Ned help with new line of Fresh water substrates from CaribSea

[RuGlu6]

Hey guys,
I am setting up a small FW cube, and wanted to go with a black sand for a long time so shopped around and could Not find SeaChem Fluorite Black Sand anywhere (Big Al's, KingEd J&L).

So end up buying a new CaribSea super Natural Tahitian Moon black sand From KingEd. $29.99 for a 20lb bag.
But before opening the bag i realized that the bag is generic for 8 different substrates in this line.
Now on the web page it states that it is Not suitable for plants !

However if you click on the catalog (bottom right PDF) page 13 (super naturals) it shows that Tahitian Moon coded: B, F, P & SI:
Codes are on the page 1 of the PDF catalog
B- Bio magnet
F- Fresh water
P- Planted
Si- Sifter Friendly.

So P=OK for plants!
I am a little confused now is it or is it not good for plants?

I know they offer a Eco-complete Planted on page 12 but i wanted smaller particle size and also when i touched the bag of the Eco-Complete at Big Al's the grains were big and had very sharp edges... thats why i went with sand.

And last but not the least i ran a magnet over the bag and this staff is magnetic(!?) what!

It's hard to see because particle size is like 0.1 to 0.3 mm, but could this be iron or what? I know chelated iron is good for FW plants but ...is it magnetic lava?
Well anyhow i wonder if any of you have an opinion on this issue?
especially on the magnetic property of it. Is it not suppose to be chelated iron only ?
thx

[RuGlu6]

e-mailed manufacturer last night

[RuGlu6]

here is the reply from CaribSea, and BTW they fixed an error on the web site as well.:
Answers:

TM is fine for planted tanks and is in fact very similar to some other materials such as 3Ms color quartz.



Yes it’s magnetic – it has large amounts of iron in it. It’s basically hematite.



I’m sure when the budget allows our little company to spring for new bags this is one we will change. Till then we – like everyone else have to make do and explain ourselves I guess.



Thanks,

Jud McCracken

Sales Manager, North America

CaribSea, Inc.

772-461-1113 ext 14

jud@caribsea.com


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Sent: Sunday, February 21, 2010 3:10 AM
To: tech@caribsea.com
Subject: please, I Need Support



Good morning,
I purchased a bag of CaribSea super Natural Tahitian Moon black sand and found that there is a controversial information about it on the web site.
On the web page http://www.caribsea.com/pages/products/super_nat.html in super natural section it is posted as Not suitable for planted aquariums.
But in the catalog on page 13 of the PDF Black Tahitian sand has "P" in the description which = to "Planted".
I know you offer a Eco-complete Planted on page 12 but i wanted smaller particle size that's why i went with sand.

Also when i ran a magnet over the unopened bag of sand I found it to be magnetic ?.

So basically i have two questions and a comment.
Comment:
Please make it more clear especially on the bag what substrate is inside because without visiting CaribSea web site it is hard to comprehend what particular substrate is good for.

Questions:
1- Is CaribSea super Natural Tahitian Moon black sand good for planted tanks or not?
2- (very important) Can you please explain magnetic properties of this substrate?


Looks like i may have to return this product and go with SeaChem black sand instead at least they make it clear on every bag what's inside unlike CaribSea which has a generic bag for 8 different substrates !


Thank you.
And hope to hear from you soon.