# I wanna see your black sand!



## ricktfoster (Feb 15, 2017)

So I currently have Ecocomplete. I hate it. It doesn’t do squat for my plants. It’s a pain in the rear to plant in. And it doesn’t look natural. I want to switch back to Sand. I use to have Caribsea Sunset Gold which I loved. But I also like how black sand brings out the color of the fish. Show me your pics if you have black sand. And tell me what kind you use! Thanks




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## Sheps (Aug 26, 2018)

I use National Geographic live sand. I use black and white in three separate tanks (two black, one white) and it's my favorite substrate.

This is my 30 gal tank before it had plants in it.


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## HiBRiD109 (Oct 9, 2017)

I used Black Diamond Blasting Sand 20/40 Grit in my 29G. I'm in the process of setting up a 75G with the same. It's not as nice as sands made for aquariums (you get what you pay for) but it does the job. I can't force myself to pay $$$ for sand/rock. So 3x 50lbs bags at $8/bag of blasting sand is good enough for me. Its inert so I just have to supply some root tabs and osmocote plus.


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## ricktfoster (Feb 15, 2017)

Sheps said:


> I use National Geographic live sand. I use black and white in three separate tanks (two black, one white) and it's my favorite substrate.
> 
> This is my 30 gal tank before it had plants in it.




Looks nice! I’m stuck in between this stuff and going back to the Sunset Gold... 


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## Grobbins48 (Oct 16, 2017)

Here are a few from two tanks I have. Black Diamons Blasting Sand.


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## ricktfoster (Feb 15, 2017)

Grobbins48 said:


> Here are a few from two tanks I have. Black Diamons Blasting Sand.




Wow you’re tanks look amazing!!! I really need to invest in CO2


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## alidium (Mar 6, 2017)

Just planted this one, so there's lotsa bubbles, and I haven't taken nice photos yet so here's a crappy phone photo!


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## chayos00 (Sep 22, 2013)

Take a look at my signature and you'll find my build thread with lots of pictures of my black diamond blasting sand 125g tank.


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## ricktfoster (Feb 15, 2017)

alidium said:


> Just planted this one, so there's lotsa bubbles, and I haven't taken nice photos yet so here's a crappy phone photo!




Dude nothing crappy about this photo at all... looks amazing!


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## alidium (Mar 6, 2017)

Thanks so much! Oh, and it's just a bag of sand I picked up randomly at one of the big box pet stores and just now found a use for it. Very fine grain and kind of a pain to rinse. Glad I only had a small bag of it!


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## Patriot (Dec 22, 2010)

I just two bags of the BDBS and this gives me hope. Thank you for the pictures. 

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## ricktfoster (Feb 15, 2017)

alidium said:


> Thanks so much! Oh, and it's just a bag of sand I picked up randomly at one of the big box pet stores and just now found a use for it. Very fine grain and kind of a pain to rinse. Glad I only had a small bag of it!




Do you recall which brand it was?


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## alidium (Mar 6, 2017)

"Imagitarium" I believe, in with all the crazy color betta gravel and such. 

I think this is it, but it came in a much smaller bag:
https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/imagitarium-black-aquarium-sand


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## DarkOne (Aug 26, 2018)

Here's a few old pics when I first set up my tanks. All have BDBS 20/40. 

Shrimp tank (20g long)









75g









40g breeder









20g long


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## Grobbins48 (Oct 16, 2017)

ricktfoster said:


> Wow you’re tanks look amazing!!! I really need to invest in CO2
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Thanks! I'm a big fan of the BDBS. Easy to plant in, look a great, and no issues with any fish, including cory cats on it. Oh and super cheap. $8 for 50lbs at Tractor Supply Company.


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## furnfins (Dec 30, 2011)

I have Eco complete also, I mixed it with black sand from petco when I first started the tank 5 years ago. Got sick of it, some pieces of it actually started to turn white. 
I bought caribe sea tahitian moon sand and added it to the tank. Sorry I'm not at home and can't seem to post through my phone. I cleaned the substrate good and then used a 2"wide x 24"PVC tube to put the sand through and get it to the bottom without making a mess. It worked great! I add about an inch of sand over the eco complete. I love a black substate.


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)




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## ricktfoster (Feb 15, 2017)

Greggz said:


>




Wow!!!! Amazing tank! Would you mind if I shared this on my Instagram page?


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## ricktfoster (Feb 15, 2017)

furnfins said:


> I have Eco complete also, I mixed it with black sand from petco when I first started the tank 5 years ago. Got sick of it, some pieces of it actually started to turn white.
> 
> I bought caribe sea tahitian moon sand and added it to the tank. Sorry I'm not at home and can't seem to post through my phone. I cleaned the substrate good and then used a 2"wide x 24"PVC tube to put the sand through and get it to the bottom without making a mess. It worked great! I add about an inch of sand over the eco complete. I love a black substate.




I also considered this sand a while back. 


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## ricktfoster (Feb 15, 2017)

Grobbins48 said:


> Thanks! I'm a big fan of the BDBS. Easy to plant in, look a great, and no issues with any fish, including cory cats on it. Oh and super cheap. $8 for 50lbs at Tractor Supply Company.




I’m started to consider going this route! Problem is the only stuff I’ve seen has specs of gold in it, which I hate. Does yours have that?


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## Doogy262 (Aug 11, 2013)

ricktfoster said:


> I’m started to consider going this route! Problem is the only stuff I’ve seen has specs of gold in it, which I hate. Does yours have that?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I have it in three tanks and never seen a speck of gold...


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

ricktfoster said:


> Wow!!!! Amazing tank! Would you mind if I shared this on my Instagram page?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Thanks and don't mind at all go ahead.

