Black Diamond Medium Blasting Sand Question

[eddie462]

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/black-diamond-medium-blasting-abrasives-3905403?store=2535&cid=Shopping-Google-LOB-Local_Feed&utm_medium=Google&utm_source=Shopping&utm_campaign=LOB&utm_content=Local_Feed&gclid=CjwKCAjwwo-WBhAMEiwAV4dybeKLadAs1okqogvxvzSfzNIW9-sCcYYFUFgGuuVx83z8HnNTJiexLhoCa_oQAvD_BwE

Is this Black Diamond blasting sand (BDBS) safe for aquariums and ponds? There are multiple five star reviews of this product from people showing that it is safe in their aquariums. I am apprehensive because of this thread on FishLore. https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/black-diamond-blasting-sand-a-cautionary-tale.472377/

This is the only negative story I could find of BDBS, but link in the post is not Black Diamond brand. It is a different brand on Amazon, so that could be this person's issue. Has anyone used the Black Diamond brand sand? I would like to use this brand as I have rainbowfish. They show better on black substrate as opposed to the tan of Lapis Lustre sand.

[Wrencher_Scott]

It all a guess. 

Even if someone got away with it once means nothing if you ask me. 

But if you aren't keeping inverts does it really mater? I don't think so. 

[AK Aquatics]

I’m currently using a mix of Black Diamond and another off-brand blasting sand in combination. So far over the past two months it hasn’t affected my water parameters at all and even was able to have decent results with planting. I’m using this 20G long as a summer experiment to see how plants do in the corse blasting sand! 

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

I can only report on my experiences with it. I use the medium black diamond from the first link in a few tanks. I do rinse mine just to avoid the minimal dust and surface gunk that can be present in the bag.

This study has some breakdown of the composition of coal slag used for that media. Table 1 in particular shows the range of make up of the product nationwide. 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5391280/#!po=38.7500

I use it in a few tanks including dwarf crayfish and cherry shrimp going on 4 years now with no noticable die offs in my systems. 

And congo puffer fish

I also use pool filter sand and have a few tanks with no substrate. I suppose it is possible that shrimp might be sensitive to some of the blasting media product but its also possible that bad experience was some other factor unrelated to the substrate. 

Edited July 5, 2022 by mountaintoppufferkeeper

[Daniel C]

I've been using BDBS in a planted tank for about a year now and I'm very happy with it. Before I rinsed it in a five gallon bucket, while it was still dry, I took a good sized magnet and dragged it over and through it and it did attract some small metal bits. I kept cleaning the magnet off and repeating this until I was hardly finding any. Obviously, it has no nutritional value at all for the plants so I use Easy Green in the water and LOTS of Flourish tabs. I personally think it is a very good looking substrate and makes the colors of the plants and fish really pop. 

[Corbidorbidoodle]

I've got it in several tanks with cherry shrimp, neon green rasboras, neon tetras, CPDs, a betta, and all manor of plants, and they're all fine. I don't have a control group or anything, so it's not very scientific...

But seems to be fine so far.

I had cheap "real" aquarium sand from, like, Tetra or something and the black was coming of on my Gold Rams' mouths. Like they'd been drinking chocolate milk or something. Never a problem with the BDBS.

Edited July 5, 2022 by Corbidorbidoodle

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/5/2022 at 3:37 PM, Daniel C said:

I've been using BDBS in a planted tank for about a year now and I'm very happy with it. Before I rinsed it in a five gallon bucket, while it was still dry, I took a good sized magnet and dragged it over and through it and it did attract some small metal bits. I kept cleaning the magnet off and repeating this until I was hardly finding any. Obviously, it has no nutritional value at all for the plants so I use Easy Green in the water and LOTS of Flourish tabs. I personally think it is a very good looking substrate and makes the colors of the plants and fish really pop. 

