I think its just a contaminate of a different grit of the same material. The bag I have has it.
Black Diamond question
I have BDBS in some tanks and love it so I am going to change out my 75 with it . I started to rinse the first bag tonight and noticed it has a good deal of tan colored bits in it . The tan bits are hard like a rock , but I have never seen it before after about 5 bags of the BDBS . I just wanted to ask if any other users have seen this and is it ok to use ? I contacted the manufacturer and will see what they say the tan bits are . Thanks in advance .
Forgot pic......not the best but you get the idea .
Forgot pic......not the best but you get the idea .
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Looks kinda cool,natural looking.I like it!
Here is what the company says..."Thank you for your business. The tan colored particles are part of the slag and likely come from a small amount of clay that is present in the coal sources used by the power plants that we source our slag from. They are inert and we have never had any issues resulting from any customer using the product properly. " That along with your comments makes me feel better about using it.......lol Thanks all and have a great day!
Small amount of clay???
Nutrients in bdbs???
Nutrients in bdbs???
I don't know if there is enough clay to retain much in the way of nutrients , but would be a plus if it did . I changed out the first part of the tank today and I like the look with the brown bits .
I started this thread because of changing the sub in my 75 gal tank so I thought I would just post my progress here instead of starting a new thread . After much research I found that some say take fish and all out , change , put fish and all back and some say leave fish in . I decided that leaving the fish in would be less stressful so that is the method I chose . It is a 5 foot long tank so the fish can go to one end or the other while I am working . I used some scrap acrylic I had and fashioned 2 dividers/barriers to use to do a part of the tank at a time .
I did the first section last evening . One thing I overlooked was the weight of the acrylic thus the rock on top...lol I put the divider in , vacuumed the gravel very well , remove gravel , vacuum tank bottom , and put in BDBS . Very little cloudiness which cleared in about a half hour or less . Then put second divider where I want it and repeat the process between the dividers . I plan on finishing it tomorrow . I had 0 ammonia this afternoon and tonight . I run 2 large hobs and a sump with a ton of Matrix so I don't expect any spikes or mini cycle . Anyway , I hope you get the idea and don't be shy about changing sub with fish in...lol
I did the first section last evening . One thing I overlooked was the weight of the acrylic thus the rock on top...lol I put the divider in , vacuumed the gravel very well , remove gravel , vacuum tank bottom , and put in BDBS . Very little cloudiness which cleared in about a half hour or less . Then put second divider where I want it and repeat the process between the dividers . I plan on finishing it tomorrow . I had 0 ammonia this afternoon and tonight . I run 2 large hobs and a sump with a ton of Matrix so I don't expect any spikes or mini cycle . Anyway , I hope you get the idea and don't be shy about changing sub with fish in...lol
if BDBS has nutrients, im changing all my tanks that's it...!!!
I also have tan specks in my BDBS
Coming in a little late on this - I would guess there was some contamination resulting in the light colored pieces. For what it's worth, check out this site. They are a company that I do business with locally but I suspect their products are available nationally. My guess is the Coal Slag (Black Beauty) is what we call / use as Black Diamond Blasting Sand. Nice thing about this site is you can get different grit sizes. Pretty good method you have @Leeatl for making the switch out.
I just turned on the overhead room light to check on the tank and all the cory cats are on the side with the BDBS....lol Guess that solves the " is BDBS safe for cories " question once and for all....lol
Bump:
Bump:
Thanks Immortal1 , I put enough worry/thought into it...lol The company says it is clay from the coal and I picked some of it out and it seems to be clay . I can crush it with pliers pretty easy and it looks like clay under low magnification . You are the mad scientist , so how can it be tested to see if there is any benefit of the clay as far as nutrient cation is concerned . I think I got that right...lolComing in a little late on this - I would guess there was some contamination resulting in the light colored pieces. For what it's worth, check out this site. They are a company that I do business with locally but I suspect their products are available nationally. My guess is the Coal Slag (Black Beauty) is what we call / use as Black Diamond Blasting Sand. Nice thing about this site is you can get different grit sizes. Pretty good method you have @Leeatl for making the switch out.
Don't worry, two weeks and someone will ask if this substrate is safe for bottom dwellers. It might even be me :surprise:I just turned on the overhead room light to check on the tank and all the cory cats are on the side with the BDBS....lol Guess that solves the " is BDBS safe for cories " question once and for all....lol
Well @Leeatl, "I can crush it with pliers pretty easy and it looks like clay under low magnification . You are the mad scientist , so how can it be tested to see if there is any benefit of the clay as far as nutrient cation is concerned . I think I got that right...lol"
I gave it some thought and this is what I could come up with.
Collect and measure out 1 gram of the clay material. Soak it in 5 grams of h2O for 30 minutes. Then add 1 gram of KNO3. Thoroughly mix the solution, preferably with the wifes mix master.
Then extract 5ml of solution and test with the API KH solution. Each drop will equate to 1 unit of cation. What you are looking for is something greater than 10.....
Common, I can't be good at everything, LOL
I gave it some thought and this is what I could come up with.
Collect and measure out 1 gram of the clay material. Soak it in 5 grams of h2O for 30 minutes. Then add 1 gram of KNO3. Thoroughly mix the solution, preferably with the wifes mix master.
Then extract 5ml of solution and test with the API KH solution. Each drop will equate to 1 unit of cation. What you are looking for is something greater than 10.....
Common, I can't be good at everything, LOL
but isn't clay generally known for iron content? too bad there isn't a convenient and economical way to check for iron in a form that can be used.Well @Leeatl, "I can crush it with pliers pretty easy and it looks like clay under low magnification . You are the mad scientist , so how can it be tested to see if there is any benefit of the clay as far as nutrient cation is concerned . I think I got that right...lol"
I gave it some thought and this is what I could come up with.
Collect and measure out 1 gram of the clay material. Soak it in 5 grams of h2O for 30 minutes. Then add 1 gram of KNO3. Thoroughly mix the solution, preferably with the wifes mix master.
Then extract 5ml of solution and test with the API KH solution. Each drop will equate to 1 unit of cation. What you are looking for is something greater than 10.....
Common, I can't be good at everything, LOL
Ok , got the sub completely changed out yesterday . wasn't too bad overall , but not a task I want to do every week...lol I am posting before and after shots at the end of post .
Immortal1 , I would like to try the cation test you devised , but where do I get KN03 ?
Immortal1 , I would like to try the cation test you devised , but where do I get KN03 ?
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