# (OPINIONS) Black Diamond blasting sand



## jrill (Nov 20, 2013)

Use it in two tanks. Great substrate. Wish I had found it years ago.


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## Midnighttide102 (Oct 2, 2014)

Thanks for the input Jrill


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## Zoomy (Sep 13, 2014)

I just filled a tank with it today, over 1" MGOCPM. Very pretty, shiny, dark black. Looks like little bits of obsidian. Still have to add water, but I think it's going to really make the color of fish and plants pop!


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## Turningdoc (Apr 2, 2014)

Used twice as well. Better than anything out there, but wash the heck out of it first as it comes very dirty


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## Midnighttide102 (Oct 2, 2014)

Thanks guys


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## Zoomy (Sep 13, 2014)

Turningdoc said:


> Used twice as well. Better than anything out there, but wash the heck out of it first as it comes very dirty


Yeah, it has an almost oily residue. I put about 4qt. at a time in the bottom of a cat litter bucket (4ish gal., I believe), filled with water, dredged it around, then dumped the water out. Worked pretty well.


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## rebelbuck1993 (Sep 3, 2014)

i personally like the black diamond more than sand just make sure to get the biggest stuff you can get (12-20) the 20-40 is ok but still kind of to small for my taste as it can get shifted pretty easy and is a little to light,








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## ac0xr (Aug 13, 2014)

I'm using it in my 55 and I love it! I have the 20-40 and it is a little fine and you have to be careful to not vacuum too deep and siphon it out during water changes. I really like how the fine grains look though, so I don't know if I would prefer the bigger stuff or not. My Corys love sifting through it, and they've gotten darker and seem more active than when I had gravel. It hasn't damaged their barbels at all.

I didn't clean mine and didn't have any problems but some of the grains floated to the top of the tank and I had to net them out. I don't know why they did, but I would do a quick rinse in a bucket to get rid of floating grains and just for the peace of mind.

Overall, I highly recommend it.


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## Midnighttide102 (Oct 2, 2014)

Thanks all sounds like it will be just right for what I am working on


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

I used it in both of my tanks and it is in my substrate of choice. I think it just looks the best and it is super easy to work with. It sinks much better than any other sand.


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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

Haven't put it in my tank yet but it sucks to rinse lol
Will easily take me another 2 hours to finish up the last 75 lbs

I also discovered during rinsing that some grains will float in water. Rinsing should remove 99% of these grains.


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## Sky817 (Feb 25, 2015)

Where do you buy these sand?


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## roadmaster (Nov 5, 2009)

Tactor supply carries the black diamond blasting media.
Been using it for a few year's now and never ever rinsed it.
Rinse the hell out of play sand though.


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## BayazGouramiz (May 13, 2015)

I'm going to use this stuff too. From all accounts I've read it seems to be a solid option for the money. I have no experience, but I'm a little concerned about how well you can grow a heavily planted tank with this stuff. Even with the use of osmocote or other root tabs I haven't seen any tanks with this substrate that have really good thick growth. If you google it and look at photos and videos you can see what I'm talking about. That being said all the videos and photos I found had nothing but great things to say about BDBS, but I wasn't very impressed. I'm going to use it mixed with Turface Grey. Turface has a higher cec so I think that this should help. I'm probablybgoing to mix in a bag of Amazonian too. Hopefully it'll work well. They are all similar color so it should still look nice.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

We may have varying opinions on thick vegetation or growth, but the left side of my tank is quite dense and I use BDBS.










Here is my 30g that I use BDBS in. 

3/12/15










4/28/15









6 weeks in my low light, 3~ish root tabs, no ferts, no excel, no co2. The swords did great. There was an immediate die off since they were emersed grown and shipped. But they came back in full swing and they are the same swords I have in my 75g now. It was quite literally almost an inch a week of growth in those plants. My crypts also grew to be quite tall, 6"+ on some leaves.

I don't see why you couldn't substitute more ferts, light, and CO2 to have this as a great substrate in any tank. It works really well in low tech if you add a couple root tabs. I got a 50 pack for like $4 shipped on here and I still have most of those root tabs.


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

All my tanks have black diamond sand now, love the stuff so cheap and fills so much! 4 bags $42 :2g cookie jar, 2g lantern vase, 2-3g bubble bowl, 5.5g standard, 6g bowfront, 7g cube, 12g long, 20g long, 55g and *still *1/2 a bag left!! I use the 20/40 and -60 grit.
All sands need cleaned before use. I just put some in a bucket and rinse it outside until the water is not oily and I'm not getting a lot of suspended particles. Add sand to tank then use a plastic/ziplock bag or large plate toe gradually pour in water.. or just bucket dump and then re-level the sand and plant it. Don't turn on filter until particles settle if you do the rush fill method.
Great for soil + cap (sand) method tanks-must do the gentle fill for this substrate mix or soil gets kicked up to top
Some of my tanks have bettas that like to wiggle down under plants and against the bottom (betta fins are very delicate) no rips.. also have false julli cory in a 55g tank with no damage to barbels. 
Fairly easy to plant in if you use enough sand (1.5-2" range). Overly shallow sand lets buoyant plants pop up easier.
Mts (Malaysian trumpet snails) have no trouble sifting through it.


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## BayazGouramiz (May 13, 2015)

Oh cool nice tank, it looks to be working well for you. What I meant was that I havent seen any tanks like this. 










I'm not saying they're not out there I just haven't seen it. Like I stated I have no experience its just been a conclusion that I've came to based on several weeks of research. I'm going to use this stuff so I'm not knocking it by any means. That being said I don't think you can get as good of results as you might with dirt or aquasoil. Here are some more photos of what I've been looking for that strictly have BDBS, with no success.



























Cheers :icon_smil


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## BayazGouramiz (May 13, 2015)

NVM :iamwithst I'm really happy to have found this  !!!!

TPT Member Burr740 has it down!


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Ah, the high tech dutch style scapes. I haven't grown any stems in my tank since the water wisteria which took over too fast and became something I didn't care to keep up with.

I used 4 of the 50 lb bags in my 75g and the substrate is at least 2" deep in the shallowest part. Probably 6" in the rear.


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