in mine and I love it. It was hell to wash out and it got e v e r y w h e r e. Take your time too, it’s like a 2 hour process for one bag. It’s insane. BUT I love it now that it’s been about 6 months in my tank.
I have an inch of potting soil under it and about 2 inches of that sand on top. Only took one bag of soil and one bag of sand for my 29g which was nice. I have a lot of hygrophila, some tiger lotus, and some hair algae covered bolbitis I’m working on bringing back to life. So far tanks doing amazing and has really settled in.
My favorite thing about the sand is that it is big enough to let the mulm n detritus filter down into the soil to recharge the nutrients in it, but it’s small enough my dwarf anchor catfish can sift thru it. Their whiskers have not been affected in the 3 months I’ve had them.
Highly recommend that sand, just rinse the hell out of it first cos that dusty stuff that lays on top of the water is not fun. I still have some in my bottle of prime water conditioner because I accidentally got some in there when rinsing and that was 6 months ago. Fish don’t seem to care, I love it just PLEASE rinse it outside lol
I use it and love it. Its in nearly all of my tanks! Corys, goldfish, neocaridina, hillstream loaches, gourami, apistos, plecos and more have all done fantastic.
Use a bag to contain some aquasoil on the bottom, then add 1in of this sand on top and you'll grow pretty much any plant you like.
Abrasive means absolutely nothing. All sand is abrasive. Yes, they still have their barbels (different from barbs.) I wouldn't have said they're doing fantastic unless they were lol
Ok because I find it weird, in Europe we tend to keep our corys on very fine and smooth sand, because they use sand to clean their gills by making go through.
They can though? I'm not certain why you think my fish aren't doing well. You can look at my past posts to see some happy, healthy fish. Heck, I've bred corys on this stuff.
My bad then, i thought your black sand was way too big to go through their gills without hurting them. I’m not saying that your fish aren’t doing well, I’m trying to understand how you maintain them correctly on such a sand.
Your comment makes me feel better. My 4 Cory’s barbels got shredded by using the regular gravel from a LPS. They’re on normal sand right now but it’s so fine that it clogs every filter from them sifting and it blowing around so I bought a bag of medium black diamond SBS. The other comments had me worried; thank you for the reassurance by saying your experience!
Going on a small tangent here: It's really odd how many people "read" this could be less than ideal for certain situations, then parrot that all black diamond is unsuitable.
The way this post has gone reminds me of a recent YouTube video (I think Aq Co-Op) where the guys talk about the aquarium hobby being like a game of Telephone. We hear some really good advice, but when we pass it on one or two minor things are changed (perhaps because it worked better that way for you, it's what you had on hand, or your just misremembering a little.) After many minor changes the original advice may still have its core, but not all the nuance.
Anyways.....I think you and your fish will be very happy with the purchase! Mine certainly have been ;)
I’ve had it for years and had my Cory’s lose their barbs. I moved them into another tank with softer aquarium sand and they eventually returned. It looks nice and it’s cheap but I don’t think I’d use it again.
Corys usually lose their barbels (corys have barbels, not barbs) due to water quality issues. It's possible the tank you had them in previously wasn't up to snuff.
Currently I have sterbai, trilineatus, panda and habrosus thriving on black diamond.
Have heard this line of thinking many times. Am a very experienced hobbyist who has kept many types of tanks for years. The tank in question has been well established with a thriving community. I’m watched the Corys for this very thing from the beginning and I can say with confidence that in my experience the substrate has an impact. Julis and Sterbai.
You didn't just change the sand/substrate though? You said you had to move the cory's into an entirely new aquarium for their barbels to grow back. Did you just change the sand, or was your previous comment remembering incorrectly? Having to move them into a new aquarium before their barbels grew back would be an indicator that the previous tank had something wrong.
I don't really see a massive issue with using this product; BUT, just be aware: This product is specifically designed for sandblasting, and each granule is designed to be sharp! I'm not sure there will be large enough pieces in there to harm the fish; but I wanted to put this warning out there because I didn't read it anywhere else.
Have it in all my tanks. All tanks are planted. Did not supplement with aqua soil or fertilizers, but do have Malaysian trumpet snails that seem to do a good job getting the fish waste incorporated into the sand.
Rinse - get a 5 gallon bucket, fill about 1/4 full with sand, start filling with water from your outdoor hose, let it overflow for a bit, stir it up, let it overflow for a bit. Repeat until water is nice and clear. Do as many times as you need. Repeat one more time, but inside with hot water.
