You can buy a product identical to Black Diamond sand at Peavey Mart in Canada, but it's got a different brand name on it. Dirt cheap stuff, looks really nice if you like dark substrate (I do!), but...you do realize that this stuff isn't what we normally think of as "sand"? It's coal slag, a waste product from coal burning, usually in power plants. I know that a lot folks swear by this stuff and love it in their aquariums; but there are also a fair number who comment on an odour and also mention the development of an oily slick on the water surface. A friend tried it years ago, and I took one look and knew I'd never use the stuff. Disgusting...but YMMV.
You can also buy another blasting sand called Garnet Sand at Princess Auto in Canada. I've never tried it, have no idea if it's the same stuff that all the Polypterus addicts crave. It's also cheap. I hope you try it; I've wondered about it for a long while and have often hoped for a guinea pig to experiment with it for me.
I may have to try out the idea mentioned by
D
dmyersWv
above.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that the nicest aquarium substrate I've ever used in 50+ years was a beautiful fine gravel/coarse sand mix I collected by the bucketful from various beaches along the north shore of Lake Superior. It's a mostly red and black mix, lots of what I believe to be quartz crystal and granite in it, can be found in a variety of particle sizes. Totally natural looking, absolutely beautiful. If you ever schlep a few buckets of this stuff up the steep slope from the beach to your car...you will never again complain about moving a few featherweight buckets of water again.
You can also buy another blasting sand called Garnet Sand at Princess Auto in Canada. I've never tried it, have no idea if it's the same stuff that all the Polypterus addicts crave. It's also cheap. I hope you try it; I've wondered about it for a long while and have often hoped for a guinea pig to experiment with it for me.
I may have to try out the idea mentioned by
D
dmyersWv
above.I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that the nicest aquarium substrate I've ever used in 50+ years was a beautiful fine gravel/coarse sand mix I collected by the bucketful from various beaches along the north shore of Lake Superior. It's a mostly red and black mix, lots of what I believe to be quartz crystal and granite in it, can be found in a variety of particle sizes. Totally natural looking, absolutely beautiful. If you ever schlep a few buckets of this stuff up the steep slope from the beach to your car...you will never again complain about moving a few featherweight buckets of water again.