This is what I would do for anyone with black sand specifically.  Even on natural beaches, they have found metal which is a main reason for some of the Tahitian sand no longer being sold under the super naturals brand.  If you want black substrate, I'd recommend the flourite black sand.  It's not a sand, but it is something where you can feel "fine" about it and it performs somewhat between a gravel and a sand bottom. 

If you want sand, I'd recommend pool filter sand or super naturals.

[Gwallace]

I have used it for years with no issues.  But it does need to rinsed super well and you will find metal in it.  Looking back I would have just paid the extra few dollars for real sand.

[JettsPapa]

I have it in several tanks, with fish, snails, and shrimp in them.  No issues, and I wouldn't hesitate to use it again.

It does require a good amount of rinsing, as mentioned above.  I've never found metal in it, but maybe I've just been lucky.

[Corbidorbidoodle]

The metal y'all are referring to... Is that like chunks of metal scrap? Or, like, traces of heavy metals or something like that?

Like is it something you can see and pick out or, like, something you have to test for?

[Gwallace]

Tiny little pieces not much larger than the sand itself.  you will see it glitter.

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/6/2022 at 9:47 AM, Corbidorbidoodle said:

The metal y'all are referring to... Is that like chunks of metal scrap? Or, like, traces of heavy metals or something like that?

Like is it something you can see and pick out or, like, something you have to test for?

It is actual metal.  A lot of times the sand is recycled and you have things that are screened out, but particles get through. "Lower quality" products will use higher volume of recycled materials and not have as good of a process in place to clean the material before re-sale.

https://www.blackdiamondabrasives.com/protect/

It is a medium used for sand blasting, so it can have basically small portions of "whatever" was sandblasted, typically metal.

[eddie462]

On 7/6/2022 at 1:19 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

It is actual metal.  A lot of times the sand is recycled and you have things that are screened out, but particles get through. "Lower quality" products will use higher volume of recycled materials and not have as good of a process in place to clean the material before re-sale.

https://www.blackdiamondabrasives.com/protect/

It is a medium used for sand blasting, so it can have basically small portions of "whatever" was sandblasted, typically metal.

What would you consider the Black Diamond brand in my first post to be a higher quality brand? I didn't see anything about recycled materials.

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/6/2022 at 10:26 AM, eddie462 said:

What would you consider the Black Diamond brand in my first post to be a higher quality brand? I didn't see anything about recycled materials.

It's from a "big box store" and is guaranteed to have some recycled particles. It's a byproduct of coal mining as well. The link I sent is from the manufacturer of the product at the store that you linked to.  Same people 🙂

A magnet is your best friend, they specifically make magnets for this purpose.

https://www.amazon.com/SE-Magnetic-Separator-Pick-Up-Release/dp/B009RLGDPE/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=hand+magnet&qid=1657128638&sr=8-4

Here is the "fancy" version.

https://www.amazon.com/AJC-070-MS-10-Inch-Magnetic-Sweeper/dp/B00002252O/ref=sr_1_31?keywords=hand+magnet&qid=1657128691&sr=8-31

Edited July 6, 2022 by nabokovfan87
added link

[drewzero1]

I've used it in my tanks for 4-5 years now and haven't had any issues I could pin on the sand. There was a bit of oil initially, and it was impossible to get it rinsed enough to avoid a week of murky water after setup. I have banjo cats and cories so there is a lot of digging and shuffling in the substrate.

The linked thread mentions shrimp, which I hadn't considered: I haven't had shrimp with this substrate aside from one amano I've had a little over a year, and a few RCS I added last week in another tank; I'll keep an eye on them and see how they do in there.

[Brandon p]

I don’t have in a tank yet. I’m setting up a tank with It along with a larger riverrock, and a black gravel that is in the middle as far as size.  I want to see which one grows plays the best. I asked here and overwhelmingly the black blazing sand was the answer. I have and are ready to go in. Im just waiting for the plants.

