# Black Diamond Blasting Sand for an aquarium?



## Cassandra90

Sorry everyone that I am posting so much lately just I need to get my ducks in a row on the new tank set up I am planning on. 

Has anyone ever used this black diamond blasting sand in their aquariums? 

I have read online that many people do use it and have not had any issues with it in their tanks. I even seen post on other forums of people using it with their cory cats and other bottom dwellers.

I would be interested in putting it in with gold fish.


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## sandybottom

i would probably go with something else.goldfish are sifters,and this stuff has some pretty sharp pieces in it.i would not risk it with my goldies.i am rather attached to them.if you are not going to keep deep rooting plants in your tank,you should use 1-1 1/2 in of sand.i know it costs more,but i would recommend tahitian moon sand or estes reef sand if you want a dark substrate.if you do not care about the color and want something cheap,you can get either pool filter sand or play sand.if you ever decide to get the blasting sand for another tank,make sure it is the first generation stuff and not the recycled blasting sand.there are metal shards in the recycled stuff.


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## Cassandra90

Thank you for the advice. I plan on to just have fake plants in the tank since I know gold fish tend to eat live plants up.


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## sandybottom

anubias work great in gf tanks if you want to go for live plants.they are beautiful tied to some driftwood or rocks.there are several varieties of this plant.the best part of the anubias is their upkeep.the most i do to mine is brush the little bit of algae off with a tooth brush.almost the same care as a plastic plant.much more beautiful though.


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## Cassandra90

I may look into that. I have tried to do live plants in the past and only had luck with java fern. I know it depends on the lighting too. I will be doing a ton of research in the process of cleaning this tank and restarting.


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## sandybottom

anubias does best in lower lighting,it will grow in most any light and any tank.the "bullet proof" plant.just as easy, if not easier than java fern.


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## Cassandra90

Well that is good news then. Thank you. I will look into once I get my tank established.


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## Boredomb

I am with sandybottom, Black diamond is pretty sharp stuff. I have used it once and only once in one of my setups. It took forever to clean and had many sharp pieces of metal in it. I should have took that as a hint and not used it. Instead I just sifted the sand really good. I know I have seen ppl have bottom dwellers with this stuff but with my experience wouldn't too.


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## Cassandra90

After reading more into I am going to just spend the extra cash to get some from the pet store. Rather spend the money than chance it.


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## Flear

what does this cost ? (how much a bag ?)


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## Cassandra90

It is about $8-10 a bag for 50lbs bag. I believe. I wont be using it though.


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## Flear

i ended up looking for glass bead sandblasting media, ... here, it's about $40 for a 50lb bag i think.

not cheap compared to any other substrate i've heard of

but sand sized glass beads, perfectly round, non-toxic, on it goes, ... safe in all regards, ... just really expensive compared with other substrates people use


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## Cassandra90

I was just going to get the aquarium sand from a pet store. Since after looking into the black diamond sand it may be too sharp for gold fish since they sift in the sand a lot. But it would be fine for other fish that are not bottom dweller or one that sifts in the sand.


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## Flear

for sand, once i really started looking at things on the scale of it's individual grains, it opened up a whole world of things to consider

shape being a key one for sand blasting and foundry sand this comes a big issue, ... between angular (sharp edges) all the way to round (no sharp angles at all), and often 2 grades inbetween sub-angular & sub-round.

anything that fit "angular" or even "sub-angular" i will stay away from.

pool filter sand fits angular & high in silica, although i don't think it's anything like slag (your black diamond sand)
playsand, ... actually i dono about play sand

slag of any sort i tend to stay away from.

foundry sands are much nicer, they want round so it doesn't attach itself to the metal casting.

but i don't think any of these are on the list of "affordable" except compared to costs at the LFS, then they're more than affordable to go that extra distance.

otherwise, while i don't know much about playsand, it sounds like the best bet


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## sandybottom

i have never encountered an angular pool filter sand the stuff i have looked at was pretty rounded and soft to the touch.play sand is silica sand,also fairly soft.i have play sand in with orandas.works just fine.


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## Flear

maybe i should consider beach sand, wash, clean, etc

from really zoomed in pictures i've seen of pool filter sand it's like small cube crystals
yes, at the actual size, those angular edges don't mean anything, but i'm being overly cautious


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## sandybottom

pool filter is the same as play sand as far as it being silicate based.it is select color/size silica sand.


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## Flear

damn, ... 

yes i know others have reported never having any problems with it.

more personal judgements & stubbornness, ... i don't like silica if i can get away with it.


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## sandybottom

if you do not want silica sand, sandtastik sand is silica free,as is crayola play sand.both are non-toxic aquarium safe.just make sure any silica free sand that you try is not pulverized marble sand.


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## moghedan

This is really a non issue. 20/40 size has been proven too many times to be perfectly fish safe FOR EVERY FISH. Including bottom dwellers like Corys. Including sifters like Kribs. FOR EVERY FISH.

Yes, some people claim otherwise. They also claim to have been impregnated by aliens, with about the same level of authenticity.


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