Black Beach Reef Sand Substrate

[mr_X]

if i'm not mistaken, the black sand will not buffer the ph as it's not a calcium based substrate.
they do have black sand bottoms in nature somewhere though. where is this sand collected?

i do believe a reflective background like white sand, will help with lighting. it works the same way that a reflector works. i do not think those caverns at the bottom of your rock scape would be so dark if you had a white sand bed fishguy. that said, i do agree with your statement about compensating for lighting.

 

[iDream]

what i meant was my PC lights dont give great color, so maybe adding white sand may give a better, lighter appearance to my tank rather than black sand with black background and poor colored lighting. idk, i think ill like it better than my black, maybe if mine was pure black id like it better

 

[Fishguy2727]

This one is made in a factory. The normal is beige, the company also makes white, blue, and black. The beige is the only one not colored.

The only naturally black beaches I have seen had gravel, not sand. That was in Hawaii.

No, silica based sands will not help with Ca, Alk, Mg, etc. I do have oolite in my fuge which is the best at going in and out of solution to help with those things though. Then there is always water changes, supplementation, etc.

Those bottom caves are not as dark in real life as that pic shows, but I am sure are darker than if the sand was white. I prefer it this way, I like scallops, sponges, and other filter feeders that like their darkness.

Honestly I don't think black is any less natural. The natural reefs I have seen (Hawaii and Virgin Islands) were not the bright white like most aquarium sands.

Yes, there was an article in a fish magazine a little while ago using a light meter in a tank with a dark blue background that showed how the dark background measurably reduced the amount of light. But it is not like dark backgrounds mean corals near them suffer at all, at least not that I have ever seen.

Again, I prefer bright light with a dark background to increase coloration and show it off better. I read somewhere that dark backgrounds and substrates actually increase the actual amount of pigmentation produced by fish, they are physiologically more colorful.

 

[Jaybird]

There are black sand beaches in Nicaragua. It's kind of a novelty for people to go there, but bring water shoes. Otherwise you'll burn your feet getting in and out of the water. The sand is black from the lavarock.

 

[mwilliams]

JAYBIRD,
Is the black sand in the water as well???? I am now extremley puzzled by this (lavarock). I was trying to use in my tank as the base rocks but have been told in the threads (placing dry rock directly into established tank) that the lavarocks have some type of metals in them and they are no good to put into a reef tank.....
What is your opinion??

 

[Jaybird]

OK, the sand is in some beaches in Nicaragua. If there were any heavy metals in it they would be dispersed by the entire ocean. It's just a little larger than our closed systems, so a little copper, lead, arsenic, etc. wouldn't be too much of a problem.

The only place that I would use lava rock is underneath my chicken: in my BBQ.