# black diamond



## In.a.Box (Dec 8, 2011)

I just bough 2 bag of this stuff.
Can someone tell me what's the stuff in the pic is?
Will it be safe with bottom feeder?
It is breakable and just wanna make sure its safe since one did poke into my skin
Every bag has those in there or is t just my?


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## xxbenjamminxx (Aug 8, 2011)

Out of the 200lbs I got I never came across anything like that.


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## In.a.Box (Dec 8, 2011)

Is that so? Hmmm make me kinda worry.
If it just the bag I got I guess I will have to return them.


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## CAM6467 (Feb 11, 2009)

I just bought 50lbs a few days ago and I have the same stuff in mine. I've read other threads where people found this and went with BD anyhow without problems. I'm just hoping that I don't run into any real issues with the stuff.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Looks almost like metal shavings to me.


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## In.a.Box (Dec 8, 2011)

I'm keeping bottom feeder like cory, my black ghost knife, and bumble bee cat.
Since cory like to dig I wonder if it will be safe. Just don't want to wake up seeing a piece stuck on one of my fish.


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## freph (Apr 4, 2011)

I wouldn't worry about it. If anything just rinse it well to make sure you don't get any shavings. I'm using some in my 10g shrimp tank and love the stuff.


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## monkeyfish (Jul 5, 2010)

I also just got a bag of black diamond and it has these too. They appear to be the same material as the "grains" just shaped differently.


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## Nubster (Aug 9, 2011)

I think it's just glass shards. Mine has it too. No ill effects in my shrimp tank thus far but I am guessing shrimp aren't really as susceptible to substrate texture like bottom feeder fish.


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## In.a.Box (Dec 8, 2011)

Thanks all of u, I guess ill go ahead and use it since its 1hr round trip to return it.


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## CAM6467 (Feb 11, 2009)

Be sure to report back with how it goes. I'm confident that you'll have no problems!


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## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

It is just the same stuff as the media, not broken up.


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## djscotty (Sep 14, 2010)

I didn't have any in mine but just use a some type of metal screen. We used it to was before putting into the tank. Really helped with water clarity from the beginning.


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## In.a.Box (Dec 8, 2011)

I will report in how it goes.

For now here my sand washer. Hehe
5 gallon bucket from Lowes cut about 4-5 inch from the bottom.
Cover with one of my t shirt haha. Work like a pro no sand can go through it.

Put sand.in there and hose it down till water look clear.
Rule 1 is wash couple cup by cup.


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## klaus07 (Nov 23, 2011)

You might try using a magnet to see if any of those pieces have steel in them. At least some of them look metallic. I would do that before the sand gets wet.


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## monkeyfish (Jul 5, 2010)

@ klaus...it's hard to tell from the pic, but if you were holding them in your hand you would know they are not metallic. They appear to be more like glass.


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## klaus07 (Nov 23, 2011)

I just bought three bags of the stuff, thanks for the heads up!


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## xxbenjamminxx (Aug 8, 2011)

klaus07 said:


> You might try using a magnet to see if any of those pieces have steel in them. At least some of them look metallic. I would do that before the sand gets wet.


+1 to this. I thought of this last night laying in bed of all places. LOL Might be worth a shot since I dont think the actual coal slag should be magnetic.


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## In.a.Box (Dec 8, 2011)

I try the magnet nothing stick to it. 

How many bag should I use in a 40B and 75?


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## In.a.Box (Dec 8, 2011)

i wash and wash and wash but still see oil. 
how do you people get rid of the oil?


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## djscotty (Sep 14, 2010)

I just did a couple of thorough washes and then transferred to the tank. I then had a old HOB filter that I used for a couple of days and all of the oil disappeared and haven't had any other problems.


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## proaudio55 (Oct 20, 2011)

In.a.Box said:


> I try the magnet nothing stick to it.
> 
> How many bags should I use in a 40B and 75?


IMHO 1.5-2lbs of sand per gallon. So a 75 I'd suggest 100lbs (2 bags) or if you want a deeper bed I'd do 150lbs (3 bags).

In my 72 bow front I have 2 bags of tan pool sand and 1 bag fine coal slag for a total of 150lbs of fine substrate. I like the results . . .


