# Black sand



## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

So I just got a 150 gal tank for my reds. I want to put black sand in it and I am trying to decide which route to go. I like the seachem flourite but its expensive. What about tahitian moon? Anyone have any experiences with it? good/bad? Where is a good place to buy it? etc. Thanks in advance


----------



## CichlidAddict (Jul 1, 2005)

A lot of people (including me) use 3M ColorQuartz. It runs about $35 for a 50 lb. bag.


----------



## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

Do you have any pics of it? Where you got it? or any other info on it, I have never heard of it.


----------



## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

I run the moon sand in my tanks-
The shimmer is great-It's heavy...really nice sand to deal with....
(wish you were closer-I got 7 bags to get rid of)

I'll see if I can dig up a pic.

standard 90 gal-
Black Tahitiam moon sand-


----------



## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

Oh wow, that looks awesome!!! pm sent


----------



## His Majesty (Apr 5, 2005)

slightly off topic but AK thats a real nice clean setup you got thee. love the minimilistic look with the black sand. very nice


----------



## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Trigger lover said:


> slightly off topic but AK thats a real nice clean setup you got thee. love the minimilistic look with the black sand. very nice


Thanks-
It was my datnoid.clown loach,Tiger shovelnose tank


----------



## philbert (Mar 8, 2007)

i have the same Tahitian moon sand that AK is running in my rhoms tank and i love it. i wish i had used it for my caribe tank. as AK stated its heavy so its easy to vacuum. i have another kind of sand in the caribe tank and its harder to vac for sure. also the shimmer is really nice that it has. it cost me i think $80 or so to do my 75 gallon. it was definitely worth it.


----------



## No0dles (Dec 16, 2003)

tahitian moon sand, you can get it at pets mart petco etc. it's a little on the expensive side but not too bad. definitely worth the extra penny but black gravel is nice too if you dont wanna go with sand and it's a little cheaper.


----------



## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

Tahitian Moon Black Sand is all I use anymore.
The stuff is absolutely gorgeous.


----------



## blbig50 (Jan 1, 2009)

I hate to keep this off topic but....

That moon sand, what's it do for the color of the P's?


----------



## No0dles (Dec 16, 2003)

nothing!


----------



## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

blbig50 said:


> I hate to keep this off topic but....
> 
> That moon sand, what's it do for the color of the P's?


I've noticed it brings out the darkness in their coloration more, and the red/orange of their bellies is striking against the black background.


----------



## No0dles (Dec 16, 2003)

actually p man is partially right! they do tend to be a bit more darker if you dont provide any light. but if you have light in there as well with the dark sand the sand itself doesn't affect their coloration! light is what has an affect on their pigmentation.


----------



## blbig50 (Jan 1, 2009)

Piranha_man said:


> I hate to keep this off topic but....
> 
> That moon sand, what's it do for the color of the P's?


I've noticed it brings out the darkness in their coloration more, and the red/orange of their bellies is striking against the black background.
[/quote]

That's what I wanted to hear. My reds have pretty bright bellies on a blue substrate, but now they've move and I have none, but a little of the blue to help with the change.


----------



## No0dles (Dec 16, 2003)

well what you wanna hear and what the truth is, are two totally different aspects


----------



## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

blbig50 said:


> I hate to keep this off topic but....
> 
> That moon sand, what's it do for the color of the P's?


I've noticed it brings out the darkness in their coloration more, and the red/orange of their bellies is striking against the black background.
[/quote]

That's what I wanted to hear. My reds have pretty bright bellies on a blue substrate, but now they've move and I have none, but a little of the blue to help with the change.
[/quote]

I've never known anybody who went with Tahitian Moon Black Sand and was disappointed.


----------



## blbig50 (Jan 1, 2009)

How is it for gravel vac's?


----------



## the_w8 (Jul 28, 2003)

like others said it's a heavier grain so it's easier to vac up and from my exp. it was easier to vac because it doesn't cloud as easy as it's heavier then ur reg. play sand.


----------



## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

These are all awesome comments guys. Thanks a lot. I appreciate it. It looks like I will be going with tahitian moon.


----------



## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

Be sure to post pics!


----------



## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

Will do for sure!!


----------



## blbig50 (Jan 1, 2009)

Good thread, looking forward to getting some moon sand in the future.


----------



## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

I agree, there is a lot of good info here. I just cant wait to move into my apartment and fill my 150gal i just picked up with some moon sand.

How do live plants fair with this stuff?


----------



## WegsXXI (Jun 10, 2009)

i just bought some TM for my 135 gal i cant wait to see how it looks when i put it in!


