I've been reading on here that certain white sands have pH buffering qualities. I am planning to switch to the black Tahitian Moon Sand that Drs F&S have, for my display tank. I know a lot of people don't like the black sand because it doesn't help control pH. If I have white aragonite sand in my fuge, my system should still benefit from its buffering qualities, correct?
Sand and pH Question
- Thread starter Ithaca9
- Start date
yote
In Memoriam
It should.
But really and truely,the sands not going to do a whole lot of buffering unless the PH of the water drops below 7.5-7.0.If that happens,it aint gonna matter no way because everything in the tanks is going to be dead.
But really and truely,the sands not going to do a whole lot of buffering unless the PH of the water drops below 7.5-7.0.If that happens,it aint gonna matter no way because everything in the tanks is going to be dead.
dcantucson
Reef pro
Ithaca9
I have several unopened bags of the Tahitian Black sand. Maybe we could work out a deal to save you some money and get these bags outta my storage space!
This is the stuff:
Carib Sea Black Tahitian Moon Sand 20 Lbs. at Big Al's Online
I have several unopened bags of the Tahitian Black sand. Maybe we could work out a deal to save you some money and get these bags outta my storage space!
This is the stuff:
Carib Sea Black Tahitian Moon Sand 20 Lbs. at Big Al's Online
tankedchemist
Reef enthusiast
why didn;t you use the sand, dcan? I'm considering using black in my big tank when I finally get it started...
Wes888
Reef enthusiast
I wonder how it looks. Probably it would mask any dirt and stuff left on the sand. :D
tankedchemist
Reef enthusiast
that's exactly what I was thinking, wes. Though maybe it's just like darkly colored carpet, and you end up just seeing the white crud instead of dirt... :P
Last edited:
yote
In Memoriam
In the tanks I've seen with black sand,its actually looks pretty dang good.But it does make the tank look darker because it dont reflect the light back up.
tankedchemist
Reef enthusiast
ohhh, right. good point yote. dang... that'd make keeping some of my favorite corals harder. hmmm maybe I'll do half black and half wait
dcantucson
Reef pro
I had it in both my tanks. It is very striking and makes everything pop. The only negative is you have to pick up the little pieces of rock or the stand out in the sand. It doesn't reflect light like yote said, but that didn't ever bother me. I have 6 - 20lb bags unopened if anybody wants some PM me.
Okay why did I want to change it? It's a bit of a controversy, but I hated the fact that I could vacuum it, even though your not suppose to. I wanted something that wasn't fine sand and could be cleaned once every 6 months or so. What I went with is a product by the name of Red Sea Base and it is working very well so far. However I have only had it about 3 months now. Here's a link to it:
Aquarium Substrate: Red Sea Reef Base at Drs. Foster and Smith
Okay why did I want to change it? It's a bit of a controversy, but I hated the fact that I could vacuum it, even though your not suppose to. I wanted something that wasn't fine sand and could be cleaned once every 6 months or so. What I went with is a product by the name of Red Sea Base and it is working very well so far. However I have only had it about 3 months now. Here's a link to it:
Aquarium Substrate: Red Sea Reef Base at Drs. Foster and Smith
sen5241b
Reef enthusiast
If I read this right, aragonite will dissolve to some extent in a typical reef tank (pg 30, "Aragonite")
Marine Reef Aquarium Handbook - Google Books
I assume it won't dissolve as fast as the media in a calcium reactor.
Marine Reef Aquarium Handbook - Google Books
I assume it won't dissolve as fast as the media in a calcium reactor.
ccCapt
Reef Hacker
Chemistry and The Aquarium by Randy Holmes-Farley
"...aragonite first becomes soluble in seawater when the pH drops below about 7.7 (this value might be more like 7.5-7.7 in reef tanks where the alkalinity is often higher than in seawater). That level is attained in some sand beds, and permits the dissolution of some of the sand.
"...aragonite first becomes soluble in seawater when the pH drops below about 7.7 (this value might be more like 7.5-7.7 in reef tanks where the alkalinity is often higher than in seawater). That level is attained in some sand beds, and permits the dissolution of some of the sand.
The rate of dissolution is fairly low, however, because the rate of delivery and degradation of organics (or certain nitrogen compounds) deep enough in the sand to permit a pH drop is fairly low. The rate will, however, vary from tank to tank as the different ways of delivering organics to deeper parts of the sand will vary (diffusion; movement by organisms; death of organisms, etc). Note that the need to oxidize the organics in deeper parts of the sand to permit dissolution of the sand has nothing to do with the oxygenation of the sand. It has more to do with the fact that at near surface regions of the sand, the pH will be closer to that of the tank water by acid and base transfer from the water column, and you need to be deep enough to permit a lower pH to become established."