[Daniel C]

On 7/6/2022 at 12:47 PM, Corbidorbidoodle said:

The metal y'all are referring to... Is that like chunks of metal scrap? Or, like, traces of heavy metals or something like that?

Like is it something you can see and pick out or, like, something you have to test for?

Yeah, it's little bits of metal you can see. Definitely recommend using a magnet, makes removing it so much easier.

[nabokovfan87]

I finally got a bag of this stuff, link in OP.

I was pretty surprised when I realized it's marketed as "coal slag" and not specifically "blasting sand".  Black Diamond is the brand and not necessarily the type or color.  I assume one might have more "junk" in it compared to others. the same way we have pool filter vs. play sand.

I think this may explain a lot of issues some people have been reporting.  I opened this bag up and I see a TON of metals in this one. 

Here is a PDF of what they offer, some coal, some copper.  If someone has some experience with these products, in this industry and can explain a bit about "blasting sand" vs other abrasives it would really help us all out.

https://www.blackdiamondabrasives.com/media/1389/us-minerals-black-diamond-abrasives-product-comparison-guide.pdf

The above vs. the below specifically.

Orange = fine, black = medium grit.




EDIT:

OK so I just spent about 20-30 minutes rinsing this stuff. Based on my asthma, the study about dust issues, I wore a mask.  Based on a video by an aquarist and how dirty this stuff can be I wore gloves.  I would recommend both!  I had some molten metal stuff come up to the surface along with fine grit (light brown, tan, beige colored) as well as a ton of silt that sticks around for a pretty long time and is difficult to separate out.  Anyone who has cleaned play sand, this is very similar to that fine of a texture.

I do think this stuff will work, but I would highly encourage a few things to make it easier.  This is typically what I do for sand in general.
A.  Split it into two batches or two buckets if possible.  Don't fill the bucket too full, it just makes it take longer.
B.  When you do get it filled with water and you're ready to remove the silt, just use the hose and let all the waste and oils run off while the sand fills with air and compresses. 
C.  When you get to the point where it's compressed, use a power nossle or something like that, I just used my finger, and pressure spray the sand so that you can get some of the fine silt into the water column. This is the longest part of cleaning it and the longer and the better you do this step, the better off your filtration will thank you later.
D.  Tilt the bucket to the side to let the stuff in the water column get removed, rinse / repeat for a long time.

Steps C and D are typical for all sand for me.

I know black sand looks cool, but I really wish I had gone the pool filter route or just gotten caribsea.

Edit 2: I got everything moved into the tank.  So nice to have a substrate of sorts again.  I used the python hook and turn the water on, even on the lowest setting it went everywhere.  It's extremely light substrate and I really don't know how well it's going to compact over time.  We'll see. It's not too difficult to gravel vac or anything, but you're likely going to take up some silt.  I would opt for normal sand next time.....  Hard to describe it, but I really hope the corydoras and everyone is ok after getting literally blasted with this stuff.  Poor fish.

Edited August 4, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[Daniel C]

What I have is the "coal slag". I got it at Tractor Supply Co. They had medium and fine grit, I used the medium. I've never seen the "blasting abrasives" product before.

[Robert Keeney]

I have an aquarium with Black Diamond Blasting Grit that has been used since 2013 with no issues. I have had various fish in it, but it has always had corys. Several of them were hatched and grew up in these aquariums. I hatched a lot of ancistrus in this aquarium. I had three set up this way, but I swapped out two for leaks after several years.

Black Diamond Blasting Grit is difficult to clean. I never worried about removing metal.

[Brandon p]

As long as it’s the coal slag there should be no problem. Some my people use and don’t have problems. I just put some in one of my tanks and had none of the problems that the other poster had. Make sure the bag looks like this

https://www.ebay.com/itm/224408309970?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=IMaOhEBQSQa&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=v0AGUAjUSm-&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

Edited August 4, 2022 by Brandon p

[eddie462]

On 8/3/2022 at 7:32 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I finally got a bag of this stuff, link in OP.

