Hey y'all! After seeing some other people's beautiful tanks with black sand, I am thinking about mixing some in with my white sand. How much do I need to put in to create the darkening effect for my fish (meaning making my fish's colors richer/darker)? Also what is the best brand for black sand?
Thank you in advance!
The more black you add gives you a gritty, volcanic island look. 50/50 gives texture. More white gives accent depth.
Another option is blending sand with gravel. I've done that on the 125 with great effect. The sand gives smooth color /depth and the gravel adds texture and interest. So say you have
70% white sand
15% black gravel
15% brown gravel
Or you could flip for a different effect without the gloom of black sand
50% black sand
25% white gravel
25% brown gravel
OR
40% black sand
40% gray gravel
20% brown gravel
I would get small bags and experiment with mixtures before committing. A warning about solid black sand...the bigger the tank, the darker it gets! And it will swallow up light from your fixtures.
Same thing with solid white sand but opposite...in larger tanks it becomes blinding and flat, stressing fish. Like starring at a strobe light. Led's will hurt your eyes. Poop and algae won't be flattering.
Either extreme looks pretty unnatural anyway. Even black sand beaches have bits of coral, agate, and volcanic gray rock.