black sand

[C.Mydas]

Does anybody have a tank set up with black sand? Im curious to see what it looks like in a tank.

[Ram_Puppy]

Hey Mydas.. I have a quarantine tank with black sand... specifically what your asking about is tahitian moon sand.

Here is the lowdown, sandbed critters don't like it, it has sharp edges. it is just like a black car or truck, detrius settles on it and it SHOWS. now, to be fair, the only cleanup crew I have in this qurantine tank is a teeny tiny nassarius and some type of algae eating snail/slug (not sure what) they were both hitch hikers... I am toying with the idea of either tearing it down as soon as the clownfish in it is sold, or going forth with adding a clean up crew and putting a very small frog fish in (A. Maculatus). not sure.. anyhow, right now, it doesn't look so great, thuogh this clown is obviously ready for cleaning, she has been brushing a bare spot to the bottom of the tank the last coulple days... (interesting since she hated her tank mate and he/her has recently departed to greener pastures. :) (Thanks Cailen!)

Aside from the messy look if you don't siphon every day or have a clean up crew, it is nice, the sand does not compact so it stays very loose, it seems to be different every day. Also, keep in mind it has no buffering capacity like aragonite.

http://www.digitalflytrap.com/pictures/clowns/Clown2.JPG

[JimD]

Thats one sweet lookin maroon!

[cailan]

no problem ram puppy! the tank i put the clown into also has tahitain moon sand and it's really cool. i wanted an all black tank because my stand was black and the sand looks really neat. i agree, the only thing bad about it is it looks kind of messy which doesn't really bother me much.

[C.Mydas]

Ram Puppy- definately get a frog fish... they are the coolest things!! I had one in with my lions for awhile. If I were you though I'd hold out for a really spectacular one. Good luck!

[Ram_Puppy]

Jim, that fish is for sale if your interested! :) Cailan has it's would be mate... they uh.. did not feel like pairing up.

As far as frogfish go.. man I am so tempted, realy nice specimens are few and far between, and shipping is tough on them (they gulp air) and so many places simply don't know to treat them like a sponge and never take them out of the water. My ideal speciment would be an A. Maculatus that has proven it's potential to mimic red sponges, I think that would be spectacular. I have only seen a few and I doubt I could afford one... a standard a. Maculatus usually goes in excess of 100 dollars, something like that would be closer to 300... i would be to scared truthfully. :(

[GaryP]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think black sand is decayed volcanic obsidian which is basically something similar to glass. Thet explains the sharp edges.

Gary

[Ram_Puppy]

I won't correct you. :)

[Ram_Puppy]

another thing to keep in mind, if you look closely at the sand in the picture, you will see some pink grains... you guessed it...coraline. :) it won't stay black for long.

[GaryP]

Where is that geologist when I need one?

You should have seen me bumbling along when I tried to explain the difference between native Texas limestone and liverock (a few million years).

[Ram_Puppy]

well, wouldnt the major difference be a rock made of calcium carbonate and a rock made of aragonite? Never really thought about it much to tell you the truth... having had a 400 lbs piece of texas holy rock in my front yard growing up, and having seen said piece of rock sprayed with fertilizer several times by my mother, if figured the major difference between THR and LR is that the former will NEVER get in my tanks... to many 'if's' involved for me... but... that is just me.

[GaryP]

Aragonite is calcium carbonate. Calcium carbonate is its chemical name. Aragonite is a geological form that is primarily composed of calcium carbonate.

The main difference is porosity. Limestone gas been compressed over million of years. All of the tiny pores that are typical of LR have been compressed into something that is more solid. Aragagonite is relatively young, in geological terms. It was never deeply buried under other sediments and therefore retains its porosity.

Gary

[Ram_Puppy]

Hmm.. I thought arragonite was a more crystaline form of calcium carbonate... am I mixing it up with Calcite? the stuff urchins use to re-enforce their beaks?

[JimD]

Ram, too bad you werent offering that fish a couple of months ago, I was desperately searching for one to no avail, ended up getting a nice pair of Tomatoes.

[MikeP]

There are a few pics in my gallery of my 29 gallon with black substrate:

http://www.maast.org/albums/MikeP/29front.sized.jpg