----------



## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Tm is pretty expensive so expect like 200$ for the 150 g unless you can find a better price, but around me its about 30$ for i think a 20-30lbs bag plus taxes. You also need more lbs of sand then gravel. If you want plants (like fully planted not just one or two) go for eco compleate or even aquasoil if you can afford it. Both are almost black, but they are just different textures then sand. Fine gravel is generally better as a plant substrate then sand, but im using play sand with plants and its fine. Im sure they would be better in eco compleate , but playsand looks more natural and is much cheaper so tm would work for some plants, but if you wanted to seriously plant get something more geared to plants. You could make a tm sand front and heavily planted eco compleate back portion with a rock retaining wall if you wanted or somethign like that. Only thing is the substraes have to be separated well and should be planted over to hold them in place. Read one of Wegxxi topics about moonsand then theres some pics as to what i mean.

AK, just my opinion, but i would add a couple more bags of TM sand to your tank, but it looks fine if you wanted to leave it.


----------



## Gerrad (Jan 5, 2008)

I just put in 5, 20lb bag's of the black tahitian moon sand in my 120g. I probably could have used 4 bag's. But, anyway the sand is great! It's very easy to clean and it settle's super super fast. You could make a sand storm and then stop. The sand will settle in like 2 sec's, no joke. There was no clouding when I first installed it. There was some film on the water surface. But, it's easy to clean, just skim it off. 
However I did notice that there are white looking grain,every 2 inch's in space. Last weekend I tried to take out all the white grain, but after a few hour's I gave up. There still there, dammit, it's not a big deal, but I would like a full black substrate. No matter it still look's good, help's darken the tank and it definately bring's out color's in your fish, that you couldn't see before. 
I don't have experience with any other sand. But, this brand is great, and you can get it at petsmart.


----------



## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

No0dles said:


> actually p man is partially right! they do tend to be a bit more darker if you dont provide any light. but if you have light in there as well with the dark sand the sand itself doesn't affect their coloration! light is what has an affect on their pigmentation.


I disagree IMO the color of your substrate makes a huge difference on the color of your p's be it reds or rhoms.

For me pygos look best with a lighter or white colored substrate cause it makes them more silver and the red contrast pops more.

Even for Rhoms I find it look pretty cool to have white cause it will give the rhom the light gray color opposed to the dark black you get which most people would prefer.

Really its all how you like your fish to look but dark substrate def = darker fish and White/light substrate def = lighter fish.


----------



## No0dles (Dec 16, 2003)

i had an article on light and pigmentation on here somewhere.


----------



## No0dles (Dec 16, 2003)

if they were in a well lit tank i dont think the pigmentation would change that much by having lighter substrate as opposed to black but then again that's just my .02 without having ever tested that theory out

but now lets say they where only getting indirect sunlight and you had white sand as opposed to black sand that would make a bigger difference.


----------



## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

Take a stroll through the site and look at some clear pics,
You will see what I mean especially about the rhoms.
I am talking about well lit tanks also which most of us do have and def the light makes a difference as you're saying, but the way the light reflects off of black and white is totally different also.

I'll try and find some pics and post em up


----------



## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

From my own experience when I turn on the lights in the morning the pirayas are actually very pale and you cant even see theyre flames. 
Also the color of the background if the tank has one also plays a part in the overall look of the fish.


----------



## WegsXXI (Jun 10, 2009)

iam waiting for my sand to come in and then i will post pics of it with my rock and tank setup i think it will look amazing!

id like to see some other peoples pics with Black TM Sand!


----------



## WegsXXI (Jun 10, 2009)

iam waiting for my sand to come in and then i will post pics of it with my rock and tank setup i think it will look amazing!

id like to see some other peoples pics with Black TM Sand!


----------



## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

I went with the whit pool filter sand in mine and it looks awesome! My RBP's love it. The silver is more silver and the red more vibrant.


----------



## WegsXXI (Jun 10, 2009)

lets see some pics ill put some up if my TM ever shows up so i can put it in my tank!


----------



## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

http://www.piranha-fury.com/pfury/index.ph...p;#entry2393998


----------



## Ja'eh (Jan 8, 2007)

AKSkirmish said:


> I run the moon sand in my tanks-
> The shimmer is great-It's heavy...really nice sand to deal with....
> (wish you were closer-I got 7 bags to get rid of)
> 
> ...


Would it be possable to have a healthy planted tank using this kind of sand?


----------



## SeedlessOne (Nov 21, 2006)

You guys tired of this pic yet?? 3m Colorquartz


----------



## Ja'eh (Jan 8, 2007)

Well that answers my question, that's an insanely beautiful set up, how did you do it?


----------



## No0dles (Dec 16, 2003)

very nice seedless! love the 3m too


----------



## platinum1683 (Nov 17, 2006)

I had tahitian moon sand. It worked fine for me, but like any other sand can be kind of hard to vac, and if your ps are skittish at all when they flip their tails and take off... it goes flying into the filters and everything else. I actually ended up taking it out and putting in natural colored gravel, much easier to clean. Plus, if you ever plan on taking the sand out of the tank good luck... it sticks to all the silicone inside and is impossible to completely get out.


----------