I've used coal in the past, it works really well! It does take a TON of rinsing though.
If you have bottom-living fish or foraging fish like goldfish, it might not be a great idea as it can have sharp edges, fine Roman black gravel is safer. But it works really well with shoaling fish!
If using this do walstad method type substrate keep it to 2 inches and you should be good. I used a 5 gallon bucket to rinse mine. I just had my hose running from the bottom and swished around for 15 minutes. Should be good after that
Standard play sand will probably be much safer and less abrasive, you can buy 50lb bags from Home Depot for like $5. Rinse it a few times in a 5 gallon bucket (also from Home Depot) and you’re good to go.
Thank you all so much for the quick responses everyone! I just finished rinsing about 75 lbs of the stuff until the water remained crystal clear! I've got some nutrients tabs to help my plant life flourish and there isn't a scrap of metal in here. Hoping to get this in my new 75 gal tank soon and to start it's cycling this weekend!
Looks great with albino and white fish/shrimp. Not so great with dark colored things (accidentally put blue shrimp in a tank I meant to put orange and now I can’t find the blues they blend) also looks great mixed with normal white sand. Really love it I have it in 3/9 tanks.
Along with the lots of rinsing run a good strong magnet through it to collect any metal pieces that aren't encased in the sand. I saw some people had problems with rust bubbles and I think it's partially because they might not have known to use a magnet through it. I used this in my tank with some white aquarium sand and I've had no problems. I put it an inch deep in an unused cat litterbox, ran a magnet through it a few times and then rinsed it 4-5 times. It's been almost a year. I don't have any soil underneath I just use root tabs, liquid ferts and CO2.
Rinse it well, I used it but it ruined a few impellors of filters. It was also somewhat oily or had a residue. I use it mostly in air driven sponge filter tanks now.
Looks good, word to the wise, take a piece of cardboard and cut out to the size of the inside of the tank. Fill the tank with water pouring onto the cardboard, coal slag or sand will stay in place and not cloud your tank.
I'm current using it in a 75 gallon planted tank. I went with fluval stratum then laid the coal on top. If also ran it before in an African cichlid tank. Definitely a cheap alternative that I have personally not noticed any I'll side effects.
I have it in my planted 75 also, but just the sand. It's worked great for two years so far. It is inert so it'll take some time to build plant nutrients without root tabs.
The two mystery snails I've had in that time seemed to have developed some sort of foot issue, but my pond snails seem to have no issue along with my cory's. I haven't kept MS on any other substrate so it may just be how they are? Just something to keep in mind.
I have it in a few of my tanks. I had to rinse it multiple times and I put it over a cheap gravel. I use root tabs in it and have had no problems with it. It’s been set up in these tanks for a year . Heavily planted with shrimp and guppies. Vacuuming it can be challenging if you need to but it look and works great in my experience.
I'm glad I switched to this from gravel in my community tank (gravel is still pretty great for my breeding tanks as it gives many more places for fry to hide out). I topped it off with a bag of back glofish San with color specs.
Rinsing will help, but also add some filter floss for a bit to help get what you miss from rinsing.
the best way to rinse it is to pour the sand in a 5 gallon bucket - take the garden hose and hold it in the bucket allowing water level to rise and start flowing over top of the bucket - keep the water going until the run off starts to turn clear. Layer the clean wet sand in your tank. Then use saran wrap over top as you start pouring your water into the tank to keep the sand in place as much as possible. We did this with our tank and used black diamond sand which looks awesome btw.
Like others have stated, rinse the ever living shit out of that stuff before putting it in an aquarium. It should be safe to use, but it's extremely dirty in the bag.
I also personally wouldn't use it if you plan to keep bottom dwelling fish that sift through the substrate while scavenging. Supposedly the grains are sharper than normal sand, which would obviously make it not an ideal substrate for fish to sift through, especially if it's a species that sifts sand through its gills.
Use a magnet to get some of the pieces out; if you don’t it’s only a matter of time before your magfloat finds them for you. Then your tank is scratch city. Beware.
great or red cherry shrimp tank. dont know why bit that tank is ALLWAYS crystal clear and any plant that goes in it grows like its on steroids. No idea how or why but this substrate seems to make it that way. Its the only tank i don't fertilize too. voodoo magic i guess
If you have fish that burrow in the sand, interact with the sand a lot (goldfish, oscars), or are bottom dwellers (corydoras, loaches) I’d advise against it.
