Blasting sand

[Scaperoot]

Has anyone tried setting up a planted tank with *just* black blasting sand? I was considering using sand and root tabs for a planted community tank. 

[A3M0N]

Yup, my substrate is only Black Diamond blasting sand from Tractor Supply. It needs to be rinsed a good bit. I don't use root tabs though, I use dry fertilizer to make a solution. 

[EVoyager31]

On 12/29/2022 at 1:30 PM, Scaperoot said:

Has anyone tried setting up a planted tank with *just* black blasting sand? I was considering using sand and root tabs for a planted community tank. 

I've done the blasting sand and have moved onto pool filter sand. Works fine for me and if I plant I just bury a root tab--works great for me in my goldfish tanks

[Daniel C]

Yes, that's what I have. Black Diamond Blasting Sand and root tabs. I also recommend dragging a magnet of some kind through the sand before you wet it. Mine had a noticeable amount of small metal fragments in it. I don't know if it would have hurt anything to leave it in there but removing what I could made me feel better.

[nabokovfan87]

Odd_Duck uses BDBS.  I have used it (same brand and everything) but the batch I got was heavily contaminated and severely impacted my fish (negatively). 

Depending what you're keeping, keep in mind this is not intended for aquarium use and it is a recycled product.  I would argue to avoid it, but yes, many people use it without issues.

[Goldfishgirl]

Yes I have used it black diamond blasting sand. I worked great, You do need to use root tabs as fertilizer. The other option is to use strictly water column feeding plants. 

[Odd Duck]

Yes, as @nabokovfan87mentioned, I have it in several tanks.  I have clay soil underneath it and was hoping it would act as a better nutrient sink under the sand, but I still need to add root tabs regularly and probably should do that more often than I manage to get done.  I have too many tanks.  😆

If I was going to do over, I would not do the clay because moving/thinning plants brings the red clay to the surface.  I’m slowly switching my 10 gallon tanks over to UGF with black matten foam since it looks very similar to the black sand but gives me massive filtration for grow-outs.  My 100 G nano tank is still black sand and my cubes are all black blasting sand.

I’ve not had any issues with the blasting sand even after having it in 10 tanks but I’ve read about a couple others that had issues with the same brand of black blasting sand like @nabokovfan87.  I don’t remember if they had the exact same issues but they didn’t like the sand and replaced it.  They were all in different areas of the country from me, but I don’t remember where they were from.

When @nabokovfan87had his issues, I did some reading trying to find what his issues could be.  I found the MSDS sheet for the black blasting sand had a big range of different possible compositions, so clearly the sand isn’t completely consistent across the country.  I would definitely run a magnet through the sand like recommended to at least take that off the list of potential issues.  Especially if you use a magnetic glass cleaner since they will pick up metal pieces and could scratch your glass.  I’ve not found any scratches on the tanks where I’ve used magnetic algae scrapers with sand - black or pool filter.

Edited January 2, 2023 by Odd Duck

[Schuyler]

On 12/29/2022 at 10:34 AM, A3M0N said:

Yup, my substrate is only Black Diamond blasting sand from Tractor Supply. It needs to be rinsed a good bit. I don't use root tabs though, I use dry fertilizer to make a solution. 

Which one did you use? When I looked online I saw people spend bags that said "coal" on them but when I went into the store all the bags said "slag". I ever up but getting it because I didn't want to get a different type and end up that it wasn't inert. I know it's made from glass slag.

[Daniel C]

What I used says "coal slag".....

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/black-diamond-medium-blasting-abrasives

[A3M0N]

On 1/2/2023 at 12:11 AM, Schuyler said:

Which one did you use?

Same as Daniel, this is what I used: https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/black-diamond-medium-blasting-abrasives 

There are two varieties, the one to use is medium blasting sand in the black bag. I understand the fine variety in the red bag is far too fine to use for an aquarium, I haven't used it so I can't speak from my own experience, just what I've read and watched videos about. 

Edited January 2, 2023 by A3M0N

[Odd Duck]

There is variation in the bag color, but there seems to be more consistency in either a blue or red bit of plastic that is sewn into the top of the bag.  It should also say “Medium”.  Definitely don’t use the “Fine” since it is extremely fine and nearly impossible to wash since it all floats away.  It’s also higher risk for impaction in your tank.

 

Edited January 3, 2023 by Odd Duck
Typos.

[KaitieG]

I used the medium blasting sand like that and it has worked great in my 95 gallon for two years.

[Scaperoot]

    Thank you all for the replies:) It took quite a while, but I was finally able to get the sand in. I should have spent more time cleaning it. I decided to add it in slowly so I wouldn't have to move the fish., but it was still messy and stressful. They were stressed, but I took breaks and tried not to disturb them too much. A day later, and the water is still cloudy. The transition to fully planted will be a slow one, especially since some of these plastic plants look so good on black sand. I added 50 lbs of black sand, a few medium Seiryu stones, and some new decor. Once the water clears a bit, I'll post a pic. I've added some filter padding to help absorb some of the excess sand that's floating. The fish ate and seemed to be fine. Am I missing anything? 