I have a journal here with many more pictures and information.


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## ricktfoster (Feb 15, 2017)

Greggz said:


> Thanks and don't mind at all go ahead.
> 
> 
> 
> I have a journal here with many more pictures and information.




Thank you. I’ll check it out 


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## SkyLight (Feb 5, 2018)

If you are in the Chicago area, I have 2 bags of BDBS ... let me know. @ricktfoster


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## ricktfoster (Feb 15, 2017)

SkyLight said:


> If you are in the Chicago area, I have 2 bags of BDBS ... let me know. @ricktfoster




I live in Gurnee 5 mins from Great America


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## kaldurak (May 2, 2010)

20 gallon long with black blasting sand.
Monte Carlo looks like garbage atm, it was recently planted.




























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## ricktfoster (Feb 15, 2017)

kaldurak said:


> 20 gallon long with black blasting sand.
> Monte Carlo looks like garbage atm, it was recently planted.
> 
> 
> ...




Looks good!! Which Finnex light is that?


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## kaldurak (May 2, 2010)

ricktfoster said:


> Looks good!! Which Finnex light is that?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


30 inch planted plus 24/7 CC.

However, I don't use the 24/7 mode custom or otherwise. Just 6 to 8 hours a day on max. I fiddled around with the CC on a 10g tank and dialed it in just using max mode per a set number of hours after fighting the 24/7 mode. 

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## Grobbins48 (Oct 16, 2017)

ricktfoster said:


> I’m started to consider going this route! Problem is the only stuff I’ve seen has specs of gold in it, which I hate. Does yours have that?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


No gold that I can see. My journal has some more detailed pictures of the sand early on. Link in my signature.


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## HiBRiD109 (Oct 9, 2017)

ricktfoster said:


> I’m started to consider going this route! Problem is the only stuff I’ve seen has specs of gold in it, which I hate. Does yours have that?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


The gold or white specs you see is just the light shining off some of the sand. It really is all black but some pieces are slightly reflective from having a flat surface so on camera it shows up as gold/white.


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## fiji (Jul 12, 2018)

Black Diamond Blasting Sand..

Awesome substrate and super cheap!!


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## TacitBlues (Aug 4, 2016)

I used Black Diamond for my 40B tank. This picture's old but gives you an idea of what it looks like:










I mixed in a little bit of lava rock debris from a bag of landscaping rock to tie in a little bit more with the big lava rocks. Been thinking about trying to plant some crypts or something in the front but for now it's still just an anubia forest.


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## ricktfoster (Feb 15, 2017)

Looks of cool looking tanks! I appreciate everyone sharing their photos. It’s giving me a lot of inspiration to switching to BDBS!


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## ricktfoster (Feb 15, 2017)

This isn’t the most recent photo.. I’ve rescaped a bit since this. But this is my tank with Ecocomplete. Really all that is different not is I moved the Anubias Tree all with way to the left corner. I’ll have to upload a more recent pic. Thoughts?











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## Vinster8108 (Sep 1, 2016)

See 75g thread in signature. I love BDBS for big tanks!


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## ricktfoster (Feb 15, 2017)

Here is what my tank looks like today! 











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## stanf (Aug 30, 2018)

Like you, I had eco-complete. Now, I'm another convert to BDBS. Just make sure you get the 20-40. The smaller grit (which actually is the higher number) is too fine and easily gets sucked up during cleaning. My plants are doing great.


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## JAMarlow (Jan 16, 2018)

Is there a source for BDBS for smaller quantities. I have a nano tank, so a big bag would be a waste. Not to mention I have nowhere to store it.


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## ricktfoster (Feb 15, 2017)

stanf said:


> Like you, I had eco-complete. Now, I'm another convert to BDBS. Just make sure you get the 20-40. The smaller grit (which actually is the higher number) is too fine and easily gets sucked up during cleaning. My plants are doing great.




Right on! I’d like to see pics if you have some


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## HiBRiD109 (Oct 9, 2017)

JAMarlow said:


> Is there a source for BDBS for smaller quantities. I have a nano tank, so a big bag would be a waste. Not to mention I have nowhere to store it.


I don't believe so, i've only ever seen it in 50lbs bags. But at $8-9 a bag its not a big deal, just store what you don't use or split with someone.


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## kaldurak (May 2, 2010)

JAMarlow said:


> Is there a source for BDBS for smaller quantities. I have a nano tank, so a big bag would be a waste. Not to mention I have nowhere to store it.


If you want to drive up to WA state, I have about 50lbs left frm the 100lb bag I bought. 😉


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## DarkOne (Aug 26, 2018)

JAMarlow said:


> Is there a source for BDBS for smaller quantities. I have a nano tank, so a big bag would be a waste. Not to mention I have nowhere to store it.


For a single nano tank you might be better off with something like PetSmart's NatGeo gravel in your choice of color for $6 (5lb bag). BDBS is an inexpensive option for larger and/or multiple tanks. I filled 2 20g longs, 40b and 75g with BDBS for about $60 instead of $300-400. I still have about 70lbs left and I have a 20g tall and 10g that's bare bottom.


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## ryguystye (Aug 28, 2018)

I'm considering using BDBS in my next tank. Do plants grow well enough with only sand? Or is the sand mainly a cap for something like dirt?


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## kaldurak (May 2, 2010)

ryguystye said:


> I'm considering using BDBS in my next tank. Do plants grow well enough with only sand? Or is the sand mainly a cap for something like dirt?


Both....either?

You can go 100% sand or use it to cap the dirted substrate of your choosing. Mine is 100% sand and I only dose the water column - no root tabs.

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