Black Beauty Sand

[donttaptheglass]

I asked in another thread somewhere, where I could get black sand for substrate. Someone suggested I look for Black Beauty Sand that I could probably pick up at Lowe's or Home Depot. So, being the kinda guy that spends money he doesn't have I went looking online to see where I could pick some up. After not finding it on the Lowe's site, I punched the name into Google and came up with some items that concerned me.

The following is a quote from this URL:

I remember seeing some gruesome data on Black Beauty recently, so I
searched the APD. In case anybody missed it, here's the post from Jon
Wilson made on Mon, 17 Mar 1997:

>I used a black sand called something like Marvel black beauty.
>It was very high in Fe and was highly magnetic. It was also very
>sharp. A little piece stuck to a magnetic scraper would scratch
>the glass. It also found its way into small crevices in plants
>and damaged them.
>
>I finally quit using it after an autopsy showed it had shredded
>the inside of a fish. Other than the sharpness and magnetism,
>it was great.

It just doesn't sound too appealing. I think I'll stick to quartz.

Now, I'd really like to find some black sand to use as a substrate, I think it would make for a really nice looking aquascape with a brightly colored greenery background and some reddish brown rocks for caves and some live plants.

I definately don't want it if its going to kill my fish.

Any ideas?

 

[krap101]

black beauty is iron slag? i think.. it is meant for sandblasting.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/sand.php

there it is

 

[donttaptheglass]

Black Tahitian Moon it is then. Called my LFS and they have it for $14.95 for a 20lb bag. (He said they have a ton of it . . . .I hope he wasn't being literal)

What are some low light plants I can use in sand substrate? I'm at .75 wpg right now.

 

[Andyvette]

I read the same thing when I was researching.

It does make sense... it is used for sandblasting, so it might be sharp?

Java ferns are good low light plants w/ little maintenance

 

[greenmaji]

The only people Ive heard of using this have heavily planted tanks (would need to dose Fe for there plants) Ill see If I cant get some attention to this thread.

Then again what does Black Tahitian Moon sand have in it?

 

[donttaptheglass]

Thank you!

 

[greenmaji]

Thank you!

No problem..
Its kinda like this.. The advisors can't catch every thread (there is a heep load of them LOL), so it helps when an issue that you know they have experince with that you send them a PM so they can check out the thread.

Im not saying that someone that has experince with a issue means they will have all the answers though.. It could very well be that the user of this product has not had an issue with Fe and that could be from the plants in there tank absorbing it (or the fact that there isnt very much of this sand in there tank compared to other substrates)

 

[travis simonson]

I've used some in my 125G planted tank (about 15 lbs of it) to create a sort of black sand beach, but I didn't really like the look of it and in a fairly short time it sifted itself down below the larger Eco-Complete particles and basically disappeared. I haven't noticed a thing, but like GM says, it is likely because the sand was such a small (<10%) of my total subtrate volume. I have not lost any fish nor did I notice that it stuck to my magnetic scraper, but I'll admit that it didn't look very close when I used it. I wish I could be more helpful.

 

[Rondory]

I have color quartz in my aquarium and it is fantastic! I paid 26.00 per 50# bag plus 38.00 for shipping 100#'s. I don't have black, but they do sell black. There isn't anyone in Michigan that sells it, so having it shipped is the only way to get it. If you want more info let me know. Heres a good discussion on 3m Color Quartz
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=43290

 

[donttaptheglass]

Now the 3M stuff looks interesting, and after reading through that discussion you left, you were right, 3M seems to be missing out on a heck of a market with that stuff. Wonder if I could get my hands on a bunch of samples of different colors and find a way to distribute it to a bunch of AA members for them to take a look at. We might could talk someone at 3M into opening up the aquatic niche for that stuff.

At the moment though, after shipping, it seems like the Tahitian Moon is going to cost about the same and I can go pick that up in about half an hour.

 

[Rondory]

Wonder if I could get my hands on a bunch of samples of different colors and find a

I'd be willing to send you some buff and brown if you want to take it to Preuss house in Lansing and see if they'd be interested in stocking it.

 

[Meredith]

donttaptheglass, $15 is a really good price for the moon sand. I paid $20 for a 20lb bag. I did notice that a piece got stuck in my magnetic algae thing and it did put some minor scratches in my :? brand new tank :? but that was my own fault for not rinsing the scrubber first. I don't know if being magnetic is an issue, but I did drop a small magnet in the moon sand it stuck to it all over the place. But I have had several bottom dwelling fish that sift the sand through their gills and it did not seem to do them any damage.

 

[donttaptheglass]

Rondory . . . if I could talk Mr. Preuss into selling it, that would be awesome, but do you have a contact with 3M that could stock him with the stuff?

 

[Rondory]

Give Mr Preuss this information. I'm sure he could lead him to the right person to set up an account with 3M.

Luke Crofoot
Account Representative
lacrofoot@mmm.com
3M Colorquartz (TM) Crystals and Accent Stones
http://www.3M.com/pools
800-992-1421 (msg)
410-300-8076 (cell)
302-376-5168 (fax)

I didn't buy my colorquartz directly from Luke so don't anyone email him looking for the stuff.