Black Diamond Blasting Sand

[Thunder_o_b]

We have the Med-coarse grit in two aquariums 150 and 44 gallon. and a finer grit (the bag was miss-marked) in the guppy aquarium. I like the coarser one better. The finer grit still does not dust up but when the 37 gallon guppy aquarium cracked last weekend I noticed a smell that suggests that anaerobic bacteria setup shop, and it was under 3" deep. It does not dust up at all even with 700 GPH filtration.

If I clean it at all it is a quick swish in a five gallon bucket. But I have a high level of filtration and the water is crystal in an hour.

1. An assassin in the guppy aquarium with the finer grit.


2. From the 150 with med-coarse grit.

 

[Lunnietic]

I use it in my 29 gallon and I think it looks good but not always completely black. I haven't had any issues with it and I heard it's bottom feeder safe. It can be a pain to clean if you want to make sure its just the sand that stays settled at the bottom.
There's many cleaning methods and yours is one but I would occasionally stir the sand to help remove floating sand that's buried.
I have my substrate 1.5 inches and left me with about 1/4 of a 5 gallon bucket. So depending on your preferred substrate height 2 bags would be a safe bet if you want a higher substrate. I don't think tractor supply carries anything other than 20/40 grit but make sure that's the grit you get. Here's a link to a decent Substrate Calculator

Mine comes in bags, I didn't look at the actual poundage when I was there. I believe the rule of thumb is 1 lbs of substrate for every gallon? I don't have a clue where I heard this from but it seems to work.

I use BDBS in all my tanks. My Tractor Supply carries medium grit (20/40, which is what I use; heavy enough to not blow around) and fine grit (don't remember the numbers). Most people prefer the medium over fine it seems.

Here's some pictures of my tanks for reference.

20 Gallon Long Betta Centered Community (Does include corys)
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10 Gallon Crayfish Tank
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New 40 Gallon Breeder
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Wow! Thank you for the photos. Do the cories seem to be fine on it? This tank will have a schoal of peppers and a bn pleco.

We have the Med-coarse grit in two aquariums 150 and 44 gallon. and a finer grit (the bag was miss-marked) in the guppy aquarium.I like the coarser one better. The fined grit still does not dust up but when the 37 gallon guppy aquarium cracked last weekend I noticed a smell that suggests that anaerobic bacteria setup shop, and it was under 3" deep. It does not dust up at all even with 700 GPH filtration.

If I clean it at all it is a quick swish in a five gallon bucket. But I have aa high level of filtration and the water is crystal in an hour.

1. An assassin in the guppy aquarium with the finer grit.
View attachment 437505

2. From the 150 with med-coarse grit.
View attachment 437506

So from the results. Get the medium not the fine grit. Thank you for your photos too! I can't get loaches in my area but s/he looks stunning against the black.

 

[Thunder_o_b]

Yeah, the med-course grit is better in my opinion.

I had looked for the stripped squiggles (our name for them) for years and finally a local fish store started getting them. There are nine in the 150

EDIT: The corys do fine with it. We have pandas, leopards, greens, Julli, and albino.

 

[TexasGuppy]

My 54g took 2 bags. I have pandas and jullI on it and they do well. Mine had quite a bit of dust in it and I washed it in 5 gallon buckets which got most of the finer dust out. Somebody else here used a fine wire mesh I believe from HomeDepot and said it got really clean and was easy. In the bucket, I had to keep stirring it with my hand.

 

[ummmmmfish]

Has anyone used this specifically? Any issues? How did you clean it? Is one bag large enough for a 55?

I usually put about 10 lbs in a bucket and let it overflow with water until it runs clear. Is this a good process for this sand?

Where are you located? I’m in Georgia and have a bag and a half of this stuff just sitting in my garage. I used it for one tank but it killed my filter so I am not putting it in my other tank lol I’d like to get rid of it but I’m not going to ship it.

 

[Lunnietic]

Where are you located? I’m in Georgia and have a bag and a half of this stuff just sitting in my garage. I used it for one tank but it killed my filter so I am not putting it in my other tank lol I’d like to get rid of it but I’m not going to ship it.

All the way in Michigan Thanks for the help though.

 

[JLeeM]

Wow! Thank you for the photos. Do the cories seem to be fine on it? This tank will have a schoal of peppers and a bn pleco.

Oh yeah. They dig around in it all the time, and still have really long barbels.

 

[Rythmyc]

I've noticed people taking extra precautions when using BDBS, but I'm yet to meet anyone who has had a bad experience as long as it is rinsed really well. Regardless of grit size. The only difference I've heard is the filter being able to suck up the finer grit. I can personally attest to this, as I've used fine sand, and find it in my filter more often than the more course stuff. I just take the extra time cleaning my filter propellers, rather than all the extra sifting.

 

[Ulu]

. . propellers . . .

Impellers actually. A propeller would Propel your pump around the tank.

