# black beauty sand



## fishyjoe24 (Dec 10, 2009)

can it be used, with some seachem flourite(sp?) or eco complete in a planted tank. reason i ask is i might be picking up a 110g long (72x16x21) with stand,lids, and some regular light for 125.00 and they buy is willing to throw in 100lbs of black beauty sand for 10.00 dollars. Thanks.


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## wkndracer (Mar 14, 2009)

The sand blasting material?


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## fishyjoe24 (Dec 10, 2009)

*yes*



wkndracer said:


> The sand blasting material?



at first i thought it was just sand, but yes he told me it is the sand blasting sand. i do have tan silica pool filter sand too, if the pool filter sand would work, thanks.


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## knm<>< (Mar 18, 2010)

I'm pretty sure I read a thread where this was used. I'm guessing it will be fine.Mixing the ecocomplete would be a good idea though. You'll need to start ferts earlier with this product though.


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## fishyjoe24 (Dec 10, 2009)

knm<>< said:


> I'm pretty sure I read a thread where this was used. I'm guessing it will be fine.Mixing the ecocomplete would be a good idea though. You'll need to start ferts earlier with this product though.


Thanks, do you have a link to that thread?

and i'll buy a bunch of fert tabs.


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## wkndracer (Mar 14, 2009)

You need to do some research first (IMO) as Black Beauty is not a sand. It was used in the power plant where I work to clean steam turbine parts but it's use was discontinued due to disposal issues. Do a trade name internet search to find the MSDS on it. (material safety data sheet)


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## fishyjoe24 (Dec 10, 2009)

wkndracer said:


> You need to do some research first (IMO) as Black Beauty is not a sand. It was used in the power plant where I work to clean steam turbine parts but it's use was discontinued due to disposal issues. Do a trade name internet search to find the MSDS on it. (material safety data sheet)


thanks, i finely did some research on here and i'm not going to use it.
i will just use a mix of the silica pool filter sand, and some flourite or eco complete.


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## fiftyfiveG (Apr 25, 2009)

Hi fishyjoe24...i mixed it with ADA amazon on my 75 gallons. Never have problem with that mix.

You might want to try soilmaster select from John Deer. There is JD landscape place on Jupiter and 15th in Plano. He had about 20 bags left. 15.00 per 50lbs bag. I brought 3 bags the other day. I used it on my 29 gallons and cap it with black gravel and used Pfertz root tab.


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## accordztech (Dec 6, 2004)

i was going to do this with my fourite, but i found if you dig to the bottom of the sand, you get about 4 inches of really really fine black sand. its much smoother than the ones on thetop.

I ended up going with playsand though for my cories.


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## bunnie1978 (Jan 22, 2010)

I've been told by others to stay away from BLACK BEAUTY.... I have used BLACK DIAMOND blasting grit, it's great.


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## g33tar (Jan 8, 2010)

Ive got black diamond in the tank I just set up a week ago. Ive read that its good unless you have cories.

So far so good for me.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/g...my-new-tank-finally-came-pic.html#post1029090


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## fishyjoe24 (Dec 10, 2009)

fiftyfiveG said:


> Hi fishyjoe24...i mixed it with ADA amazon on my 75 gallons. Never have problem with that mix.
> 
> You might want to try soilmaster select from John Deer. There is JD landscape place on Jupiter and 15th in Plano. He had about 20 bags left. 15.00 per 50lbs bag. I brought 3 bags the other day. I used it on my 29 gallons and cap it with black gravel and used Pfertz root tab.



Thanks how many bags will i need? wonder how much i should sell my double stacker 55g's for. the fish and plants from the 55 along with the light will be going on/in the 110l. 135.00 with lids,t8 lights,and a 2x4 stand for 135.00 !  :bounce:


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## takadi (Dec 13, 2010)

Old thread, but I just heard about this stuff a few days ago and I'm getting mixed messages about it. Some say it's safe, some say it's not. Others say that some batches are bad. Some say its bad for bottom dwellers, others say it's okay. 

Also, is this black diamond stuff made from the same stuff as black beauty? How is it different? I really am just trying to find a cheap alternative to black sand with high CEC, similar to flourite black sand or ADA power sand.


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