advice on sand

[jwh0818]

So I want sand in my tank and I was wondering if I could use sand blasting sand. Its black and there is an option between fine grain and medium grain. What would be best

 

[GodFan]

I have never tried it myself but Ive heard it is ok. I would go with the largest grain I could find. I have PFS and it is large enough that my gravel vac doesnt suck it out of the tank.

 

[maxwellag]

As long as the sand is larger grained (coarse), then you should be fine. Pool filter sand also works.

 

[jwh0818]

But pfs is not black. Sand blasting sand is black

 

[maxwellag]

But pfs is not black. Sand blasting sand is black

They make black pfs too...

 

[GodFan]

They make black pfs too...

Do they really? Thats nice to know. I might want black sand one day and I love PFS.

 

[Nu-Nu the eel]

You should get eco gravel. It is a little bigger than sand and is very good for growing plants in! My plants have grown abt a foot sence i got them 2 weeks ago

 

[CleverBs]

Dont use blasting sand it will hurt the fishes gills, because its extremely sharp

 

[BillD]

PFS is also sharp. i have been using black blasting sand for a while in #20 grit which is the same as PFS. I also have a bag of #12 which is coarser and I think I will like better.

 

[Terrance]

I use Spectra's sand. There are a bunch of color and size options, including black.

No rinsing required; just dump it into your tank with NO CLOUDING.
No worries about it hurting your fish.
Comes in 50lb bags, enough to fill the bottom of four 29g tanks.
It won't get sucked up by your gravel vac if you keep moving the siphon.
It won't get sucked up by your filter.

I bought red and now want purple.

 

[NoMoreGoldFish]

I'm using black beauty sand (black blasting sand), and there's no damage whatsoever to my albino corydoras' barbels.

 

[jetajockey]

They make black pfs too...

Who makes black PFS? What would be the purpose? Given it's original intended purpose I don't think they'd be too concerned about coloring the sand.



3m Colorquartz is another good one, but becoming difficult to find. I've heard that the black beauty sandblasting grit stuff works well, but I don't know if I'm o.k. with putting iron slag or coal slag, whichever it is, in my tanks.

Here's a link I found when researching substrates, for me, I'll pay the extra couple of dollars and have a better idea of what I'm putting in there.

Snippet from
http://www.nstcenter.com/writeup.as...sting&page=TechResourcesAbrasiveBlasting.html

Black Beauty abrasives are made from crushed liquid coal slag from utility boilers. The abrasive contains iron (Fe), Aluminum (Al), Magnesium (Mg) and Calcium (Ca).

 

[maxwellag]

Who makes black PFS? What would be the purpose? Given it's original intended purpose I don't think they'd be too concerned about coloring the sand.

3m Colorquartz is another good one, but becoming difficult to find. I've heard that the black beauty sandblasting grit stuff works well, but I don't know if I'm o.k. with putting iron slag or coal slag, whichever it is, in my tanks.

Here's a link I found when researching substrates, for me, I'll pay the extra couple of dollars and have a better idea of what I'm putting in there.

Snippet from
http://www.nstcenter.com/writeup.aspx?title=Abrasive%20Blasting&page=TechResourcesAbrasiveBlasting.html

I don't remember, I saw it a while ago for sale online... I guess maybe it was different sand that can aslo be used 4 pool filters.

 

[NoFishingAllowed]

I want sand for my new tank and I just called the lfs to see what they carry and they said "We have a variety of aquarium sands" Is this ok?

 

[GodFan]

I want sand for my new tank and I just called the lfs to see what they carry and they said "We have a variety of aquarium sands" Is this ok?

It should be but it is sure to be overpriced. PFS from a pool supply or regular hardware store is awesome! usually less than 10 bucks for a 50 lb bag. Just rinse it really good.