I think this sand is too sharp for my catfish???

[clarissasjh]

Was looking for a dark coloured substrate and ended up buying this aquatic gravel(looks more like a larger grain sand to me) at a local fish store.

It looked pretty okay thru the packaging but when I got home and grabbed a handful to have a feel I think it's too sharp to be used for my walking catfish.. It even hurts my feet a little when I stepped on some I accidentally scattered on the floor.

I have a feeling it's some sort of quartz sand but I'm not very sure, Google isn't really helping much either. Any opinions??
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[tlindsey]

I would not use that especially if you think it will cut his whiskers.

 

[Drstrangelove]

I wouldn't like that either. My preference is sand, but if it's going to be gravel, I want it to be pretty smooth to the touch sort of like pea gravel or river gravel.

That looks as if it's fractured or crushed rock to me.

I'd be comfortable with it as a substrate if the fish don't have occasion to touch the substrate.

 

[clarissasjh]

Thanks guys! I just wanted to make sure I guess I'll be buying new bags of sand and will have to use this bag of gravel for other purposes then haha won't want to injure my fishes just to save money

 

[Chicxulub]

That's basicaly quartz blasting sand. I got some before I got my current catfish as substrate because, well, it's really pretty under my lights. The fish hates it however, and his whiskers look a little ragged, but it doesn't seem to affect him in any way beyond making him uncomfortable. I'm gonna switch to regular sand soon.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Premium? Not for a benthic catfish, I'd not say so. It looks like shattered safety / tempered glass. Looks like Rob knows exactly what it is. I wonder if this is crushed lava rock which came out molten and turned to glass when it cooled rather than to rock. It could have natural black color.

 

[Chicxulub]

Premium? Not for a benthic catfish, I'd not say so. It looks like shattered safety / tempered glass. Looks like Rob knows exactly what it is. I wonder if this is crushed lava rock which came out molten and turned to glass when it cooled rather than to rock. It could have natural black color.

My bags didn't specify exactly what it was, but I'm assuming it's crushed quartz. Ater doing a bit of homework, it may also be crystals of aluminum oxide, which is essentially an artificial alternative to crushed quartz. The larger crystals (the medium blasting media) are black as pictured above, and the small crystals (fine blasting media) are more of a brown a 50/50 mix of the two looked amazing under my LED spot lights and silver dollars before I got my unexpected gift catfish. This weekend, I'm planning to swap it out for a more natural sand however.