 

[Sergeant Pepper]

It needs to be rinsed hard before you use it, because it does give an oily surface. It'll turn your arms black a bit as you're rinsing. It's worth it. I used the 20/40 in my 10 gallon and 60 gallon. Love it. Great for plants and I have kuhlI loaches that love it.

 

[Ulu]

I am still using it in my Cory tank and they seem to be doing just fine with the BDBS.

I did not get the oily film people are talking about or if so very very little of it but I sifted all my sand through a screen before putting it in water.

In the past when I used "play sand" I rinsed that with water before putting it in the tank which was an enormous chore, but there was so much silt that it had to be rinsed.

The BDBS had some dust but not that much considering. I would suggest anybody using it just shake it over a fine screen first to remove all the dust, because it's the dust that contains most of the oil.

 

[bitseriously]

I’m also interested in this sifting method. For those that do it, do u use a (gold) panning sifter, or box screen? What size of mesh should I be looking for?
I see the gold panning sifters sold in any size from 1/2 inch all the way to 1/100 inch. What would be the grain size for med sand? I have pfs, what size is that, by comparison?
Light bulb: is 40/20 referring to hundredths of an inch?

 

[Ulu]

40/20 refers to the mesh of the grading screens used to sift the sand. 1/40th of an inch up to 1/20th. It will pass through a 20 mesh but it will not pass through a 40.

I used ordinary aluminum window screen from the hardware store.

But this removes about 75% of the sand leaving you with the very coarsest grains.

If you sift it with a piece of fiberglass solar screen, you will only remove about 1/4 of the sand, which is the very finest stuff.

 

[Otocinclus13]

HI everyone. I have a few questions about bdbs:

1. Medium or fine grit?
2. The bag says "product must stay dry." Should I be concerned?
3. I'm looking for enough to fill a planted 40b and an unplanted 55. It's sold in 50lb bags. How much do you think I'll need?

Thanks!

 

[Wardonianfungus]

I think 1/2 pound per gallon for the unplanted, and from 1/2 to a pound per gallon for the planted, depending on how many foot feeders you have

 

[Wardonianfungus]

And I’m pretty sure that it’s fine, but someone with experience can answer better

 

[bizaliz3]

1. Definitely NOT fine grit.

2. It says must stay dry because it will not work as blasting sand if gotten wet. But that isn't your purpose.

3. I used almost 100 pounds in my planted 55. I'd say at least a bag and a half for the planted 40g. And then another bag and a half for the unplanted 55. Three bags should be good. You may or may not use it all.

 

[sparklepixie]

You want the medium grit.

 

[KingJamal2]

HI everyone. I have a few questions about bdbs:

1. Medium or fine grit?
2. The bag says "product must stay dry." Should I be concerned?
3. I'm looking for enough to fill a planted 40b and an unplanted 55. It's sold in 50lb bags. How much do you think I'll need?

Thanks!

It only says product must stay dry because it is intended to blast paint off things. It only works if it’s dry.

 

[John58ford]

Hello again go with the medium. Wash it in hot water, I run a hose off my hot water tank in the garage and wash it in 5 gallon buckets like the kgtropicals video shows on youtube.

For blasting sand I go with hot water as there is a little bit of oil you may get from the production process.

Here's a recent shot of my 29 with black diamond blasting sand. It's right under the tank housing your old silvertips



Edit: that's 3/4 bag after washing, if I spread it evenly it's 3". The bag I bought locally was marked "1630 over 5/16"" you can find the markings on the tops of the bags if the pallets are mixed up at your store.

 

[Kay 240]

I used generic blasting sand for my 20 long. It was totally black in my tank. Is it the picture or is your sand really lighter on top?

 

[John58ford]

I used generic blasting sand for my 20 long. It was totally black in my tank. Is it the picture or is your sand really lighter on top?

Depending on the lighting black diamond has a gray/red tint. I light closer to 6700k average color temp so the reds wash a bit but the gray still shows. The upper and lower plastic trim of that tank are true black.
In this picture you could zoom in on the plant bowls and see the true black gravel:

And here's a shot of it from a different angle but with warmer lighting. (I didn't measure it but I think the temperature was around 5700k at the time)

Hope that kinda answers your question. It's not a true black, but a reddish/gray black and if you tweak your lighting (or use CFL) it will look more black.

Edited to add: this is my personal experience with the coloration of black diamond. It is possible that others have bought the same product that may have been produced elsewhere/different batch etc. I think it's important to remember black diamond and other things like pool filter sand aren't designed or sold to be looked at. I'm sure slight difference in appearance of color from batch to batch is not in their quality control practices whereas they would be more concerned with consistancy of grit and general make up.

Let me know if any of you have observed this under different lights, or if you suppose it was just my batch. I may open a poll later.

 

[Otocinclus13]

As always, you guys are awesome. Thanks for the info!

John58ford, fancy bumping into you here! Beautiful background in that tank