# Can you have bottom dwellers with a black sand substrate?



## sonby101 (Apr 14, 2009)

Well, I heard this insane theory the other day about how you can't have any kind of black sand in your aquarium ( Flourite bacl, Tahitan Moon Sand) with bottom dwellers. People have said it contains sand with sharper edges and can be harmful to any bottom dweller ( Pleco. Otto, Cory catfish). Is this true, I have heard many people say it is fine, and they do it, and then I hear people say don't because it might hurt them. Can anyone tell me the truth, I think it isn't true but still won't to know what other people think...


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## akamasha (Mar 25, 2008)

I used Tahitan Moon Sand with oto's and dwarf puffers which have the most sensitive little tummys out there. They both did very well and in the 5 years the tank was set up. neither have had any problems. And the Dwarf puffers have breed in the tank 7 times already.


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## ex225 (Oct 26, 2008)

I use 3m Colorquartz Black Sand with my corys and otos. There are 2 different grades: T which is a little bigger grain and more jagged, and S which is the smaller grain and very rounded. I use the S grade and the corys love to dig in it. I don't see any damage to their undersides and their barbels are all intact.

I would just make sure the substrate isn't too sharp. Just rub your hand in it and see if you feel any sharp edges. I really recommend 3M sand though if you're looking for something inert or as a topper. S and T grade, both are good.


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## MChambers (May 26, 2009)

*Sand*



ex225 said:


> I use 3m Colorquartz Black Sand with my corys and otos. There are 2 different grades: T which is a little bigger grain and more jagged, and S which is the smaller grain and very rounded. I use the S grade and the corys love to dig in it. I don't see any damage to their undersides and their barbels are all intact.
> 
> I would just make sure the substrate isn't too sharp. Just rub your hand in it and see if you feel any sharp edges. I really recommend 3M sand though if you're looking for something inert or as a topper. S and T grade, both are good.


Estes Black Sand is good for corys. Hard to find, however.


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## t0p_sh0tta (Jan 24, 2008)

I use black Colorquartz, both T and S grade. The T grade is larger, but still comparable in size to pool filter sand. I've had not issues with it. The S grade is very fine and easily gets stirred up, so it goes in my airfilter only tanks.


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## Bugman (Jan 7, 2008)

Have had no problems with Colorquartz T grade.


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## marrow (Feb 4, 2007)

"Well, I heard this insane theory the other day about how you can't have any kind of black sand in your aquarium ( Flourite bacl, Tahitan Moon Sand) with bottom dwellers."

Complete rubbish except perhaps for that "black beauty" coal slag abrasive stuff that is used for sandblasting. That stuff is very sharp and shiny. Perhaps that is the origin of the myth you heard. It seems a bit of a dodgy idea to put coal slag in a tank anyway. I have used colorquartz, tahitian moon sand, fluorite etc without issue.


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## susankat (Oct 14, 2007)

I've got black beauty in a few of my tanks. I haven't had any problems with it and have cories in all 18 tanks.


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## sonby101 (Apr 14, 2009)

Thanks guys, I pretty much new it wasn't true. But thank you anyways!


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## JustOneMore21 (May 23, 2006)

There is a regular Flourite black and a Flourite black sand.....the Flourite Black Sand, I wouldn't use it with bottom dwellers. Mine has alot of dust in it...still after it being in the tank for months and if something was stirring it up all the time, I'd go mad.  But as for the other black sands...they should be just fine with bottom dwellers.

I'm a big fan of Tahitian Moon Sand. :thumbsup:


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## marrow (Feb 4, 2007)

Thanks for the info susankat, what else have you noticed about black beauty. I admit that my initial dislike for it is based on the term coal slag. It sure is an affordable black substrate and available in a variety of grades, does it change water parameters at all? What exactly is coal slag?


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## susankat (Oct 14, 2007)

It hasn't changed anything in my tanks in terms of ph and such. The plants seems to like it. They get a better root hold faster than any of the other substrates I have used except for my npt tank. There is also some minerals in it that the plants utilize as ferts.

