Black Diamond Sand Blasting Sand
- Thread starter BCherdingthefish
- Start date
My lfs told me of a product called "Black Beuty sand". yOu can get it from landscape supply places it is suppose to be fine gravel. I haven't had time to look for it but it has a horse on the bag.
I started with the Black Diamond sand route months ago when I was setting up my 125 that now has geos.
On the first bag, I noticed a black, oily residue and started a thread here about it. Got several replies, all saying it was normal and not harmful and to add a bit of Dawn soap to remove it, them let it run for a few days before adding fish. So I carried on.
On the second bag, I was stirring some sand during the rinse and got some of it suck between my hand and the wall of he bucket and it pierced my skin. It was like a sand splinter. Had to dig it out with tweezers. I also noticed several cuts in my skin that hasn't cut deep enough to bleed, but were definitely from the sand. I posted this on my thread. I agreed with what people said that I wphad put too much pressure on it and a geo will not be able to do that. So as I'm pouring the last portion of the sand into the tank, I notice these little stick things. I post about it and find out they are hardened silica rods. Got a few suggestions on how to remove them, but none worked, so I scrapped the idea at that point. There were just too many negatives for me to ignore.
I went with Quikrete pool filter sand. My geos love sifting through it. Really fun to watch them forage all day.
As far as I can tell, the Black Diamond sand is fine depending in region it comes from or the specific batch (or maybe a little of both). Some people report no oily residue, less of the sharp, angular pieces and no silica rods. I got the trifecta. LOL
Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
On the first bag, I noticed a black, oily residue and started a thread here about it. Got several replies, all saying it was normal and not harmful and to add a bit of Dawn soap to remove it, them let it run for a few days before adding fish. So I carried on.
On the second bag, I was stirring some sand during the rinse and got some of it suck between my hand and the wall of he bucket and it pierced my skin. It was like a sand splinter. Had to dig it out with tweezers. I also noticed several cuts in my skin that hasn't cut deep enough to bleed, but were definitely from the sand. I posted this on my thread. I agreed with what people said that I wphad put too much pressure on it and a geo will not be able to do that. So as I'm pouring the last portion of the sand into the tank, I notice these little stick things. I post about it and find out they are hardened silica rods. Got a few suggestions on how to remove them, but none worked, so I scrapped the idea at that point. There were just too many negatives for me to ignore.
I went with Quikrete pool filter sand. My geos love sifting through it. Really fun to watch them forage all day.
As far as I can tell, the Black Diamond sand is fine depending in region it comes from or the specific batch (or maybe a little of both). Some people report no oily residue, less of the sharp, angular pieces and no silica rods. I got the trifecta. LOL
Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