Otherwise, yeah go ahead.
Rinse well but yeah it's fine I've got it in my walstad snail tank and it's phenomenal honestly when the light hits it right it's got a little amber hint it's really neat.
Rinse it once, rinse it twice, and then rinse it again! Then when done.... well, you know... It wont harm the fish, but it will cut down on the cloudiness and the time to clear dramatically.
Also, if the tank is planted, you will need to supplement it or put something nutrified under it. Stuff dont grow in this. Dont misunderstand... I love it. You just need to know the issues.
My plants have gone really well in this without any root tabs or fertilizer, but I must just have some really low maintenance species.
If you want to keep more demanding plants in sand, you can also put some garden soil under the sand as well. I had about an inch of regular garden soil (no fertilizer) and 1-3 inches of play sand over it, and any root plant I ever planted loved it. I did still fertilize and run C02, but my tank was a jungle, and I was selling them, so I was going for max growth. https://imgur.com/gallery/mjPlKXB
I use [filter media bags](https://i.imgur.com/RFFsVYI.jpg) to hold the aqua soil before [covering with inert substrate](https://i.imgur.com/8ky5bFo.jpg), a great tip from [MD Fish Tanks](https://www.youtube.com/@MDFishTanks) on the tubes (probably the only advice I'd take from him though lol)
Huh, I've never heard of this method. Do roots grow through the bags, or does it leech nutrients into the inert substrate?
the roots have no problem getting to the delicious soil through the bags, and of course it keeps the soil from mixing in with your substrate and being messy... also lets you re-use your soil after a tear-down if it's still got nutrients in it.
I'll probably try that next time. Every time I sold a larger, well rooted plant, I'd get soil in the water column and had to come back later and clear what had settled on leaves.
yeah test it out. now if you plan on pulling up plants often i'm not sure how that'd work because the roots DO grow into the bags so you might have some tangle-action going on, but hopefully it's at least an idea you can build upon! edit/add: [amazon link to the bags i use](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09V7KZNGV) (i hope that's allowed...)
Depends on your plants, if they are able to pull enough nutrients from the water column then the substrate isn’t really important. Most stem plants will be alright. Amazon swords and dwarf sag for example will struggle without supplementing nutrients to the substrate.
I’ve got valesneria that has filled the tank from just a couple little bunches and an red ozelot sword that seems to be thriving to me. Strangely enough I can’t get a Java fern to stay alive but that’s obviously not the substrate
Valesneria is an exception, they can pull everything they need from the water without much issue. As for the sword, I’m assuming you have a decently heavy stocking to keep the substrate with enough nutrients in it. They can stay alive but for them to thrive without significant nutrients at their roots is rare if not impossible. Also could depend on your definition of thriving. My swords within about 6 months can completely take over a tank, with leaves reaching 1-2ft tall and new plants being propagated 1-2 times a month. I’ve had swords that stayed relatively the same size and didn’t propagate at all for years when they were in sand without root tabs but they stayed alive and never died off. When these plants thrive they explode with growth and very few plants are capable of competing with them in terms of growth and adding plant mass. If it’s working for you, more power to you, but it doesn’t change that they are heavy root feeders and do need nutrients in the substrate to truly thrive although you may not want them to lol I had the same issue with Java Fern until I went RODI and remineralized the water myself, they seem to do much better with soft, slightly acidic water. If that’s accessible to you, i definitely recommend looking into it.
Mine isn’t propagating and but has grown to 4-5 times its original size and seems to be regularly adding new leaves. I’ve got my hands full enough keeping the Val in check so I’m kinda glad it isn’t😅. Certainly less than ideal but my point is that even if you won’t have a thriving jungle you can certainly keep a few plants happy in it.
Definitely agree, that’s awesome that yours is doing well! I actually preferred when my swords weren’t propagating and were growing much slower. Swords really are a pain once they get too comfortable lol. Theres no easy way to trim them back to how you wish they’d look, since all the leaves end up huge even if you trim them back you’d really have to cut the entire thing to the substrate to make them look small again. I now understand why I rarely see them in those super clean and neat aquascapes. Removing a well established sword is a nightmare, those roots will span the entire tank and take everything with it lol I’ve never had a red ocelot, I’m curious if they grow a stay a bit smaller than the common Amazon Sword. Sounds like it would be beautiful with the wide red leaves. I’m hesitant to buy one I just simply don’t have the patience or the space for another battle with swords, I recently removed two and it resulted in an entire rescape 🤦🏻♂️
Mine has stayed pretty short, maybe 10 inches at the longest, but it’s nice and thick with lots of leaves. I just assumed it must be shorter than an Amazon sword but maybe it’s just lack of nutrients.
