Safe types of sandblasting sand.

[Oneiroid]

I have been hearing some really great reviews about sandblasting sand as an aquarium substrate and would very much like to give it a try.

I am looking for a darker sand (dark grey or almost black), but with all the sand variants, I am not sure what would be safe.

There is an Edmonton sandblasting company which sells many types of the sand media which I am looking to buy from. Here is a link to thier list of media types:

http://www.manusabrasive.com/menu/media.htm

If anyone could tell me which of these would be safe in an aquarium, I would be most greatful. Or, any other suggestions about sandblasting sand from other establishments (in Edmonton) would be great too.

Thanks!

[HOSStile]

The stuff I use as do a few other members is the silica sand which is light/medium brown and very clean in water. Looking at your guide the "Black Beauty" coal slag stuff looks promising because it claims to be relatively dust free and chemically inert,and it is black. If someone has tried the coal slag sand could they let us know.

[Oneiroid]

Ok... I was at DAD's this afternoon and asked Henry about sandblasting sand. He said that he didn't have any experience with it himself, but as long as the material is glass or silicone, it should be ok. He instead offered that playsand was a good bet... but from what I've read here, playsand is not ideal.

Henry did suggest, however, that I go talk to the Target Product people in Morinville (North of St. Albert). Here is thier website: http://www.targetproducts.com/facilities/morinville.htm. Apparently this is a supplier Henry has used for quite some time for his pond projects. He mentioned that they may even be able to recommend some of their products for aquarium use in particular.

I think I will take a little field trip out to Morinville by the end of this week or this weekend. I will report back what I find.

[Garhan]

Most sandblasting wholesalers, distributors and end users in Alberta purchase there product from Target. With each and every product any of these companies sell, the product is accompanied with a WHMIS report. On the WHIMS data sheet you will find all the information and then some that you are looking for with respect to inert product, ph , weight, etc...

I personally have purchased from Dad's, Silica Sand in the past (Target Product) at 10.00 per bag. Which is a fair price. But I also purchased the same product at 7.00/bag. Several years ago. Not that Dads shouldnt make a living and it is very good to purchase from your LFS of choice. But I choose to go more direct for the same product because I purchased a very large volume and I saved myself 70.00 dollars (almost)

Garhan

[DCallele]

I forget all the things that are in coal slag but I remember being scared off when I was looking into it. Plus, it is often *very* sharp which may not be what you are looking for.

David

[dunl]

Coal slag is actually iron, if I remember correctly. As my cichlids like to sift sand through their gills looking for food scraps, it will never be in my fish tanks.

[HOSStile]

Thanks, just curious because it is black which would look cool.

[dunl]

Here's a scary quote from another website:

>I used a black sand called something like Marvel black beauty.

>It was very high in Fe and was highly magnetic. It was also very

>sharp. A little piece stuck to a magnetic scraper would scratch

>the glass. It also found its way into small crevices in plants

>and damaged them.

>

>I finally quit using it after an autopsy showed it had shredded

>the inside of a fish. Other than the sharpness and magnetism,

>it was great.

Yikes.

[RD.]

The biggest problem with sandblasting sand, is that the quantity of impurities will vary from source to soucre, as well as possibly even from batch to batch.

Personally I would never use it, but that's just MHO.

[Vallisneria]

What kind of impurities are we talking about?

[RD.]

That would depend on the slag, but for a starter heavy metals such as copper, iron, etc. These mediums are not made for aquarium use, so it's not like they have any quality control for any type of impurities, or substances that may be toxic to fish, be it even exhaust fumes from the trucks that it's loaded into.

Here's a brief example of how coal slag is produced.

http://www.netl.doe.gov/publications/press...thsteelrpt.html

The slag, containing most of the impurities from the raw materials, is skimmed from the molten pig iron and used as aggregate for road fill or cement manufacture. Thus the sulfur introduced by the direct injection of coal in the Blast Furnace Granular Coal Injection process becomes a constituent of a useful by-product.

Edited July 29, 2005 by RD.