well, I am going to get kinda back on topic....I have not really decided which I like better. I have Crushed Coral in my seahorse tank, much easier to keep vacuumed than the sandbed. Yes, the sandbed creatures and detritus eaters are supposed to take care of the junk, BUT, the sandbed is not mature enough yet and the critters are lazy. The black sand DOES tend to make you notice the crud more and so it is a constant "maintenance task". I really like the looks of black sand, the tan sand still had the junk on it and because I didnt notice it as much, I didnt vacuum as much...who knows, maybe the tank is staying cleaner this way. But you do have to be careful with vacuuming as you tend to suck up alot more sand than you ever would gravel.
As far as the LFS knowing/not knowing what they are doing or just deliberately trying to sell a product, who knows..I have never been happy with the LFS, prefer to become educated first, buy later and when I make a wrong decision, I just blame myself.
As far as the LFS knowing/not knowing what they are doing or just deliberately trying to sell a product, who knows..I have never been happy with the LFS, prefer to become educated first, buy later and when I make a wrong decision, I just blame myself.