# Black Diamond Sand and cories?



## Midnighttide102 (Oct 2, 2014)

I just had athread going about this sand asking questions I did get a reply of a guy who keeps it with Cory cats and said they love sifting threw it search for the thread


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## doughnut (Jul 22, 2010)

Yeah I use it and have no issues with my corys.


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## Verivus (Jan 6, 2015)

Any substrate is fine for corys. Issues with whiskers mainly come from bad water quality. I use blasting sand with mine, and they are just fine.


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## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

Verivus said:


> Any substrate is fine for corys. Issues with whiskers mainly come from bad water quality. I use blasting sand with mine, and they are just fine.


+1. My cories are fine in bdbs


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## ac0xr (Aug 13, 2014)

I use it with Corys, and they love it! Their barbels have actually grown since I got them. They like sifting through it, and I think the darker color makes them feel more secure.


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## Sarraa (May 17, 2015)

Does anyone by chance know where to get black diamond sand? I live in Arizona, I checked Home Depot and lowes and they looked at my like I was crazy, didn't have any idea what I was talking about. 

I googled for tractor supplies near me, and the closest that showed up to me is hours away. Guess I'm just SOL haha


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

I've used the fine and medium grade black diamond with them just fine. 

Tractor Supply is the provider for it. Any black blasting sand is good though.


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## rebelbuck1993 (Sep 3, 2014)

Blackdiamond blasting sand can also be found under Black Beauty sand and is the same coal slag material

Bump: do you have a harbor freight near you?


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## Sarraa (May 17, 2015)

Oh my gosh you're a life saver! I had never heard of harbor freight before but I googled it and found one kinda close! They carry black diamond, so I will be taking back the 2 $20 bags of sand I bought yesterday haha. I'm so excited!


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## Sarraa (May 17, 2015)

Thank you rebel!!


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## rebelbuck1993 (Sep 3, 2014)

Sarraa said:


> Thank you rebel!!


no problem glad i could help. and yea many people dont have a tractor supply or freight store besides harbor freight near them and the closes to me is tractor supply but my cousin is near harbor freight and i found they had it when my tractor supply was out last week

Bump: just make sure you get the 20/40 minimum. the 12/40 is a little bigger and would help hold plants better, for the 20/40 can be a little on the light side if you clean the bottom or glass sides often as i have found out with me experimenting on my 33long


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## anewbeus (May 28, 2015)

If HF does not work out, you could also try a tool rental store that has shot blasting tools for rent. They should also stock it there.


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## Sarraa (May 17, 2015)

So I went to harbor freight and the black diamond they have there was different...it said on the bag it has to stay dry. Not sure if it would've made a difference but it made me nervous so I didn't get it. I got black aquarium sand cheaper than normal, I paid $11 for a 25 pound bag so I'm just gonna stick with that. I'd rather be safe than sorry ha


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## iceburg (Jan 30, 2015)

Sarraa said:


> So I went to harbor freight and the black diamond they have there was different...it said on the bag it has to stay dry.


The name brand black diamond blasting abrasive says it has to stay dry as well (visible on the back of the bag in the photo on the tractor supply company website), but I think that's just if you need the right consistency for sand blasting. Can anyone confirm that?

I checked the harbor freight website and only saw aluminum oxide abrasive media listed and it was about $1/pound. I'm pretty sure coal slag wouldn't be aluminum oxide so I don't think it's the same stuff. Did you find it on the website when you looked or just in the store.

Edit:
Just found out that black diamond also makes an aluminum oxide abrasive that is different and more expensive than the coal slag.


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## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

It only needs to stay dry if you plan on using it in a sand blasting machine. If it gets wet, it is ruined for the purpose it was made for. That's all that means.


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## Sarraa (May 17, 2015)

Good to know! I went in to the store, the guy there couldn't tell me for sure if it was coal slag or aluminum, it didn't say on the bag which I thought was weird. And he said that this stuff wasn't fine like sand, it was more jagged and probably shouldn't be used in fish tanks. 
I wish I had one of you guys there with me haha. It was a 30 minute drive, at this point I don't think its worth it to go back down to get it lol


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## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

Sarraa said:


> Good to know! I went in to the store, the guy there couldn't tell me for sure if it was coal slag or aluminum, it didn't say on the bag which I thought was weird. And he said that this stuff wasn't fine like sand, it was more jagged and probably shouldn't be used in fish tanks.
> I wish I had one of you guys there with me haha. It was a 30 minute drive, at this point I don't think its worth it to go back down to get it lol


If anyone is interested HERE is an 11 page thread of blasting sand tanks and discussion.


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