[CSeaSee]

I'm going to be setting up a 10 gallon tank for a mantis shrimp soonish and I'm interested in using black sand on the bottom instead of the traditional sand. Are there any cons when it comes to using this type of sand? Would using a mixture of both be a better idea? Or is it purely cosmetic?

[Reefland]

It would strictly depend on the composition of the black sand. Obviously there isn't any aragonite black sand available and aragonite is all that I would use.

[ghofmann]

CaribSea makes a black sand that is salt water safe. It's called Tahitian Moon Sand, and I believe it's volcanic sand so it won't have any buffering capabilities.

[Reefland]

I think there might be the same concerns with that as there would be with using "lava rock"?

[CSeaSee]

Thanks, guys! I think I'm going to go with a layer of aragonite and a layer of the black moon, if I can find some locally. Of course, it'll probably get mixed together eventually, but that may look cool, too. 70% aragonite, 30% black moon. That way I'll still get the buffering, but the look that I want. Or am I missing something with the "lava rock?"

[Reefland]

I don't know if you are or not. I know that the use of lava rock in a marine aquarium is a bad idea since no one really knows what type of contaminents may leach out. I am not sure if the same concern lies with "volcanic" sand or not but I would think it would.

[CSeaSee]

More research... There is so much trivia in this hobby that Alex Trebeck could have a "Reef" category and not even Ken Jennings would get it all. But that's what makes it so much fun!

[Reefland]

It definitely adds to the challenge.

[Ninong]

All black sand is volcanic in origin. It's basically lava sand. You can use it if you want to. It shouldn't cause any problems.

[Reefland]

Why would there not be the same concerns as using lava rock?

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Reefland

Why would there not be the same concerns as using lava rock?

I asked this question of Dr. Ron about a year ago in this thread: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...black+AND+sand

[Reefland]

Interesting, I was always under the assumption that using rock (or sand) from a volcanic origin was 'risky'.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Reefland

Interesting, I was always under the assumption that using rock (or sand) from a volcanic origin was 'risky'.

I wouldn't use volcanic rock in my aquarium but that's neither here nor there. The question was whether "black sand" is OK. I didn't think it was, which was why I asked Dr. Ron about it. He said it's fine. So there ya go. I still won't use it but have at it if you like it.

BTW, no matter what color the sand is, it will eventually sort itself out according to particle sizes. Infaunal bioturbation will result in the larger particle sizes rising to the top over time.

[CSeaSee]

Forgot about the raisin bran effect! So it'll be a good experiment. There's no coral going in (maybe a mushroom. maybe.), it'll just be the mantis shrimp and snails, so I'm gonna do it! The tank's coming from ClarityPlus (can't remember the parent company right now) in a month, so sometime in December everything will hopefully be set. Thanks!

[underseaworld]

I have had black sand in my 125 for 3 years and have had no problems it is full of all kinds of live creatures. I will transfer the sand to my 300 when I get it set up. The sand looks real good but I would not recomand any black fish that like to hang out at the bottom of the tank.

[CSeaSee]

After digging around some more, I found that SeaChem makes a "Gray Coast" sand that's calcite based. I'm thinking that I'm going to give that a shot instead of the lava sand, since I think it has some buffering capacity.
http://www.seachem.com/products/gravels.html

[Ninong]

There is some disagreement as to the true net buffering capacity of aragonite sand. Calcite sand, however, would have zero buffering capacity unless the pH in your tank plunged to levels that would not be tolerable to your tank's inhabitants. Calcite is a much more stable crystalline form of calcium carbonate than aragonite and it would require a much lower pH for any dissolution to take place.