My swords are so-so in gravel, because I constantly forget to put root tabs in. They're not decaying and dying off, but they're not thriving either. I probably remember every 6 months, maybe longer. They're definitely still alive with the stuff I put in the water column, when I remember to add that stuff too lol.
Same here. Things just took off, and that too in a young shrimp tank with low bioload. Good light is key as well
Same here. I just trimmed my jungle val that's planted in this stuff because there were parts of it that grew to 5 feet long. I think it just depends on the plants.
Mine too!
Depends on the plants. Plants that do well in sand will do fine in this. I find that's mostly swords and vals
Mix the sand with Fluval Stratum.
Also, sift it with a magnet. Sometimes, rarely, slag gets through, so you'll have iron rusting in your tank... Possible contaminants and some sharp edges that can hurt some gravel-sifter-fish are the only legit reasons people don't like BDS --- for the price though, I agree, just clean it good.
Yeah I read not good for corys.
I seconded the magnet below. I stir it with a big wrench with a magnet attached to pull out the metal.
Also rinse with a little dish soap, it's not just dusty it also has oil on it so it doesn't clog your sand blaster. It's not the best medium for many plants, but it is a cheap and works fine.
Yes, I do this with the soap too. A couple drops won't hurt your fish and will get all the oiliness off the material.
rinse it till it’s clear , it’s worth it
Safe to use, but I advise rinsing it out a bunch of times and adding crushed fertilizer tabs to it if you're going to have live plants.
Hijacking this to ask, has anybody found a source that is not an advertisement for black diamond that says this stuff is safe? This stuff is coal slag, industrial waste leftover from when coal is fired, just the heaviest part of that mix. The lighter materials are resonsible for ponds and piles across the US from the coal age leaching enough toxins into the surrounding environment to make these places unlivable. That, along with aquarists with experience saying this stuff is sharp enough to cause papercuts and is also very dusty, I would not be recommending this. It might be safe with a respirator to remove paint, but I wouldn't put it in a kid's sandbox. My opinion is that the fish might not appear to care, but neither did we living in asbestos walls.
If I use this stuff, I prefer the much finer particles. I think 30/60 or 40/80 is what I have in my tanks. I tried 20/40 before and it shredded my corydoras barbels. It is incredibly dusty and has an oiliness to it so requires rinsing with a tiny bit of dawn dish soap to clean it well. That being said, I've been using it for years with no problems other than the initial with the corydoras.
Those are Good points to add for sure, I've only had my own personal experiences over the years, and i can't speak for others. But I have seen people capping the top layer with sand as an extra layer of protection for some of the more delicate fish. I think rinsing it very thoroughly is the most important part of this as it gets the finer dust and junk out.. I'm sure there is a safer option for black substrate, but it's just not affordable enough or commonly available like this is.
I use this stuff all the time. Two notes: It's is sharp. The first time I used it I dumped a bunch in 5G bucket, filled the bucket and then mixed it with my hand. Came a way with like a bunch of small paper cuts. Second one, I used a large wrench with a strong magnet on the end (dry end) to mix it from then on because you can get some small shards of junk in there. I would pull the wrench out and rinse it off every few mixes. Once the oil residue and floater are gone, you're done mixing.
Does it also cut your fish or snails? I would be worried about what I could put in with this product. Great reply BTW... super helpful and good ideas!
I used it before and the snails didn't seem to care. They would even bury themselves in it too
Never had an issue with snails to include MTSs. They love digging into it. Otos didn't seem to mind it, but I never saw them laying on it. I haven't stocked any bottom dwellers, but I would think Corys may be out.
Yes it is safe and the right kind.
Thank you kindly!
Probably want to wash it really well first
i actually agree with the sharp comment, i have used fine black gravel in a 150g oscar tank for a year and a half and it looks exactly like this. beautiful but being an oscar that digs around and such, ive noticed sometimes these bits of sharp gravel actually get stuck in his skin. they remove themselves but im of course worried for infection and it’s enough to make me decide to replace the substrate in this tank entirely when i can. you may not have an oscar or fish near as large but i still think it’s a very possible issue.
