# Black diamond sand



## Juggalosrh (Jan 28, 2012)

Ok so i have been doing research on black diamond sandblasting sand and have herd more good then bad. One post said that it could polute the air any one else herd that? I have my 125g tank in my bed room so that wouldnt be good.


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## rico334 (Dec 3, 2011)

I'll bet there's some study out there that says fresh air will pollute the air..... I just put a 40gal this past weekend using the black diamond 20-40 grit and love it. Just to be safe, I would put about 2 quarts of sand at a time in a 5 gal bucket and re-washed each load 4-5 times before putting it in the tank. Filled the tank with water and it had just a hint of cloudiness for 8-10 hours but the filter took that out pretty quick and since has been crystal clear. I think if there was any "pollution" to be worried about, you'd not be able to get clear water so soon. just my 2 cents worth.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

I have used black diamond several times. Works great. It is suggested not to breath the dust so either do your rinsing outside or in a well ventilated room.


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## Juggalosrh (Jan 28, 2012)

Thanks for your input, i am going to go for it


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## Juggalosrh (Jan 28, 2012)

Ok so i added the black diamond sand and rinsed it like crazy. But now i am noticing a black film around the top of the glass where the oily resadue was, is that normal?


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## rico334 (Dec 3, 2011)

same thing happened with mine, I thought I had just messed up putting the sand in my tank. I took my magnetic glass cleaner/scraper and worked it back and forth on the glass and it cleaned it right up and has been clean since. Only problem I've found now is that it's so light and small grained it's pretty fruitless to vacuum the bottom, all you do is suck up the sand......


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## Juggalosrh (Jan 28, 2012)

Thanks, seems to be very cloudy, more so then anything else i have put in a tank, is that normal for the start too


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## rico334 (Dec 3, 2011)

Yeah, mine had a haze to the water for the first 24hrs I guess, I'm running two HOB filters and by the end of that period, it had about 80% cleared up. I did a water change of about 50% the third or fourth day and it's been crystal clear since.


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## Juggalosrh (Jan 28, 2012)

Ok sweet thanks so much for the info


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## Juggalosrh (Jan 28, 2012)

Decided to drain the tank out to make sure the sand was as clean as possible, after filling it back up itmwas not nearly as cloudy as before but now the sand doesnt seem so black more grey, but if i stir up the sand it looks more black, then the top lauer settles agian and looks more grey


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## Juggalosrh (Jan 28, 2012)

Any ideas how to keep it more black


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## rico334 (Dec 3, 2011)

Mine is jet black with a few brown specks in the media but has stayed black and yeah, washing it in the beginning is the important part. Like I mentioned, I would put about 2-3 quarts of sand at a time in a 5 gal bucket and wash and drain it about 5 times before putting the media in the tank. 

The one thing I don't like about it is how fine it is.... it doesn't compact at all for putting plants in. Another problem I had was water changes with pouring new water in the tank, it would wash out real bad from the pouring. I solved this by creating my own invention for water changes. 

I went to harbor freight for $14 bucks and bought a small fountain pump, then to Lowes for 6 foot of 3/8" rubber hose. Hose and pump sit in a 5 gal bucket, on the other end of the hose that goes in the tank, I pieced together some PVC pipe, capped the end and then perforated the tube with a drill. I fill the 5 gal bucket with the new water, plug the pump in and in about minute, the pump has transferred the water to the tank where it gently flows out the perforated holes and doesn't mess up the gravel. I just stand there with another bucket of water feeding the one the pump is in and I can do a 50% water change in my 40 gal tank in about 5 minutes.


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## rico334 (Dec 3, 2011)

Here's the setup I built for doing water changes. I can drain and then refill 25 gal in about 5 minutes and no mess.


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