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Keither 
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Joined: June 23 2003
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 Topic: Black Sand
Posted: June 30 2003 at 7:13pm |
I only ask because I've never seen or heard anything about till I stopped by Bird World the other day and saw Black sand, I'm pretty sure it's only ornimental, but am I correct? Is there any benifit/or lack there of?
PS I got my fish books, The Concientious Aquarist(however you spell it) and the New marine aquarium! I'm so excited, thanx for teh ideas on books everyone!.
David
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My bubbles....
He likes Bubbles.
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Adam Blundell
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Joined: June 24 2002
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Posted: June 30 2003 at 9:45pm |
Here's my thought on this. Doesn't have the benefits of other substrates. However, it is the coolest best lookin' stuff you can get. I've only seen a few tank set up with it, but boy do they stand out as awesome tanks.
Adam
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Come to a meeting, they’re fun!
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jfinch
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Joined: March 06 2003
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Posted: June 30 2003 at 10:29pm |
What kind of sand is it? I'm guessing it's not quartz?
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Mark Peterson
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Joined: June 19 2002
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Posted: June 30 2003 at 11:08pm |
I was under the impression that it was an obsidian which is quartz.
A school of neon and/or cardinal tetras looks awesome over black gravel and dark background! Live green plants made that tank a wonder to behold!
If coupled with an RDP refugia using CaribSea aragonite that black sand would make a neat main tank. But I wouldn't do it alone with more than a few fish.
My two cents worth.
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KeoDog
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Posted: July 01 2003 at 6:22am |
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I was told by a person who has the black sand that when detrius starts to build up a little it makes the sand look very dirty. She says she would not reccomend it. Take it for what its worth.
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Kevin Kunz (Sandy, UT)
300g reef
"A trade by which one gains and the other loses is a fraud." Ayn Rand
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dianatabor
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Joined: April 24 2003
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Posted: July 03 2003 at 10:25pm |
It's not necessarily only ornamental. It really depends what kind it is. Caribsea has a sand called Indo-Pacific Black (1-2 mm, Aragalive Water packed bag) that is "the same pacific rim ecosystem reef sand as found in Hawaii, Bali, Sumatra, Costa Rica, Tahiti and Java. This sand has a striking combination of jet black volcanic sands and pure aragonite." This info is from CustomAquatic.com (http://www.customaquatic.com/customaquatic/listcat1.asp?CatID=ss).
I'm in the process of setting up a new mini reef tank (~17 gallons), so I've been doing a lot of research on different sands. I ended up falling in love with pink sand and ordered a couple of different kinds (Caribsea Bermuda Pink and Arag-Alive Fiji Pink) from the web site above. Maybe next year I'll get a chance to show it off in the Reef Tour? 
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imaexpat2
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Posted: August 18 2003 at 6:07am |
I think Mark is right!
I wanted something a little different when I was setting up my 125. I didnt want to buy a ton of Indo-Pacific Live sand which is a mixture of black and white sand. Looking at Carb-Seas on-line catalog, they had some stuff listed called Tahitian Moon. Its wasnt queit the same as the black in Indo-Pacific. It was sugar grain in size and I rather suspect as Mark said Osidian, at least it looks that way. It reminds me very much of the black sand beaches of Barbados! The Indo-Pacific though is made with what appears to be black volcanic sand.
At anyrate I got 40lbs of it, 20lbs Fiji Pink, 40lbs Special Reef Grade, and 60lbs of Indo-Pacific Live sand. It came out pretty good when mixed together. I think it looks awesome! It has a nice salt and pepper look to it. I am the only person that I know of running this type of mixture in my area. It does indeed make for a very strikingly look!
Edited by imaexpat2
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300 gal. Frag System
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240 gal. SPS/Clam Reef Tank
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75 gal. Softies only Tank
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