I was pretty surprised when I realized it's marketed as "coal slag" and not specifically "blasting sand".  Black Diamond is the brand and not necessarily the type or color.  I assume one might have more "junk" in it compared to others. the same way we have pool filter vs. play sand.

I think this may explain a lot of issues some people have been reporting.  I opened this bag up and I see a TON of metals in this one. 

Here is a PDF of what they offer, some coal, some copper.  If someone has some experience with these products, in this industry and can explain a bit about "blasting sand" vs other abrasives it would really help us all out.

https://www.blackdiamondabrasives.com/media/1389/us-minerals-black-diamond-abrasives-product-comparison-guide.pdf

The above vs. the below specifically.

Orange = fine, black = medium grit.




EDIT:

OK so I just spent about 20-30 minutes rinsing this stuff. Based on my asthma, the study about dust issues, I wore a mask.  Based on a video by an aquarist and how dirty this stuff can be I wore gloves.  I would recommend both!  I had some molten metal stuff come up to the surface along with fine grit (light brown, tan, beige colored) as well as a ton of silt that sticks around for a pretty long time and is difficult to separate out.  Anyone who has cleaned play sand, this is very similar to that fine of a texture.

I do think this stuff will work, but I would highly encourage a few things to make it easier.  This is typically what I do for sand in general.
A.  Split it into two batches or two buckets if possible.  Don't fill the bucket too full, it just makes it take longer.
B.  When you do get it filled with water and you're ready to remove the silt, just use the hose and let all the waste and oils run off while the sand fills with air and compresses. 
C.  When you get to the point where it's compressed, use a power nossle or something like that, I just used my finger, and pressure spray the sand so that you can get some of the fine silt into the water column. This is the longest part of cleaning it and the longer and the better you do this step, the better off your filtration will thank you later.
D.  Tilt the bucket to the side to let the stuff in the water column get removed, rinse / repeat for a long time.

Steps C and D are typical for all sand for me.

I know black sand looks cool, but I really wish I had gone the pool filter route or just gotten caribsea.

Edit 2: I got everything moved into the tank.  So nice to have a substrate of sorts again.  I used the python hook and turn the water on, even on the lowest setting it went everywhere.  It's extremely light substrate and I really don't know how well it's going to compact over time.  We'll see. It's not too difficult to gravel vac or anything, but you're likely going to take up some silt.  I would opt for normal sand next time.....  Hard to describe it, but I really hope the corydoras and everyone is ok after getting literally blasted with this stuff.  Poor fish.

Thank you for doing all that. I think I’ll just stay with Petco and PetSmart black aquarium sand. Most companies are cutting corners lately and it seems like BD did that with the amount of metal contents in that bag. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/4/2022 at 5:40 AM, Brandon p said:

As long as it’s the coal slag there should be no problem. Some my people use and don’t have problems. I just put some in one of my tanks and had none of the problems that the other poster had. Make sure the bag looks like this

Yeah, there's a few labels and differences probably explaining the difference in quality and consistency based on the batch.  Especially being a recycled product, there's just going to be a bit of variation. 

The tank seems to be doing ok, it's SUPER CLEAR now that it has substrate and things got a big clean.  I'm guessing this specific substrate has to do with it as well potentially acting like carbon.

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/5/2022 at 12:23 PM, AK Aquatics said:

For comparison, here's mine 🙂   you win!  You can see the high amount of colored flakes in this batch I had.  Oh whale.

 

 

[Brandon p]

On 8/7/2022 at 12:15 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

For comparison, here's mine 🙂   you win!  You can see the high amount of colored flakes in this batch I had.  Oh whale.

 

 

It does have a lot of bits in it. The two bags I got were very clean. I can definitely see why you had issues with the Quality.   I know you answered this but I didn’t see it, did you run a magnet over it.