Black Sand Vs Natural - Opinions & Pics Please?

HI all, I've got a new (to me) 50 gallon tank... and will be setting it up in the coming months. I'm going to use pool filter sand as substrate, and have the option of black or natural. I currently have natural sand in all my other tanks, (which I really like), with lots of plants and either no background or a 'planted' background. However, I do like the look of black sand with a black background as well, and with this new tank being very large, a black background might be an easy way to go. It will be medium/heavily planted, with driftwood and rocks. I also like how the plants and fish 'pop' with black surroundings. So hard to decide which way to go!

Can you kind folks make suggestions and please post pics of your black/black tanks for inspiration?

Thanks so much!

I should also mention that I haven't decided on stocking yet, but I know for sure there will be cories in the tank. So I will want some leaf litter... this may look more natural on 'natural' sand I think? Anyone have leaf litter on black sand? hmmmmm

 

I love my black on black! However, it does show debris more than my tank with mixed black and white.
I’m getting ready to set up another tank and plan to do a mix of black and natural.
Also, I’ve never looked into pfs. It comes in black? Is it dyed?
I’ve used bdbs and the above tank is Caribsea naturals.

 

I love natural but know that a lot of fish love dark substrate.

 

That's why the decision is so difficult... both of those are beautiful thx

 

I too like both. But I find the black sand gets "older" looking after a while, at least for me. I actually like small gravel the best. I've tried them all, natural sand, black and the gravel. It pretty much falls to the person who owns the tank to figure out which they like better I've had enough tanks over the years that I have tried all of them. But I always seem to go back to the natural gravel lol. Good luck with picking the one you want

 

I started with some “funny” color gravel thinking it was gonna match my stand then realized a bit later that PFS was my favorite. I never did black sand so can’t comment on that but I did the funny gravel some natural gravel and IMO like the PFS the most. Good luck with your decision

 

I’ve had black sand (can’t remember the brand) in my 55 gallon for over 5 years. The 6.5 I just set up also has black sand. I really like the black sand for freshwater tanks because it makes the fish pop so much more.

The 55 gallon is plastI dipped black on the back as well.




The 6.5 has a black plastic background taped to the tank. Tank is scratched up pretty badly.

 

To me brightly colored or lighter colored fish look great with the black but darker ones look better with a lighter substrate. Just my opinion though. A dark fish in a dark environment will usually get even darker.

 

Black sand in these two.
Disregard the dirty bottom tank, it has since been cleaned haha. It also has a black background, as opposed to the top with the bright blue.





I have natural sand in my other tanks, but it looks dirty pretty fast even after a water change. Then again, so does black.

 

Here's my black sand and black background. I definitely agree that is makes for a better contrast for the green plants.

 

Thanks so much everyone for the replies and pics! Interesting how a blue background with black sand changes the look yet again. The black/black is definitely a more intense look, while the natural sand seems more 'gentle' somehow. I suppose deciding on specific fish will help to make the decision as well.
Lovely tanks guys! And beautiful rainbows berryblue