[JettsPapa]

On 1/3/2023 at 1:52 PM, Scaperoot said:

    Thank you all for the replies:) It took quite a while, but I was finally able to get the sand in. I should have spent more time cleaning it. I decided to add it in slowly so I wouldn't have to move the fish., but it was still messy and stressful. They were stressed, but I took breaks and tried not to disturb them too much. A day later, and the water is still cloudy. The transition to fully planted will be a slow one, especially since some of these plastic plants look so good on black sand. I added 50 lbs of black sand, a few medium Seiryu stones, and some new decor. Once the water clears a bit, I'll post a pic. I've added some filter padding to help absorb some of the excess sand that's floating. The fish ate and seemed to be fine. Am I missing anything? 

It sounds like you didn't rinse it well enough.  I put a layer in a wide fairly shallow container outside, fill it with water, then keep the hose going in the container while continuously stirring the sand.  Keep doing that until the water running over the edge is clear (I put a rock or something under the edge closest to me so the overflow is on the other side).  When I do this it doesn't cloud the water at all.

[NOLANANO]

I use black Diamond Blasting Sand with Root tabs. I made a video on Youtube (not very good production) of me building the tank if you'd like me to link it I will.

[drewzero1]

I've used it in nearly all of my freshwater tanks, but I no longer recommend it to people because of the variability between batches and the need to rinse it so much to get the water clear. I haven't had any issues that I could pin specifically on the sand, and my banjo cats spend most of their time burrowed under it.

[TOtrees]

Depending on what livestock you've got in there, I recommend putting your sand under a magnifying lens. I know it's already in the tank, so at this stage this would be checking "just in case".

Up here in Canadia, the blasting sand I got a few years back (from a retailer similar to Tractor Supply) turned out to be terrible for my corydoras. I had a white pool filter sand in my 40 breeder, and changed it to black blasting sand, mostly for appearance. The sand was relatively clean and rinsed well, and everything seemed okay for a few months. After a while though I realized that mortality was higher than it ought to be, and started looking closer, first at the fish then at the sand. 

Here's the nice round pool filter sand:

And here's the blasting sand. 😮

The blasting sand is basically bits of glass. 

Needless to say, it was removed. And it's been a great tank ever since 🙂

 

[Bev C]

i have in my 3 tanks love  my fish are doing well 

Bought from tractor supply store I I used this video and article below to clean it  and it is best to clean a little at a time then trying to clean the full whole bag at once it cleans better and faster  

 use hot water not cold water

make sure the day after you rinse filter pads in your filter  in tank water in a bucket   they will collect some dust for sure mine did 

 

 

article that helped me :info on the sand 

https://aquanswers.com/black-diamond-blasting-sand-aquarium-safety/

There is different grits of the sand  there is one that is more powder i think that is 30/60  

.  but i was told from my fish guy and the article i listed above grit  20/40 is best 

so i have use 20/40  grit in all my 3 tanks 

if you do plants you will need root tabs i use Easy Green root tabs and Easy Green Liquid 

Edited January 7, 2023 by Bev C

[Fish Folk]

@Scaperoot how big of an aquarium -- or how many aquariums -- are you considering trying BDBS in?

I've used it in a number of tanks. I actually like to build up a base of BDBS several inches deep, and generously with Eco Complete. Larger substrate of Eco Complete sits on top.

Being inert . . . and very dirty until thoroughly cleaned as everyone has indicated . . . all by itself, BDBS isn't my ideal substrate for planted tanks. 

Here's some photos of tanks that have had it:

BDBS base, Eco Complete cap, 55 gal Discus tank (lots of MTS)...

BDBS, light cap o0f Eco Complete, Kribensis breeding project, 20 gal long...

BDBS, tad bit of crushed coral, EBA fry grout tank, 20 gal long

Edited January 7, 2023 by Fish Folk

[Scaperoot]

     It’s clear to me now that I rushed into this without doing proper research. The fish are fine, thankfully, except for our Pictus catfish, who doesn’t have as much hiding room as before. He picks up the sand constantly, leading to a permanent cloudiness in the tank. I’m trying to figure out how to fill more of the open space in the center of the tank. I don’t want to prioritize the design over the fishes’ health. It looks good to us, but if the fish are stressed this much, it’s not worth it. I’ve added pics. 

Edited January 7, 2023 by Scaperoot

[Robert Keeney]

I have an aquarium that I initially set up with Black Diamond Blasting Grit on top of potting soil in March of 2012. I don't think there is any dirt left because of the fish that loved to dig. Today (2023), it has a school of corydoras that will burrow into the substrate up to their eyes. I have kept corys in this tank since the beginning. As for plants, I have Anubias and java moss with a recent addition of hornwort.

[Scaperoot]

Hi everyone. Just wanted to post an update. The water has finally cleared up. I’m definitely glad I made the change. I’m keeping a few plastic plants for the LOTR ‘look’, but I’m very happy with how the live plants are doing. Our Pictus finally settled in and is behaving normally again.