BLACK BEAUTY is a 100% slag product produced from the combustion of coal in the generation of electricity.


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## marrow (Feb 4, 2007)

"BLACK BEAUTY is a 100% slag product produced from the combustion of coal in the generation of electricity."
Thanks susankat, I googled coal slag and found a good page on it at "http://www.tfhrc.gov/hnr20/recycle/waste/cbabs1.htm" There is a good table on chemical properties of this stuff and it has some very good plant usable minerals in it but would probably benefit from a good rinse before hand due to possible sodium content. Either way it is mostly "silica, alumina, and iron with smaller percentages of calcium, magnesium, sulfates, and other compounds". they go on to say that it may be corrosive due to low ph etc. Next tank I do I might give it a try and muck about with it some but I will give it a good rinse first since it seems to vary so much according to source. Thanks again susanKat for sharing your experiences with this material.


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## Aquarist_Fist (Jul 22, 2008)

sonby101 said:


> Thanks guys, I pretty much new it wasn't true. But thank you anyways!


It's not that easy. Sand, especially moon sand, should be fine, but some rough slag can indeed be dangerous to fish. Otos usually don't care that much since they don't dig a whole lot. But for cories, it is important to choose the finest sand possible. Otherwise, they will hurt their mouths.


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## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

My cories drop like flies with my 3M T-grade. I have one cory that has managed to stay alive. He doesn't dig in the substrate. He dives down there and bobs back up at the last second as if thinking, "Ouch! Better not." I purchased 10 more a little over a week ago after reading others don't have problems with it, thinking that possibly something else killed off my cories. I'm already down to 2. The other 8 all died with what I call "face rot" like the other cories. These two, like the sole surviving elder, do not dig in the substrate, but chomp around on the driftwood and plants instead. They also do the divebomb and pullback at the last second routine. I guess some fish are smarter than others.

My ottos never go in the substrate. They hang out on the glass and leaves.


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## FSM (Jan 13, 2009)

Just wondering if anyone has any actual evidence to support the claim that loaches/corydoras/etc can be injured by coarse substrate?


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## SearunSimpson (Jun 5, 2007)

Not really sure if you need it though. Alot of loaches burry themselves in the substrate and with coarse/rough gravel they are prone to exterior injuries (cuts/scrabes, etc). 
With Cories, they usually like to sift sand through their gills while digging for food. This is part of the reason why silica sand is usually avoided when housing them.
With rough gravel, the rough/sharp edges can injure their barbels.


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## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

if you doubt it, put some cories in there and see what happens. If you find them floating on the top with their snouts missing, you'll know. If not, your substrate is fine. I was simply telling you what happened in my particular case.


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## FSM (Jan 13, 2009)

I never even saw your post, sorry. S grade is basically spherical, that should probably work much better.


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## jpfishfan09 (Jun 18, 2009)

I bought 2 bags of black sand flourite for my 29g planted tank. I put in 3 peppered corys. They seemed fine for the first few weeks, but then i noticed one had died. Looked at the other two, and their mouths were red and raw. Within the next two days, the red and raw mouths were LARGE gaping holes. It was horrible and they died a few days later. Later I purchased a bag of ecocomplete to mix in with the black sand flourite and put in 3 emerald green corys. It's been a couple months and they are fine and getting bigger. So in the end, I do not recommend black sand flourite by itself for cory catfish. The edges are too sharp


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## hewhorocks (May 23, 2009)

jpfishfan09 

JPFishfan09,

Were you using Florite Black or Florite black "Sand" ? The Sand product looks much smaller/rounder than even the Eco complete you mixed it with. Just curious thinking of using moonsand/ florite black sand on a 70 gal I'm plotting.


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## ROYZ (Jun 25, 2008)

My panda corys seems to be doing fine in Flourite Black substrate (not sand). I had the corys for about 3 months now and never noticed any problems with their mouths.

roy


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