black diamond

[monkeyfish]

@ klaus...it's hard to tell from the pic, but if you were holding them in your hand you would know they are not metallic. They appear to be more like glass.

[klaus07]

I just bought three bags of the stuff, thanks for the heads up!

[xxbenjamminxx]

Originally Posted by klaus07

You might try using a magnet to see if any of those pieces have steel in them. At least some of them look metallic. I would do that before the sand gets wet.

+1 to this. I thought of this last night laying in bed of all places. LOL Might be worth a shot since I dont think the actual coal slag should be magnetic.

[In.a.Box]

I try the magnet nothing stick to it.

How many bag should I use in a 40B and 75?

[In.a.Box]

i wash and wash and wash but still see oil.
how do you people get rid of the oil?

[djscotty]

I just did a couple of thorough washes and then transferred to the tank. I then had a old HOB filter that I used for a couple of days and all of the oil disappeared and haven't had any other problems.

[proaudio55]

Originally Posted by In.a.Box

I try the magnet nothing stick to it.

How many bags should I use in a 40B and 75?

IMHO 1.5-2lbs of sand per gallon. So a 75 I'd suggest 100lbs (2 bags) or if you want a deeper bed I'd do 150lbs (3 bags).

In my 72 bow front I have 2 bags of tan pool sand and 1 bag fine coal slag for a total of 150lbs of fine substrate. I like the results . . .

[In.a.Box]

Originally Posted by proaudio55

IMHO 1.5-2lbs of sand per gallon. So a 75 I'd suggest 100lbs (2 bags) or if you want a deeper bed I'd do 150lbs (3 bags).

In my 72 bow front I have 2 bags of tan pool sand and 1 bag fine coal slag for a total of 150lbs of fine substrate. I like the results . . .

Got pic of the 72? I would to see how black and pool sand mix.

[In.a.Box]

Is the 20-40 bigger then the 30-60?

[proaudio55]

Originally Posted by In.a.Box

Got pic of the 72? I would to see how black and pool sand mix.

I'm at work at the moment, but I'll post one when I get home . . . (don't tell my boss I'm on here )

Originally Posted by In.a.Box

Is the 20-40 bigger then the 30-60?

Yep, 20-40 is the coarser stuff . . . I don't recall off hand how they come up with those numbers but even the 30-60 should be fine. The biggest concern are SUPER fine particles because those will make your water murky / cloudy.

[proaudio55]

As requested: I don't know how this will ultimately homogenize out (in terms of black:tan ratio) But it looks good to my eye. And I had to shoot these with a flash, so the color may be a titch off. In a 72 gallon bow, each 50lbs bag => 1" of substrate thickness (aprox).

[Daximus]

^^^ That looks real good! At worst you will end up with a natural "dirt" look if they ever get totally mixed up.

To those other posters concerned about the "shards". I had a few of those I noticed in my 3 bags of the stuff. When I spotted them I pulled a couple out...no ill effects to any of my fish.

Couple of mine were indeed metal shavings of some sort...who knows. After all folks, it's an industrial by-product commonly blasted out of a gun to remove paint off cars, lol. My point being that it probably hasn't been inspected for purity at the level of something that was intended to go in an aquarium. So, as with any DIY project...a bit of self inspection and an acceptance of slight imperfection should probably be the norm. You might wanna sift it, you might wanna rinse it, it might take a bit of work. Good news is you just saved $100 on black sand.

All kidding aside my corys are fine, my shrimp are fine too, and even my "special" oto that thinks it's a cory is fine. (He tries the whole sucky sucky thing on the black diamond substrate. Very funny.)

[Profector]

Looks good, what grit size did you used?

[proaudio55]

Originally Posted by Profector

Looks good, what grit size did you used?

the bag says "1.5-2.0 mil anchor profile" ++awkward silence++ (???) . . . I call it "fine"

[monkeyfish]

With the Black diamond you want 20/40 grit.