Black sand or white sand?

[flyin fish]

I'm starting up a new 125 gal tank,and was thinking of going with black sand this time.I already know how the white sand looks,but what about black?What are some of the pros and cons of black sand?If anyone has black sand in there tank,please post some pic's.

[supertech3]

the black sand I had was silicate type and will scratch the aquarium glass unless you are very careful

[saltycreefer]

I would use white sand if you're doing sps. It will reflect light, making the tank look brighter.

[Spiffyguy]

I have black sand in my 10 gallon and white in my 24. I prefer the white sand.

[bbehring]

I have seen the black sand in person in a 50 gal in a LFS and I wasn't that impressed with it. Something seems odd with it. The ower didn't like it either and was thinking about changing it out. White IMO looks so much better, for what it's worth.

[ryan115]

black shows alot of dirt and everything else that is on the sand...I think it looks good but it would be alot of maintainence on the tank to keep it up

[Gundo5000]

Bottom line is black sand never looks that good unless its in a small aquarium with virtually no bioload. Take pictures at first because thats the last of it being super clean!

[RJFich]

white fo sho

[Opcn]

Black sand belongs in Fresh water planted tanks and no where else IMHO. My Onyx sand comes in in about two weeks.

[Reefdrumz]

FWIW I have black sand (Tahitian Moon) in my 90g FOWLR. Like others have said, it's a tedious job to keep clean. When I actually take the time to clean it, I think it looks great...But plan on cleaning it frequently.

I was going to swap it out, but I have one tank with white sand, and I wanted something a little different for my other tank.

If you get it caught in a glass cleaning magnet, it scratches REALLY easy.

I like it, but it's definitely more work.

[RELAD]

I have a friend who did a 65 with black sand and it looked awesome once it was setup. But once he a bioload in there all you could see on top of the black sand was poo... It looked really dirty and unkept.
Eventually his wife made him break it down and redo all of the sand bed, it wasn't a fun job (I helped)

[Justin/TiV]

If your looking for something a little different. The pebble beach sand is really nice. It's kinda clear.

[flyin fish]

Thanks for all the replys and input.Looks like i will be going with the old stand by,white sand.

[Pomacanthus Rex]

if you do go with black "sand" make sure its calcite, some tests show its as or even more soluble than the aragonite counterpart.

this will give you the same organic benefits of the aragonite sands, except the grain wont be as uniform. at least, i have not seen any made say in "oolitc" form.

subjectively, ive seen black sand tanks and with colorful corals it looks great. the contrast of color against the black can be sublime.

have you considered a mix of black calcite and aragonite? a nice black and white sand? gives you that nice hawaiian beach look. ive seen a few tanks with it and toyed with the idea myself. the mixed grains also help mask any detritus floating along the bottom.

good luck.

[flyin fish]

I have seen a few tanks with the black and white sand mix,but i'm just not sure of the looks.

[Panduriniii]

they make a mix of 'live sand' that has black mixed in it. I think it looks nice

[flyin fish]

Has anybody on here used the black and white mix?How does it look over time?

[usmcsgt]

Originally posted by flyin fish
Has anybody on here used the black and white mix?How does it look over time?

I have the black and white sand mix and I think it looks great, It just gives it that little extra without being to dark. I only used one bag as the top layer over my southdown.

[Opcn]

Mixed colors typically keep looking good for quite a bit longer than strait runs of one color. The fact that its mixed makes it nearly impossible to see thatanother element has been added, like detritus.

[Jeanniee]

I have figi black sand in my 75 and I love the contrast between the black sand and corraline algae. Also makes my fish look super colorful and I don't think the cleaning is much of an issue-my white sand needed to be cleaned too

[wrasseguy2]

i have the black and white mix and i like it more than just one color but thats just what i like....i have seen an all black and did not care for it

[beelzebob]

my sand is all black, and i personally prefer it to white.

but thats just like, my opinion, man.

yea here is some debris, but i wouldnt go as far as to say it stands out more...

what stands out more are the colors of all my stuff, zoos, palys, shrooms, coarline and of coarse my mantis's colors all stand out way more than the would on against a white substrate.

stuff i have looks very much like the stuff in ciggarette ashtrays.
there is a lot of grey crap out there that looks black, but as soon as you get it wet is like dark grey.

in hindsite though, its a lot easier to find BETTER sand that is white.

and for that reason my next tank will be a mix, not for asthetic purposes, but chemical.

[flyin fish]

Thanks for all the replys

[lilprincess]

I have a black and white mix in my 20L. I was so sick of white, but didn't want pure black so I compromised and did a mix. I love it and don't want to go back to just white, JMO. I have a couple pics in my gallery if you care to see what mine looks like. And yes, if I am lax about cleaning the sand you can see a little detritus on the surface.