Black and white sand bottom

[Sky042]

The other night there was a big sand discussion. So I decided that I liked the idea.
I decided to do it on my 54 corner bow.
Excuse the picture that filter has only been on a few mins and isn't really adept at this sort of filtration(need a cannister this is a wet/dry)

Here is 20 lbs of estes black marine sand(safe for freshwater though I DO NOT reccomend the sand it self is terrible to work with)
mized with ~25lbs of white play sand

I didn't completely mix them up I kinda though it'd be cool to leave them zebra'd

 

[Teelie]

It does look interesting though I wonder how long it would stay like that.

 

[Sky042]

It does look interesting though I wonder how long it would stay like that.

not very considering you need to stir sand every 2 months to let out trapped gasses. Though I will say I stirred this sand for quite a while(probably 20 mins) to get it to that point since the black was much finer and I layed it on top of the white sand. So it'll probably stay looking like that through a few stirrings but I'd almost rather see it all mixed as one

 

[DOLORES]

it looks absolutely gorgeous! im lovin it! i'll go for that, thnx for the PM to let me kno about it congrats on the new sand design, and yeah, as u sed i'd rather have it al completely mixed up but we can try our little designs for a fe weeks or maybe moments if we/you're planin on get it planted

again it looks gorgeous!

 

[Teelie]

not very considering you need to stir sand every 2 months to let out trapped gasses.

Only if the sand is 2" or more deep is that really a concern, and even only if you never have anything disturb the sand. I have almost all bottom dwellers in my 30 gallon sand tank and it never develops any kind of pockets. The sand is about 1.5" deep so I don't worry about it. Occasionally I have run my fingers through it but there's never anything to disturb.

 

[DOLORES]

teelie ..... you actually got me confused what are trapped gasses ...(stir means cleans or sort of , isnt it?) .... sorry i already told im kinda slow at this time (2.16 AM EASTERN TIME)

 

[Teelie]

Trapped gases are a type of build up when certain bacteria give off gas as a waste product. I can never remember the name but it's deadly toxic to fish and potentially fatal to humans though the amount trapped in an aquarium at most would just make you feel naseuous. It's nothing to concern with when you keep the level of sand to below 2" deep. I have mine at 1.5" to be on the safe side.

Stirring the sand is just that, stirring it around. Either with your fingers or some kind of tool to move the sand so it's no longer compact and allowing gases to build up. Sand, unlike gravel can trap gas pockets by the way it settles on the tank but it's not common for those pockets to build up.

 

[DOLORES]

uuuh yeah got it perfectly this time! not delays on my mind! nope! nothin therrE! thanx again.... and again i ccant stop tellin you this sky, your sand its gorgeous keep posting progress photos

 

[Sky042]

uuuh yeah got it perfectly this time! not delays on my mind! nope! nothin therrE! thanx again.... and again i ccant stop tellin you this sky, your sand its gorgeous keep posting progress photos

well once my driftwood goes in It'll look better. I found a place that sells LARGE river rocks extremely cheap (as in 4 large rocks $1) gonna be a few of them in there. Right now I'm just trying to get it clear. Then I'll change the media a bit and start the fishless cycle. I'm hoping that with a culture from one of my other tanks it won't take too long. Problem is I've got a great biological filter on there (large wet/dry) but I need more mechanical filtration so I need to order a cannister filter but $$ is tight at the moment since I just spent a ton of money getting the oscar tank stuff and getting plants and fish for the 46G.

 

[DOLORES]

have my fingers crossed here , but it'll be ok i know...they ARE expensive but oh well can resist to tell you that it looks really good (i know i get really buggy dont i?)

 

[Sky042]

have my fingers crossed here , but it'll be ok i know...they ARE expensive but oh well can resist to tell you that it looks really good (i know i get really buggy dont i?)

just an FYI if you decide to go with the black and white sand route. First try finding a landscaping center for the play sand.

For your black sand I'll suggest ANYTHING other than the estes marine sand. This stuff was very fine and created sorta a black foam on the water which turned out to actually just be the sand itself. You can't rinse it like you would normal sand it's just too fine. I think the tahitian moon sand would be better.

 

[Teelie]

I've heard good things about Tahitian Moon Sand though it is a little on the expensive side.

 

[parker313]

Beautiful!! I have black and white gravel but this is gorgeous!

 

[konrad05]

Why didn't you just leave the play sand, black makes it look really artificial, especially with driftwood. I don't know, but I don't think that plants will look too good with black substrate. Oh well, good luck!

 

[Sky042]

Why didn't you just leave the play sand, black makes it look really artificial, especially with driftwood. I don't know, but I don't think that plants will look too good with black substrate. Oh well, good luck!

ever see the bottom of your average stream? The ones where I grew up look a lot like that. they have white sand with veins of black running in them. Far as I'm concerned it looks rather natural and stylish too!