# Group Black Sand Order



## Rob Tetrazona (Jun 21, 2005)

Fellow Club Members,

Some of us have been talking about how much we like the 3M Colorquartz T-Grade from the original black sand order that it seems appropriate to see if there is any interest in placing another order.

Here's what it cost us the first time around:

Click on the "Sand" tab at the bottom left.

1/2 a ton would cost roughly $550.00. That's $19 or less for 50lbs.

I like the look of it so much that I'm going to replace the gravel in all of my smaller (<75) tanks with it.

Here's some shots:

Pic #1
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Pic #5


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## J.Sipes (Jul 7, 2004)

Has anyone experienced the sand settling down into the soilmaster?? I am debating if I want to cover my Turface MVP with this or If I am gonna grab a bag of Fourite... I have a soil base under the MVP and I do not like the results the MVP gives me to control the soil from seeping out when I trim plants... I get a nice discount on the Flourite at work and one bag should be all I need...or 20lbs of sand,just enough to give another 1" on top of what I have....


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

Rob and Damon would know best, but the smaller particle, in this case snad, will always work it's way to the bottom. The sand would also be denser so I would say it definately will work it's way below Soilmaster, Turface, or Eco Complete. I'm not sure about the Flourite but I would say yes on that too 

I would think the Flourite would sink in the Turface too due to its weight but that is just a WAG.


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## J.Sipes (Jul 7, 2004)

I am not really worried about it making is way down, just want something else to cover the soil that is heavier than the MVP,that stuff is really light,IMO, and I am tired of trimming plants and getting Algae outbreaks afterwords. My only debat is if I want the added nutrients the Flourite adds and almost blends with the MVP or the inert sand. Since I am more of a Low-tech plant keeper the flourite works great in my tanks and Have grown a ton of plants in it in the past. I have also tossed up just dosing more traces,but I go out of town every year for a week on Vaca. so the added traces in the Flourite will help there as well.. I guess being kinda low-tech and the first substrate I used being flourite and the almost effortless work to supply traces kinda sticks with me...Plus in the spring through fall I am super busy with sports I can't keep up with the dosing and higher tech tanks.
I know the sand will go to good use, if I get it, in some of my other tanks and it looks better for some fish than the Poolfilter sand,more expensive but makes some fish look alot better.....

Thanks for the input Matt


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

I don't think Flourite really adds much in the way of nutrients with the exception of iron and it has a very low CEC, which is something you should look into for a low tech tank. Here is a link that compares Flourite and Turface, along with a bunch of other substrates: http://home.infinet.net/teban/jamie.htm

Even the Natural River Rock, next to Flourite in the chart, betters it in almost every mineral tested. What Flourite does have going for it is weight, though the River Rock may be just as good in the weight department  Flourite would also blend pretty well with the color of the Turface where the River Rock may not. Since you alredy have the Turface in the tank, that will help with the CEC, unless you planned on removing it.

High tech tanks are not for everyone as you mentioned. They require a lot of work, expecially if you have multiple tanks, and that's something folks with children may not have time for! I love my low tech tank and keep thinking about converting a couple of my high light tanks to lower tech for just the reasons you mentioned. In a low tech tank, you should be able to add micros once a week or so and not have to worry about dosing them so much. Same would go with macros if you want to add them. Since having the baby, I really like the idea of going low tech 

Tom's article on low tech tanks, http://www.barrreport.com/forums/showthread.php?t=395 is a good read and worth looking into for those doing low tech tanks. I like not having to do water changes on my 10g tank and having to prune much less often.

If you don't like the wieght issues of the Turface, use some sand to cap the soil and then use Flourite or plan old gravel on top of that. The sand should have enough weight to keep the soil down (except when uprooting plants) and minimize leakage into the water column. If you're gonna use sand with Flourite over it, regular pool filter sand would work just fine and would be a lot cheaper  The black sand really makes the plants "pop" and does the same with some fish.

Hopefully Sean can pop in here and give us that link to the Cichlid site where they use the 3M sand. That would be a good link for the folks at GCAS to look over!


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## Simpte 27 (Jul 16, 2004)

I would have to agree wholely with what Matt said. As far as the 2 mixing, they do a little. Adding the sand makes the Soilmaster really show its lack of "black". Doesn't look bad but its not like using onyx sand alone. The 3m sand is a nice rich black so you may want to use a 60/40% sand/soilmaster vs a 50/50 mix.


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## Rob Tetrazona (Jun 21, 2005)

When I pull rooted plants out of the substrate, soilmaster gets pulled up with the roots and makes it's way to the top. Other than that, the sand does a good job of keeping the lighter in weight soilmaster down. The soilmaster will get vacuumed up easier than the sand. The sand is actually pretty dense for it's small size.


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## J.Sipes (Jul 7, 2004)

MatPat said:


> I don't think Flourite really adds much in the way of nutrients with the exception of iron and it has a very low CEC, which is something you should look into for a low tech tank.


Hmmm...According to Seachem the Flourite has alot moe than just iron,I forget the levels of all the other stuff but Iron was the highest... I know the CEC is not the best and the Turface makes up for that... I am on the fence with this one,Flourite at work with the discount is a under $15 and you are right it will blend in alot better and I like the more natural brown look they have. The black sand does make fish stand out and is a nice contrast to the greens of most plants...


> High tech tanks are not for everyone as you mentioned. They require a lot of work, expecially if you have multiple tanks, and that's something folks with children may not have time for! I love my low tech tank and keep thinking about converting a couple of my high light tanks to lower tech for just the reasons you mentioned. I really like the idea of going low tech


I agree totally...Low tech is so much easier in alot of respects and can be just as stunning as alot of the High tech tanks.. It makes it nice for on the run gardeners that cannot dedicate all the prunning and maintance time, and as you all know miss a week of ferts at 180 watts on a 40 long and algae will command the tank  Not that it cannot be turned around but that is a day you have to dedicate to the tank that you may not have the time for...

Sorry to have semi-hijacked the thread... I know I am in for at least 50#'s maybe the 100,for some smaller tanks that I have....


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## Simpte 27 (Jul 16, 2004)

I'll take another bag to help out.


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## ctmpwrdcamry (May 23, 2005)

Matt asked me to post this. This is the original link I found regarding the 3M being used.

http://cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=43290&sid=7ffa6290d20b6003fe9e14a49b94ae4c

Looks popular, its gone from being in ther archives to being a sticky/


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

Thanks Sean!


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## ctmpwrdcamry (May 23, 2005)

Not a problem. Sorry it took a few days, been scaterbrained.


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## molurus73 (Apr 15, 2005)

I will take some. It seems that there will be 200 lbs left over. I will take 100 of it. I can paypal the money as soon as we hear the totals.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

I added you to the list Jim.


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