Black Sand substrate

[Hara]

We are thinking seriously about doing a 4 inch black sand bed. I can imagine how it will look, but I have been searching high and low for photos of some reeftanks that use this...does anyone have any links for me?


(geez, just noticed the other thread..anyway, 25 kudos for each link until I run out!)

 

[AmekaAquatics.C]

lol.

I just asked this question a couple days ago!

I'm getting my black substrate on Tuesday!

Hopefully I'll have some photos by mid-week, to show everyone

 

[reefrunner69]

I'm getting my black substrate on Tuesday!

Hopefully I'll have some photos by mid-week, to show everyone

I can't wait to see it!! When I did a google images search for black sand...I got pages and pages of the black sand beaches of Hawaii...I gotta say, it's stunning on the beach, I can only imagine how cool it will look in a tank!

 

[Casie]

Heya Hara

No need for the kudos. I snagged these pics from an RC post a while back. =)

 

[michealprater]

Neat looking, but I'm not crazy about how the tank looks kind of dim. JMO

 

[Hara]

Thanks alot MK!

I think the tank looks dim from the lighting, not necessarily from the sand. I would hope that with the lighting we have coming, that would not be an issue.

Unfortunately, the problem I am running into is that none of the vendors will ship using a freight company so they want to charge anywhere from 4.00 to 12.00 *marine depot* per bag. We need 18 bags....unless I can solve the shipping issue, I guess it will be normal play sand.

Frankly, I think it would look absolutely stunning in a large tank with adequate lighting.

 

[michealprater]

Have you tried checking with your lfs. Maybe they can get it. Even if it is not a lfs that you use for livestock, They may still be able to get the substrate to you at a fair cost.

 

[Casie]

My pleasure! =)

I gotta admit I LUV the way that clam (squamosa?) looks on the dark sandbed. Just as soon as I win the lotto... I'm totally setting up a clam tank just like that!

 

[Hara]

We do not have a LFS, I am 1.5 hours from one and over 2 hours from the other one. THe place I work on the weekends, the guy will cheat his own mother..not alot of hope there.

I am still looking for options though

 

[Casie]

We special ordered the regular CarribSea Oolitic sand (8 bags of it) from Critter Company. OMG it was a hassle!

We had to pay for half up front before they would order. They said they would call us when it arrived. Several days passed, so we stopped back in to see what was up and there was our sand sitting on the shelves for sale.

The owner's kid was working the counter and didn't know anything about it, and she was completely more interested in her phone call.

LOL! Gabe got tired of waiting for her to finish her call and began loading the bags into our truck while I tried to interest her in the sand situation.

In the end we had to endure her rolling eyes and long sighs and blatent fibs for a LONG 30 minutes before we got out of there. She even tried to say that she DID try to call and we were never home. Hahahaha! You shoulda seen her face screw up unpleasantly when we asked what number she called... 'cause we gave her 2 numbers. One was to our home where we have an answering machine and caller ID. And the other number we gave them was a business number with a live phone operator 24/7.

AhhHHHHH! Heehee, what I would give for a local QUALITY fish store!

Really if I was gonna do it all again, I'd just order straight from Drs Foster and Smith. They carry all the g00d stuff. Heres a quick link to their Tahitian Black Sand.

 

[Hara]

WooHOO! we are back in business on the black sand. The guy that I said would cheat his mom, actually will get it to us for 14.00 a bag, delivered. That tells me that that stuff is not very expensive to retailers. Anyway, he is supposed to order 17 bags of it tomorrow for us.

As a comparison, Fosters & Smith would have been 18.plus per bag...not the worst price seen...but higher than I wanted to pay.

Now if the sump parts would just get here.

 

[michealprater]

Ive found that if you research, even bad LFSes can do good on some dry goods.

Congrats.

 

[Casie]

Heeeey! Thats great!

*tries to imagine 17 bags of black sand*

You BETTA snap some pics! LOL It sounds like tremendous fun. I'm looking forward to hearing all about it. =)

 

[tyler]

what kind of sand is this? my buddy bought a fifty pound bag of black sand blasting sand (silica) for four dollars at menards. it was enough for his twenty, my five and my buddy's ten. i'll get a pic up some time.