# Black Beauty



## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

I guess ideas run in cycles with aquariums.... I was at a local landscape/ builders supply today looking for scaping materials and black sand. The only black sand they have, or get, is Black Beauty. Now a search of the Krib yields that it is a derivative of coal slag, high in Fe and often used as a sandblasting grit. It is pretty fine, although not as fine as some of the stuff in Onyx but sounds like it might be a little sharp, especially if you have fish that dig, or corys. I am looking for something to cut Eco-Complete with to save money and mostly to add weight to the Eco. I fond it can be a little light and some plants can be quite annoying to plant in Eco.

Are there any hobbyists still using Black Beauty? What have been your experiences?
I have heard bad things like, it can breakdown and form hydrogen sulfide, but only read that from one source...true?
Just how heavy is it in comparison to Eco or Onyx.

Lastly, does anyone have a better idea for a black/dark product I can use? Something a little coarser than the Black Beauty would be nice, inert and available in the Massachusetts area. Any help would be GREAT!. 

Thanks


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## neonfish3 (Feb 12, 2004)

Hi Dennis:My very first post here on APC was about Black Beauty!
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/showthread.php?t=272

I use it and love it. Its just like sand. I haven't had any of the problems that have been associated with it. Its hasn't changed any of my water parameters at all. The plants seem to love it.
2.5 gallon








7 gallon









Both of these tanks are with Black Beauty. The 7 gallon does have a 1/2" of dirt on the bottom though.
If your using with a lighter product like ecocomplete, I think it would eventually sift down to the bottom of the tank. I don't have it very deep in either tank(2" max). I haven't had any Corrie's or other gravel sifting fish, so I don't know about it damaging them.

Steve T.


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

How would you compare it weight wise, and plant holding ability wise, with comercial substrates like Eco and Onyx? Which grade did you use? How long have the tanks been setup? Thanks Steve!


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## neonfish3 (Feb 12, 2004)

dennis said:


> How would you compare it weight wise, and plant holding ability wise, with comercial substrates like Eco and Onyx? Which grade did you use? How long have the tanks been setup? Thanks Steve!


 I haven't used Eco or Onyx so I'm not sure how it compares. Its the easiest substrate to plant in that I've used. Hair grass, glosso stay put when planting. Plant holding ability is great. I would say I have the fine grade not ultra fine. A good place to find the product( and many other similar, granite, garnet etc.) is at tool rental stores. If they rent sand blasters, they sell different kinds of grit.
The longest I've used it in a tank has been about a year.

Steve T.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

I wish Black Beauty came in bigger size. Few months ago I looked for black inert substrate and saw this material in a sandblasting shop. A research on the net showed that it should be fine to use but its composition varies depending on the source from which it was collected. Some batches may contain dangerous molecules (heavy metals, Mercury, and even be carcinogenic). That stopped me from trying it.

--Nikolay


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## cS (Jan 27, 2004)

Dennis and niko,

Black Beauty (a.k.a Black Magnum) comes in several sizes: Utility Grade, Medium Grade, Fine Grade, and Extra Fine Grade. The Fine Grade (2040) is the size of Tahitian Moon Sand and is larger than the smallest grains in Onyx Sand. The Medium Grade (1240) is "just right" IMHO. It is neither too fine nor too large. I've been using a mixture of the Fine and Medium grades. No ill effects as far as I can tell.

It is very inexpensive. Look under the "sandblasting" section of the yellow pages for companies carrying this product. If so, then they will most likely carry them in a variety of sizes. The finer the grain, the less expensive it is. _*Please do not buy sandblasting products that are labeled as "used" because they will most likely contain toxic amounts of pollution from whatever application they were originally used for.*_


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

cS,

I was just making my way here to report exactly what you just told us Thanks. I stopped on my way home today and bought a bag of Medium, 100lbs for $11. This size is definately bigger than most of the particles of Onyx and will definately work nicely. I tried rinsing a bit of it and it seems cleaner than Onyx, Flourite or many of the other products out there. Weight wise.....just for curiosity sake, I measured equal volumes of Black Beauty and Onyx sand. A 30ml Nyquil cup (it was on my desk)- B Beauty, 58.4grams Onyx 51.3 grams and the Onyx is damp. It looks basically the same as Tahatian moon sand to me, the although I know it is probably a different material.


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## TripleC (Mar 11, 2005)

Dennis,

Your original post was about combining/adding weight to your Eco as well. I am interested in the same idea...I wanted to use the Eco (which I already have and is quite expensive!) as a base and put a more fine, aesthetic, and "more plantable" sand as a top layer. Let us know if you actually try this and what success you have with keeping the eco down. Hopefully it will work out so that it doen't sift to the bottom.

Chris


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