UGF or no UGF

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funny, pool filter sand is cheap and is silica like the pricey sand you were pushing..have you made a decision about using a undergravel filter yet? reverse flow ugf ? what was gonna be in this tank?
 
It also doesn't have color options.

That is true, all you have is shades of natural colors with PFS.

There are many variables involving algae that I think it would be hard to point to the sand as a culprit. I mean, it's inert. Just the other day I remember someone thinking that their tahitian moon sand was responsible for the black beard algae growth on their bogwood.... they thought it had to be the sand because that was the only difference between the tanks. Of course, no 2 tanks are the same.
 
Silica is not inert though and can increase the silicates in the water, allowing for a brown algae bloom.
 
Correct. Calcium based sands will increase KH/pH. Silica based sand's only threat is silicates. Obviously it isn't likely to happen in a given tank, but it does happen.
 
Whatever sand you are using, it needs to be coarse, not fine sand. If I remember correctly, pool filter sand is fine sand. It is coarser than play sand, but still too fine to use in an aquarium. If you can find a silica sand that is cheap and coarse, then use it. I still would recommend gravel in the .5mm-to-5mm range, but if you are committed to using sand, use the coarser grades.
 
The 3 different brands of pool filter sand I have are all the coarsest of the 6 different sands I have. The other 3 are aquarium specific sands.
 
If that is so, and they are coarse sands, then you are golden, and there should be no problem. Most sand that I have seen used for pools was quite fine. Maybe not as fine as play sand, but still too fine for an aquarium.
 
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