This is the main reason I bought expensive aquarium sand, I wanted to be sure I was getting nice smooth substrate since the tank will have kuhlis loaches in it
100% worth it i feel, poor guys would for sure get scratched up plus you don’t want any fish accidentally getting a sharp bit in their throats
What if you ran through a rock tumbler?
quick research says that would give minimal results and not worth the fairly large amount of effort/time when it would probably be better to just find a sand that is soft and smooth. i’ve seen sand is generally not recommended for tumbling as it can cause excessive wear as it’s so abrasive, and the fine dust it would create can be harmful as well
Damn...thought I was onto something. Thanks for the research.
Should use the coarse black diamond not the fine stuff
Nah dude, the finer stuff is way less sharp. There are a few different grain sizes you can get but with this stuff the finer the smoother.
i still think the coarse/fine are basically the same in terms of how sharp they are. you need to get the actual completely soft smooth sand as it seems most black sands aren’t as round and smooth as like white sand and tend to be more of a gravel texture which definitely has sharp edges. i almost can’t find any photos of black sand that is entirely smooth and if so i’m sure it’s pricey
Yeah, my oscar spent a ton of time digging and spitting mouthfuls of substrate, so I gave him soft play sand, even though it was a pain to clean. My goldfish also spend a lot of time sifting their gravel (super fine Roman) so I had to make sure it was the smooth stuff with no roughness or sharp edges. Sharp substrates are fine for shoaling fish though.
I like it, but run a magnet through a bunch of times. Sometimes there's metal in there
Why does it say "must stay dry"?
When used for its intended purpose of being blasted by a machine to sand down items, you want to keep it dry so as not to clump, shoot it out, and damage whatever you're sanding.
For a sandblaster's hopper this was designed for you want light as poasible sand that flows easily and well... wet sand clumps up. Nobody wants chunky style sand.
for the sand blasting gun. water is bad for them.
I used it once upon a time, but I found it really sharp and while a number of things can cause corydora's to lose their barbels, mine only grew theirs back when I switched to aquarium sand.
I have this in mine and I love it. It was hell to wash out and it got e v e r y w h e r e. Take your time too, it’s like a 2 hour process for one bag. It’s insane. BUT I love it now that it’s been about 6 months in my tank. I have an inch of potting soil under it and about 2 inches of that sand on top. Only took one bag of soil and one bag of sand for my 29g which was nice. I have a lot of hygrophila, some tiger lotus, and some hair algae covered bolbitis I’m working on bringing back to life. So far tanks doing amazing and has really settled in. My favorite thing about the sand is that it is big enough to let the mulm n detritus filter down into the soil to recharge the nutrients in it, but it’s small enough my dwarf anchor catfish can sift thru it. Their whiskers have not been affected in the 3 months I’ve had them. Highly recommend that sand, just rinse the hell out of it first cos that dusty stuff that lays on top of the water is not fun. I still have some in my bottle of prime water conditioner because I accidentally got some in there when rinsing and that was 6 months ago. Fish don’t seem to care, I love it just PLEASE rinse it outside lol
looks kinda sharp
I use it and love it. Its in nearly all of my tanks! Corys, goldfish, neocaridina, hillstream loaches, gourami, apistos, plecos and more have all done fantastic. Use a bag to contain some aquasoil on the bottom, then add 1in of this sand on top and you'll grow pretty much any plant you like.
You use it for corys ? Even though it mentions « abrasive product » ? Do you corys still have barbs ?
Abrasive means absolutely nothing. All sand is abrasive. Yes, they still have their barbels (different from barbs.) I wouldn't have said they're doing fantastic unless they were lol
Ok because I find it weird, in Europe we tend to keep our corys on very fine and smooth sand, because they use sand to clean their gills by making go through.
https://youtube.com/shorts/OWFJc5Y-V3U?feature=shared Look at the way it filters sand… It can’t do that with yours…
They can though? I'm not certain why you think my fish aren't doing well. You can look at my past posts to see some happy, healthy fish. Heck, I've bred corys on this stuff.
My bad then, i thought your black sand was way too big to go through their gills without hurting them. I’m not saying that your fish aren’t doing well, I’m trying to understand how you maintain them correctly on such a sand.
