Black Sand?

[Goodygumdrops]

Hmm,I'd worry about my cories if I had crushed glass.

 

[MermaidMel]

Hmm,I'd worry about my cories if I had crushed glass.

Don't worry!
Had a convo with dudes at LFS, who I'v known many years and have a great relationship with, the glass is so fine, its like sand, there are no sharp edges at all. Ordered 3 bags, put it this way, if I open a bag and feel its sharp, I will take it back, but I do trust what they said - they know I'll touch it, so have no reason to lie!

 

[Gemmylou]

Pets at home do black sand retailing at about £5 a bag. Its a brand called roman gravel but i actually sand

 

[Schmill]

With the crushed glass, I'd be tempted to feel some of it first, make sure it's not sharp. If it doesn't feel sharp then shove your hand into the bag and give it a good rummage around, take hand out, (presuming the glass is smooth enough that you still have a hand ), and then wash your hand a wait a day or so to see if you get a rash or anything from it. If not then it's probably fine for the cories. Only thing that makes me say this is you probably know how nice and soft that glass fibre loft insulation is, but you handle it with bare hands and you'll know about it a day later with the itching.
Personally I hope it is fine, as it sounds like a cost effective alternative for the aquarium

 

[Goodygumdrops]

I'd be a bit concerned with them ingesting it too.It probably will be safe,dunno though,may be worth finding out if anyone else on here has used it.

 

[Syphoniera]

I'd kind of worry about them blowing it out through their gills.
Do all types of cories tend to do that, or some more than others?

 

[loachman]

3M colorquartz is the best bang for the buck.

It's a product made for putting color into swimming pool bottoms primarily and comes in 50 lb bags (there may be a smaller size bag as well, I forget).

Get the spherical grade.

It's perfectly round, has a very tight particle size, will not mess with water quality, I think it's more dense than sand (it doesn't blow around much), comes in multiple color possibilities, doesn't really compact like sand can (because of the very small variation in particle size), and is/was much cheaper than Tahitian moon sand.

Drawbacks are that you'll need to rinse it pretty good as the black has some dust that comes off and last I saw it's sold in the US only.

I've had it in my tank for about 2 years with no problems and good plant growth (with simpler plants and root tabs).

It was about $22 for 50 lbs IIRC.

 

[MermaidMel]

Well this stuff is aquatic so I'm sure it been taken into account but obviously I would rummage my hand around in it first