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## In.a.Box (Dec 8, 2011)

proaudio55 said:


> IMHO 1.5-2lbs of sand per gallon. So a 75 I'd suggest 100lbs (2 bags) or if you want a deeper bed I'd do 150lbs (3 bags).
> 
> In my 72 bow front I have 2 bags of tan pool sand and 1 bag fine coal slag for a total of 150lbs of fine substrate. I like the results . . .


Got pic of the 72? I would to see how black and pool sand mix.


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## In.a.Box (Dec 8, 2011)

Is the 20-40 bigger then the 30-60?


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## proaudio55 (Oct 20, 2011)

In.a.Box said:


> Got pic of the 72? I would to see how black and pool sand mix.


I'm at work at the moment, but I'll post one when I get home . . . (don't tell my boss I'm on here  )



In.a.Box said:


> Is the 20-40 bigger then the 30-60?


Yep, 20-40 is the coarser stuff . . . I don't recall off hand how they come up with those numbers but even the 30-60 should be fine. The biggest concern are SUPER fine particles because those will make your water murky / cloudy.


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## proaudio55 (Oct 20, 2011)

As requested: I don't know how this will ultimately homogenize out (in terms of black:tan ratio) But it looks good to my eye. And I had to shoot these with a flash, so the color may be a titch off. In a 72 gallon bow, each 50lbs bag => 1" of substrate thickness (aprox).


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## Daximus (Oct 19, 2011)

^^^ That looks real good! At worst you will end up with a natural "dirt" look if they ever get totally mixed up.

To those other posters concerned about the "shards". I had a few of those I noticed in my 3 bags of the stuff. When I spotted them I pulled a couple out...no ill effects to any of my fish. 

Couple of mine were indeed metal shavings of some sort...who knows. After all folks, it's an industrial by-product commonly blasted out of a gun to remove paint off cars, lol. My point being that it probably hasn't been inspected for purity at the level of something that was intended to go in an aquarium. So, as with any DIY project...a bit of self inspection and an acceptance of slight imperfection should probably be the norm. You might wanna sift it, you might wanna rinse it, it might take a bit of work. Good news is you just saved $100 on black sand. :hihi:

All kidding aside my corys are fine, my shrimp are fine too, and even my "special" oto that thinks it's a cory is fine. (He tries the whole sucky sucky thing on the black diamond substrate. Very funny.)


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## Profector (Oct 7, 2010)

Looks good, what grit size did you used?


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## proaudio55 (Oct 20, 2011)

Profector said:


> Looks good, what grit size did you used?


the bag says "1.5-2.0 mil anchor profile" ++awkward silence++ (???) . . . I call it "fine"


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## monkeyfish (Jul 5, 2010)

With the Black diamond you want 20/40 grit.


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## treetom (Feb 11, 2011)

Coal slag is the left over material of coal being burnt in power plants. I used to unload coal trains and seen hills of the stuff. They sell it for other things as well like for ash trays, putting down on snow and ice, as well as blast media. The chances of getting metal in your bag is good because most coal burning power plants burn a small (compared to the amount of coal burnt) percentage of shredded tires. And tires contain wire and would then possibly not be consumed in the burning process. Also sand or stone fragments would contain silica which would turn to glass given the high heat that the coal is burnt at. Actually, a lot of elements and compounds could fuse to form glass like material given the extreme temps they would be subjected to.


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## proaudio55 (Oct 20, 2011)

treetom said:


> Coal slag is the left over material of coal being burnt in power plants. I used to unload coal trains and seen hills of the stuff. They sell it for other things as well like for ash trays, putting down on snow and ice, as well as blast media. The chances of getting metal in your bag is good because most coal burning power plants burn a small (compared to the amount of coal burnt) percentage of shredded tires. And tires contain wire and would then possibly not be consumed in the burning process. Also sand or stone fragments would contain silica which would turn to glass given the high heat that the coal is burnt at. Actually, a lot of elements and compounds could fuse to form glass like material given the extreme temps they would be subjected to.


Good call treetom!! I totally forgot about power stations burning TDF ("Tire Derived Fuel") If inquiring minds want to know, they do that because it counts as burning a "renewable fuel" (in terms of the hippies and their "green energy" initiatives.)

...and let's not turn this thread into political bickering please.


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