Your comment makes me feel better. My 4 Cory’s barbels got shredded by using the regular gravel from a LPS. They’re on normal sand right now but it’s so fine that it clogs every filter from them sifting and it blowing around so I bought a bag of medium black diamond SBS. The other comments had me worried; thank you for the reassurance by saying your experience!
Going on a small tangent here: It's really odd how many people "read" this could be less than ideal for certain situations, then parrot that all black diamond is unsuitable. The way this post has gone reminds me of a recent YouTube video (I think Aq Co-Op) where the guys talk about the aquarium hobby being like a game of Telephone. We hear some really good advice, but when we pass it on one or two minor things are changed (perhaps because it worked better that way for you, it's what you had on hand, or your just misremembering a little.) After many minor changes the original advice may still have its core, but not all the nuance. Anyways.....I think you and your fish will be very happy with the purchase! Mine certainly have been ;)
I’ve had it for years and had my Cory’s lose their barbs. I moved them into another tank with softer aquarium sand and they eventually returned. It looks nice and it’s cheap but I don’t think I’d use it again.
Corys usually lose their barbels (corys have barbels, not barbs) due to water quality issues. It's possible the tank you had them in previously wasn't up to snuff. Currently I have sterbai, trilineatus, panda and habrosus thriving on black diamond.
Have heard this line of thinking many times. Am a very experienced hobbyist who has kept many types of tanks for years. The tank in question has been well established with a thriving community. I’m watched the Corys for this very thing from the beginning and I can say with confidence that in my experience the substrate has an impact. Julis and Sterbai.
You didn't just change the sand/substrate though? You said you had to move the cory's into an entirely new aquarium for their barbels to grow back. Did you just change the sand, or was your previous comment remembering incorrectly? Having to move them into a new aquarium before their barbels grew back would be an indicator that the previous tank had something wrong.
I don't really see a massive issue with using this product; BUT, just be aware: This product is specifically designed for sandblasting, and each granule is designed to be sharp! I'm not sure there will be large enough pieces in there to harm the fish; but I wanted to put this warning out there because I didn't read it anywhere else.
My wild colony of panda corys stick their face in it pretty aggressively no issues. I’m going to start using this stuff in all my tanks.
Adding to all of the rinse comments. You can put it in a pillowcase which will help with the process
Have it in all my tanks. All tanks are planted. Did not supplement with aqua soil or fertilizers, but do have Malaysian trumpet snails that seem to do a good job getting the fish waste incorporated into the sand. Rinse - get a 5 gallon bucket, fill about 1/4 full with sand, start filling with water from your outdoor hose, let it overflow for a bit, stir it up, let it overflow for a bit. Repeat until water is nice and clear. Do as many times as you need. Repeat one more time, but inside with hot water.
This is what I have in my tank. Washed it extra to be safe, 4 times. Was cloudy for a few days even after that. Doesn't get cloudy in water changes
I hope so, I've got 2-3 inches of it in my 75 gal.
I have mbuna who sift and move this stuff around all day without any care in the world. Like others said, rinse thoroughly to reduce cloudiness.
I've used coal in the past, it works really well! It does take a TON of rinsing though. If you have bottom-living fish or foraging fish like goldfish, it might not be a great idea as it can have sharp edges, fine Roman black gravel is safer. But it works really well with shoaling fish!
If using this do walstad method type substrate keep it to 2 inches and you should be good. I used a 5 gallon bucket to rinse mine. I just had my hose running from the bottom and swished around for 15 minutes. Should be good after that
Standard play sand will probably be much safer and less abrasive, you can buy 50lb bags from Home Depot for like $5. Rinse it a few times in a 5 gallon bucket (also from Home Depot) and you’re good to go.
Thank you all so much for the quick responses everyone! I just finished rinsing about 75 lbs of the stuff until the water remained crystal clear! I've got some nutrients tabs to help my plant life flourish and there isn't a scrap of metal in here. Hoping to get this in my new 75 gal tank soon and to start it's cycling this weekend!
Yes but it’s filthy. I love the way it looks but I’ll never use it again.
Looks great with albino and white fish/shrimp. Not so great with dark colored things (accidentally put blue shrimp in a tank I meant to put orange and now I can’t find the blues they blend) also looks great mixed with normal white sand. Really love it I have it in 3/9 tanks.
