This black sand I ordered from a pool construction place

[greg y]

I was looking for color quartz, the guy said he would order me some of the estes brand spectraquartz, but this is what I got, anyone ever use this stuff, is it the same as T-grade?

darn it, I don't want to experiment the guy said he was ordering me the SpectraQuartz. I have had it with diy experimentation, my planted tank full of "safe t sorb" has been nothing but mystery problem after problem.

I am setting up a 12 gal. fluval edge tank for my fiance' and now I'm second guessing every decision. Am I over thinking this? The last thing I need is another mystery problem and honestly if my main planted tank continues to fail I was thinking about ordering more of this and switching to a Geo earth eater tank.

[greg y]

http://www.coloredagg.com/products/aqua_gems/documents/AquaGems_DataSheet.pdf

[greg y]

update: I spoke with a product rep on the phone and he said it was the same product as 3m colorquartz, just in case anyone was wondering.

That puts my mind at ease a little about using it :-)

[linuxrulesusa]

If this doesn't work for you I've had zero issues with pool filter sand.  Unfortunately it only comes in tan to white color range, not black, as far as I know.

[Steve]

Never used that brand before but if you don't want to chance it then just go to the closest Tractor Supply Company store and ask for some "Black Diamond" sand blasting sand. It's cheap (around $8 per 50lb bag) and is used by many people for substrate without issues.

[greg y]

I looked over that blasting sand when I was there buying the safe t sorb a few months ago.


I know people seem to like it but from what I could see from a torn bag it looked sharp and had little metal slivers in it.

[Steve]

There's no metal in it. The sand itself is a coal slag so it has some reflective look to certain pieces, but no metal at all in it so it's safe. Just giving another option for ya was all in case you didn't know about the TSC sand.

[greg y]

thanks, I appreciate that, do you use it Steve?

I have 75ish pounds of this black sand but that isn't going to be enough for a 4'x2' foot print tank if I decide to switch it out and I doubt mixing it with pool filter sand would look good.

[Steve]

I have it on one of my tanks, then I have "Commercial Paver sand" (White) from Home depot in my other tanks. The paver sand is VERY well priced ($3.48 per 50lb bag) but only comes in white (fine grit) and tan (medium grit) so if you want black then the paver sand wouldn't be an option for ya.

[Bremmon]

Do-it Center and Ace both carry the same White Silica sand in a more course variety.. I prefer the 6-12 grit, but not all of them carry it... they do carry the medium 20grit in stock its all the same price.. I hate the fine stuff from Home Depot. It gets sucked up like crazy in my canisters and when I'm vacuuming.

[Bremmon]

Tractor supply co. has an 80lb bag of Black silica coal slag for $8.00 Tried true and tested for aquariums... If you really want black sand, it is rough on catfish whiskers though.

[fishandcards]

I used the black diamond blasting sand from TSC.  Looks great.  The bag I got didn't need to be washed - may have been because I left the bag in my open truck bed and it was rained on a couple of times.  I took it and ground it between my fingers and no issues.  One thing though, careful around the glass - I have quite I few scratches that I think came from this (not positive).