# black & white sand pics?



## MoJoe

I know that the black sand vs. white sand debate has been a question many have posted. I have gone through a ton of posts about it. My prob is that most of the comparison pics that people had posted in the past searchable threads aren't there anylonger. I have an all new black set-up, tank, background & stand. I have to make a decision by today to either get the moonlight black or white. I have to order it online so I want to make sure I get it to set-up next weekend.

Just wanted to let you know that I plan on having a decent # of live plants in there, will also be a fake ,but cool, tree stump in the center and a piece of driftwood with assorted rocks varying in color scattered around. It's so hard to visualize how all the colors will mesh.

Does anyone have pics of their white or black sand against a solid black background? It would be really helpful in making my decision.

Has anyone chosen one color only to regret their decision later? I'm just so indecisive and finding pro's and cons for each color.

Any pics would be awesome!


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## JoeDizzleMPLS

horrible picture, but you get the idea, i have a couple other tanks with black sand and a bunch with natural gravel, i really like the clean look of the black sand, but i like the natural gravel in my heavily planted tanks


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## MoJoe

thanks for the quick pic dizzle, it does look nice n' clean. I was worried that the background black and the sand black wouldn't be uniform, is this moonlight sand you have?

I know the black really makes the plants color really "pop", I love that about the all-black. Is it just opinion that RB's wouldn't be into an all white substrate, I thought someone said it's too bright for them?

Hmmm, this is a toughie, I should build a website that lets you virtually design your tank for like a buck, I bet it would be a hit.


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## JoeDizzleMPLS

i have the tahitian black moon sand, i know alot of people use have it and love it. natts actually appear to get darker with a black substrate while white substrate appears to wash their color out.


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## MoJoe

joedizzlempls said:


> i have the tahitian black moon sand, i know alot of people use have it and love it. natts actually appear to get darker with a black substrate while white substrate appears to wash their color out.


the tahitian black moon sand is what I meant in my last post, I was getting my brands mixed up, I was between the tahitian or the caribsea moonlight white.

I'm prob leaning more towards the black now. At first I thought it would look a little morbid or too dark, but the more pics I see of it, the more I like it esp with the green and black contrast.

dizzle, how does your tank look without the light in regular room light, is it very dark?


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## JoeDizzleMPLS

that picture was taken with the lights off in the room, it looks really nice, that's it on the bottom...


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## MoJoe

sweet, very nice tanks you got there. Yeah it's almost got that purple "night" hue to it, very cool, it looks mysterious in a good way. I think you sold me on the Tahitian, but look forward to more people posting more pics. I see so many posts on the black/white topic that I'm sure it'll help more people trying to decide which they like best.

thanks!


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## 77gp454

I have both colors of sand, both have black background and look really good. Sorry no pics handy.
The main thing I find different is the black sand needs cleaned much more. If I miss a week it looks like trash and sometimes needs two 50% water-changes to get it looking decent again.


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## MoJoe

77gp454 said:


> I have both colors of sand, both have black background and look really good. Sorry no pics handy.
> The main thing I find different is the black sand needs cleaned much more. If I miss a week it looks like trash and sometimes needs two 50% water-changes to get it looking decent again.


good to know, thanks for your post. I ended up ordering the Tahitian Black sand, I felt it would really make my live plants stand out and I'm hoping it looks as good in-person as in my head. I will def post pics once my tank is all set!


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## midnightmadman

joedizzlempls said:


> that picture was taken with the lights off in the room, it looks really nice, that's it on the bottom...
> 
> View attachment 165984


I like that gravel in the larger tank to the left with the red bellys... what mix of gravel is that? what size tank also?


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## JoeDizzleMPLS

the tank on the left is a 75 gallon, the substrate is actually mostly a very fine gravel that i got throught my lfs, they sell bulk gravel. there is also a larger grade gravel that i put into a couple different areas to mix it up a bit.

if you want a closer look at it, there are better updated pics in a thread i started in the aquatic plant forum


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## midnightmadman

joedizzlempls said:


> the tank on the left is a 75 gallon, the substrate is actually mostly a very fine gravel that i got throught my lfs, they sell bulk gravel. there is also a larger grade gravel that i put into a couple different areas to mix it up a bit.
> 
> if you want a closer look at it, there are better updated pics in a thread i started in the aquatic plant forum


so its a mix of fine and pebble natural gravel? It looks like it has some dark pieces in it? like its mixed with a black or something?
can you take a closeup pic


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## JoeDizzleMPLS

i'm watchin the twins game, so i can't take pics right now, but it is just very small gravel covering most of the tank and then some larger gravel in a couple areas, they are not all mixed together. there isn't anything else in there, just the gravel that came straight out of the bulk bins.


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## midnightmadman

joedizzlempls said:


> i'm watchin the twins game, so i can't take pics right now, but it is just very small gravel covering most of the tank and then some larger gravel in a couple areas, they are not all mixed together. there isn't anything else in there, just the gravel that came straight out of the bulk bins.


Its just the look I have been looking for! I just am tying to figure out how to get it. When you get a chance maybe take some closeups and I can try to duplicate that look.
Thanks!


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## JoeDizzleMPLS

definitely, it's the top of the ninth and we're up 2-0, so it should be over pretty quick... i'd do it now, but with my luck, i 'd leave the room and something huge would happen, haha


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## MoJoe

this is cool... found out my bro bought me 3 bags of Caribsea white sand for my bday & I just ordered 3 bags of the Tahitian black sand yesterday. When I get both sets, I'll have to pile the bags in the tank and actually see which one looks cooler now I have both.

any last bits of advice dizzle? If you had only one 55g tank all-black set-up, RB's, and the choice between those two colors, which would you use


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## harsh69100

go for the tahitian black.....looks great and clean as joedizzempls said....great tanks you have joe!!!!


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## JoeDizzleMPLS

mojoe, obviously i would go with the black sand, because i went through the same process when i decided to switch from natural gravel a ways back and i ended up with black sand.

midnightmadman, i will get pics to you tomorrow, my camera battery was dead and i didn't have time to wait for it to charge before some of my friends came over, but i'll get em posted or i'll pm when i wake up


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## midnightmadman

joedizzlempls said:


> mojoe, obviously i would go with the black sand, because i went through the same process when i decided to switch from natural gravel a ways back and i ended up with black sand.
> 
> midnightmadman, i will get pics to you tomorrow, my camera battery was dead and i didn't have time to wait for it to charge before some of my friends came over, but i'll get em posted or i'll pm when i wake up


With me, I have black gravel. It looks cool, but I am not sure if it looks natural enough for me....


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## fishguy1313

joe- what do you got a whole aquarium room or what? ya lucky bastard!


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## JoeDizzleMPLS

midnightmadman said:


> joe- what do you got a whole aquarium room or what? ya lucky bastard!


haha, not quite, for now theyre kinda scattered all over. that picture shows the corner next to my desk, once i get my house, i'll definitely have a fish room tho.


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