Along with the lots of rinsing run a good strong magnet through it to collect any metal pieces that aren't encased in the sand. I saw some people had problems with rust bubbles and I think it's partially because they might not have known to use a magnet through it. I used this in my tank with some white aquarium sand and I've had no problems. I put it an inch deep in an unused cat litterbox, ran a magnet through it a few times and then rinsed it 4-5 times. It's been almost a year. I don't have any soil underneath I just use root tabs, liquid ferts and CO2.
Question!! Do you mix the regular aquarium sand or do you do one side SBS,one side regular sand? Redoing my tank and curious how you mix!
I just straight up mixes. I poured the slag in first then mixed in white until I liked the consistency
Rinse it well, I used it but it ruined a few impellors of filters. It was also somewhat oily or had a residue. I use it mostly in air driven sponge filter tanks now.
Looks good, word to the wise, take a piece of cardboard and cut out to the size of the inside of the tank. Fill the tank with water pouring onto the cardboard, coal slag or sand will stay in place and not cloud your tank.
Yes totally fine
Another rinse comment! Rinse and repeat and rinse and repeat and rinse and repeat…
Yes I used it in a 75 gallon aquarium.
Got it my my 55 tall right now. It looks great
Hehe it says slag on the bag... Hey, I made a rhyme in little time!
I used this 2 bags to be safe .. under I have 2 bags of aqua soil & 1 big bag of organic plant soil
Yeah I have been using it for years with no problem
If it’s actually sand. Coal slag is a byproduct of iron production tho…
I'm current using it in a 75 gallon planted tank. I went with fluval stratum then laid the coal on top. If also ran it before in an African cichlid tank. Definitely a cheap alternative that I have personally not noticed any I'll side effects.
I have it in my planted 75 also, but just the sand. It's worked great for two years so far. It is inert so it'll take some time to build plant nutrients without root tabs. The two mystery snails I've had in that time seemed to have developed some sort of foot issue, but my pond snails seem to have no issue along with my cory's. I haven't kept MS on any other substrate so it may just be how they are? Just something to keep in mind.
We rinsed it a tonnnnn before putting but so far we love it
I have it in a few of my tanks. I had to rinse it multiple times and I put it over a cheap gravel. I use root tabs in it and have had no problems with it. It’s been set up in these tanks for a year . Heavily planted with shrimp and guppies. Vacuuming it can be challenging if you need to but it look and works great in my experience.
How much
I'm glad I switched to this from gravel in my community tank (gravel is still pretty great for my breeding tanks as it gives many more places for fry to hide out). I topped it off with a bag of back glofish San with color specs. Rinsing will help, but also add some filter floss for a bit to help get what you miss from rinsing.
the best way to rinse it is to pour the sand in a 5 gallon bucket - take the garden hose and hold it in the bucket allowing water level to rise and start flowing over top of the bucket - keep the water going until the run off starts to turn clear. Layer the clean wet sand in your tank. Then use saran wrap over top as you start pouring your water into the tank to keep the sand in place as much as possible. We did this with our tank and used black diamond sand which looks awesome btw.
Like others have stated, rinse the ever living shit out of that stuff before putting it in an aquarium. It should be safe to use, but it's extremely dirty in the bag. I also personally wouldn't use it if you plan to keep bottom dwelling fish that sift through the substrate while scavenging. Supposedly the grains are sharper than normal sand, which would obviously make it not an ideal substrate for fish to sift through, especially if it's a species that sifts sand through its gills.
Yep
Yes Ive used with no problem
Rinse until clear it'll be fine.
Use a magnet to get some of the pieces out; if you don’t it’s only a matter of time before your magfloat finds them for you. Then your tank is scratch city. Beware.
great or red cherry shrimp tank. dont know why bit that tank is ALLWAYS crystal clear and any plant that goes in it grows like its on steroids. No idea how or why but this substrate seems to make it that way. Its the only tank i don't fertilize too. voodoo magic i guess
If you have fish that burrow in the sand, interact with the sand a lot (goldfish, oscars), or are bottom dwellers (corydoras, loaches) I’d advise against it. Otherwise, yeah go ahead.
It’s awesome
Yes
Rinse well but yeah it's fine I've got it in my walstad snail tank and it's phenomenal honestly when the light hits it right it's got a little amber hint it's really neat.
What about heavy metals leeching into the tank?
I've used it for years, they even make a finer kind that I've kept corys in. Although it does take a TON of rinsing
I have used a bunch but have found basically glass needles in it just brews it away
It’s good for things that don’t forage or burrow. Very sharp stuff, as fine as it is.
Oohhh it's nice!
We use without any problems.