pool filter sand? what the heck are u people talkin about?

[mr funktastic]

ok my question is what is this stuff? does it come in different colours? where do you buy it? oes anyone have a pic of what it looks like? am i the only person who hasnt seen this stuff before? lol

 

[manoosie]

call up your local construction or pool company. Sometimes Home depot carries it as well. I am nto sure if it comes in different colors or not. People like it becuase its very thin and clean looking. I use 3m color quartz sand and its great.

 

[mr funktastic]

do you have a pic of it? is it shaped in more of a rice shape or is it like tiny grains of sand?

 

[20 20]

I just bought some today, at, of all places, a pool supply store!

I washed it well, and then put it in my tank (a 29 gallon) that I'm setting up. No water yet, that'll come tomorrow.

Here's a couple of pictures of the tank with the sand, but no water. First one no flash, second one with flash ( a bit blurry):

 

[krap101]

pool filter sand is pretty much silica. (i think) playsand is mainly silica with some tiny rock and stuff

 

[mr funktastic]

ok that kinda helps lol. how much does it cost? does this stuff cluod your water?

 

[coolchinchilla]

I bought 50 pounds at a whirlpool/spa store for about $8. I haven't put it in yet but I understand that it is good to rinse it thoroughly before you put it in the tank. It will cloud up but it will settle fairly quickly.

HTH.
coolchinchilla

 

[krap101]

i got around 50 lbs of silica. it was called handysand. i tried washing it but nothing came out. so when i tried putting some in without washing it, it didnt cloud.

but im pretty sure the pool filter sand should cloud for a lil while

 

[Devilishturtles]

Actually, pool filter sand is good because it does
NOT contain silica. You do not want a silicate based sand for your tank. Other than buying aquarium sand, most other sand (like playsand, for example) contain silicates, and sometimes other nasties. So, if you want sand for you tank you can either buy pool filter sand, or a sand called Southdown, that can be found at Home Depot. Both are silicate free, and rather cheap compared to normal aquarium sand.

 

[Andos99]

I have about 70 pounds of pool filter sand in my 50 gal. I bought it at my local pool supply store and it was called exactly that...."Pool Filter Sand". It was about 8-9 bucks for a 50 lb bag. Make sure you rinse it really well before use as it comes very dusty. As far as I know it only comes in one color. It sort of looks and feels like real sand off the beach. I'm a big fan of it.

 

[20 20]

Instructions on how to wash pool filter sand:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/cleaning_sand.php

I did that, took no more than 5 minutes for the one bucket I rinsed.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Pool filter sand comes in white/tan and red. I just bought a 50 lb bag for $10. That's very cheap compared to the lfs sand. Mine didn't cloud at all when I first put it into the tanks. It's a heavier sand which is why it is preferred over lfs sand. I have bought two different brands of it. The first one is a really white pure looking sand. The second brand has a mix of white and red and black. The red and black are just peppered. It's mainly white. I think it looks very natural. I have some pics in my gallery of the sanded tanks.

 

[Zagz]

I just purchased 150 lbs of pool filter sand. It is dark brown like playsand with specks or red and black. I really like it.

 

[20 20]

Just filled my 29 gallon, not one hint of cloudiness. Washed the sand yesterday, and put it in the empty tank. Filled it today. Put a plate in the bottom, and poured the water on the plate. Nothing got 'brought up' out of the sand, perfectly clear. When I get batteries for my camera, I'll post a pic.

 

[cplawrence]

As someone had mentioned southdown sand, I thought I would suggest that you actually want to avoid that. It will raise the pH of the water quite a bit. I searched around for a while for pool filter sand. Then I came by a pool/spa shop and they had it for $8 for 50 lbs.

 

[krap101]

hey so.. wait whats wrong with silica?

 

[20 20]

Pics of my 29 gallon I just filled with water today, with the pool filter sand:

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Looks great 20 20. The lava rocks really contrast with the color of the sand and it looks nice.

 

[RoK]

Looks cool. What kind of fish is that in there?

 

[20 20]

It's an African cichlid, Copadichromis borleyi (Red Fin Borleyi). It's a female that has been holding for a couple of weeks, so this morning I set up the 29 and put her in it until she spits her fry. Well, tonight I take a look at her, and see her spit two fry out (or they just swam out). She chased em' down until she caught them and sucked them back in her mouth. I don't know how many fry she has, or when she'll spit them all out, but I can't wait to see. Normally with Africans you have a whole lot more rock that what's in this tank, but it's only for raising the fry, so I wasn't so worried about it.