Stone dust

[Clay]

So, in my attempt to come up with a sandy substrate, I thought stone dust might work. However, I'd like to see it in someone else's tank first. So, does anyone have a picture of stone dust as a substrate? It's fine like sand, probably fairly dirty, but it's cheap and it's local. Something really bothers me about paying $21/20lb bag shipped for tahitian moon sand. I guess I could do it, but I don't think I would like myself in the morning for overpaying.

So....anyone?

 

[Natalie]

Well since nobody's replied, I'll bite. I've never heard of stone dust. Is it commonly used in aquariums? One thing that concerns me about using very fine sand is that suspended particles can cause damage to the gills as the water flows through them. This problem is often seen with dust from activated carbon that hasn't been rinsed well enough.

In my opinion, Tahitian moon sand isn't worth the cost. It's so dark that I think it only looks good in very specific setups. What kind of fish will be in this particular tank? I keep all cichlids and I'll never get Tahitian moon sand again. It made my marble convict look pretty good but, on the flip side, it gave the tank a very gloomy appearance. White sand looks much brighter and crisper.

 

[Moloch]

It being called 'dust' raises a big warning flag to me...

Are you specifically looking for black sand? If not, you can try play sand or pool filter sand. Or you can attempt to find a colorquartz dealer in your area. I had play sand at first and switched it out for colorquartz last week...I'll never look back

 

[Clay]

TMS (or any smooth black sand) is going in the 120g that has my zebra plecos and tigrinus. It will be a planted tank once I locate adequate substrate. Additionally, I'll introduce some small tetras or danios to give the tank some movement and color. The hopeful goal for this tank is to breed zebra plecos, but that will happen or it won't. It's really up to them

I put in a bag of River Jack (dark river rock) in one side to get an idea of how it will look, but it's just not quite right, so I'm going to keep trying to locate some TMS or other black/dark sand. I think it will play nicely with the color I'm looking to produce in the tank. The stone dust isn't as dusty as the name would imply, but it didn't feel heavy either.

Ultimately, I like the idea of sand more than gravel for the easier maintenance.

 

[Moloch]

Try and find 3m colorquartz, its your best bet. I know where you can get it in Raleigh but thats all the help I can be:\ Its 25$ for a 50lb bag here. You can look at my gallery to see some pics of it. I have a dark brown (chocolate) 50lb bag mixed with about half a bag of black in my tank. Looks damn good imo, feels great, easy to deal with...I'm happy with it. I threw in some plants the other day so we'll see if any of them make it...I'm not really putting any extra effort into growing them though so we'll see.

 

[Clay]

On a random whim, I made a phone call to a pool company supplier (wholesale) and explained my plight. She said she would sell me some black sand, but now I need to figure out if I need S grade or T grade.... help me with some pics!

 

[Clay]

If anyone has S grade sand pics or T grade sand pics, it would be greatly appreciated.

From left to right; top row: play sand, pool filter sand, black T-grade 3M Color Quartz; bottom row: fine natural-looking aquarium gravel, fine black&white aquarium gravel. Each container measures about 1.5″ in diameter.

 

[Clay]

I'm going to purchase 250lbs of the black sand tomorrow. It's supposed to be the same as colorquartz (discontinued making it hard to find), so we'll see.

 

[Moloch]

I want to say I have S grade in my tank. Whichever letter it is, its the finer/smoother of the two grades, and its working great. I was worried if I got the larger grain stuff it might be sharp and hurt my fish, dunno if that was a good thing to worry about or not. The trade-off I think would have been that the sand would be heavier and settle faster, but I don't have any issues at all with the speed at which the finer grade settles.

If you're really getting an equivalent to colorquartz, I don't think you'll be disappointed. Just don't drive yourself crazy cleaning it...

 

[Clay]

I picked up 200lbs of black today. A little less than $30/bag, but much better than TMS prices. I'm almost thinking about picking up some buff or tan as well since I was happy to see it in stock.