Success with black sand?

[SOCOM]

Hello Everyone!,
I started my childrens tank with black sand from Dr. Fosters and have had this pesky bronze algae creep up. So i decieded to research and found the same algae with other black sand users. Most of the updated threads i have read lead to the user just taking it out with the problem going away.

I am thinking if i should follow thier COA also. What do you guys think, should i just replace with pink fiji? Thank you in advance

20G AIO
Live rock
chemi pure blue
skimmer
filter floss
water change weekly
high turn over
2 clowns

 

[jsker]

diatoms, what type of light are you running?

 

[SOCOM]

it seems to me,to be diatoms. hydra 26/20k setting.

 

[LovesDogs_CatsRokay]

I have black sand and LOVE it. I don't think algae differentiates between the sand. And actually its harder to see it on the black sand IMO. If it's a newer tank its probably just new tank uglies and will take care of itself.

 

[Cherub]

mine looked rusty all the time when I had it, almost 2 years. I would vacuum it constantly and it would still look like that. Coral never seemed hurt so I left it but I swore to never use black sand again. High maintenance. I used the tahitian moon or whatever its called.

 

[LovesDogs_CatsRokay]

mine looked rusty all the time when I had it, almost 2 years. I would vacuum it constantly and it would still look like that. Coral never seemed hurt so I left it but I swore to never use black sand again. High maintenance. I used the tahitian moon or whatever its called.

Interesting, I use the CarribSea black sand and have never had that problem. Maybe the make-up of different brands allows certain ones to be rustier than others?

 

[Daniel92481]

I have black sand that looks good most of the time. I have noticed that it has a brown tint from time to time. With regular husbandry though, it looks great. It really makes the colors of the corals standout. I think WWC even uses a black sand background for their photos. I had the hardest time trying to decide between the Fiji pink and this stuff. Fiji pink looks more natural, while this one brings out the colors in your livestock.

 

[madweazl]

I've used Natures Oceans black sand in two reefs now without issue. This one is two years old (well, two weeks shy of) and still looks great (I have a diamond goby, randalls goby/pistol pair, tiger sand conch, and a few other things that put in work). I do nothing to maintain it but vacuum it a couple times a year.

 

[samnaz]

how old is the tank?

my guess is the algae isn't there because of the black sand. something else is causing it. and it will still be visible on white substrate, perhaps even more so. I use figi pink and it's brown with diatoms if I don't clean it. has nothing to do with the sand itself, it's the tap water I use ;-)

 

[Fudsey]

I was using Hawaiian black and my sand looked great. Nassarius Vibex and Florida Cerith snails kept my sand looking great. I had a few of each in a 90gal and they took care of it.

 

[SOCOM]

Your guys tanks look great! I’m going to cut back on feeding and stop treating the tank like my other ones. I’ll keep you guys posted.

 

[rkpetersen]

I'm 2 months into a new 100g tank setup using Carib-Sea Indo Pacific black sand. I've got the system pretty heavily stocked already and all my animals are happy. However there are a couple of things to note.

1. It's not aragonite or silica, it's volcanic basalt. Individual grains are harder and sharper-edged than typical white reef sand. They're also ferromagnetic, meaning the grains will stick to strong magnets. This combination increases the risk of scratched aquarium glass if you use magnetic algae cleaners.

2. It seems very likely that black sand leaches certain elements into the water, in particular, nickel, vanadium and possibly iron. Different brands and different sources could vary considerably in this regard. In my own case, Triton testing confirms mildly-moderately elevated nickel and mildly elevated vanadium, without any other apparent source. See this thread for discussion of a situation where use of black sand likely resulted in a toxic level of vanadium: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ati-results-back-sources-of-vanadium.385031/

 

[GoVols]

@rkpetersen
Thanks for popping that link back up. Learned... ;Writing a lot while that thread was alive.

The best and cleanest sand that I've ever used is those Reef Flakes, that Premium Aquatics carries.

 

[madweazl]

I'm 2 months into a new 100g tank setup using Carib-Sea Indo Pacific black sand. I've got the system pretty heavily stocked already and all my animals are happy. However there are a couple of things to note.

1. It's not aragonite or silica, it's volcanic basalt. Individual grains are harder and sharper-edged than typical white reef sand. They're also ferromagnetic, meaning the grains will stick to strong magnets. This combination increases the risk of scratched aquarium glass if you use magnetic algae cleaners.

2. It seems very likely that black sand leaches certain elements into the water, in particular, nickel, vanadium and possibly iron. Different brands and different sources could vary considerably in this regard. In my own case, Triton testing confirms mildly-moderately elevated nickel and mildly elevated vanadium, without any other apparent source. See this thread for discussion of a situation where use of black sand likely resulted in a toxic level of vanadium: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ati-results-back-sources-of-vanadium.385031/

While that may be a possibility, I had no detectable levels of anything related on three separate Triton tests now. In regard to feeding, I do so heavily 2-3 times a day; my opinion, cutting back on feeding is a terrible thing to do. Everything benefits from the food you're adding to the tank (provided it is a quality food). The second picture in my previous post is during a feeding.