Glass (not sand) Pool Filter Media for substrate ?

[kiddamiankitkat]

Hello, I have a query, one that may be slightly silly but you never know till you ask. I know theres a lot of talk of Pool filter sand used in aquariums, however my question is whether the glass filter media used as a more eco friendly replacement for pool filter sand can be used in an aquarium? Its basically sharp free crushed glass and you can get it in varying grades/sizes. The only info i could find on it used in aquariums was from this article and it seemed to be fine:

Sands from the Hourglass | Can recycled glass be used to replenish Florida’s beaches?

And if anyones wondering about the actual glass media:

Poolcure and commercial pool chemicals - Total Pool Chemicals

Sorry if this has been mentioned before i have looked to see if i could find any more info but its all related to actual pool filter sand and not this glass replacement.

Thanks

Kind regards Wayne

 

[DragonFish71]

Even though you stated it's "sharp free" that would still be a concern for me with some species of fish. It doesn't take much for a cory cat to lose a whisker, or a cichlid to cut their mouth digging.

 

[kiddamiankitkat]

Thats a good point about the bottom dwellers thanks for the reply

 

[DragonFish71]

Welcome. That was the only issue I could think of, otherwise the stuff looks really cool. I could see using it for a school of tetras.

 

[kiddamiankitkat]

Most def, I think it would be great for other tanks setups but it could be risky with the bottom dwellers. Thanks again

 

[Mark Hewitt]

Glass is just treated sand anyway?!

 

[mfdrookie516]

Glass is just treated sand anyway?!

and sand is just glass that hasnt been made

 

[BigJim]

Grind some of the glass sand between your palms. If it doesn't feel sharp, go ahead and use it.

 

[AdamHorton]

For the longest time I used those colored glass stones you're supposed to put as decorations in a jar or maybe for house plants. I used them in my 10G for about a year, but the only picture I can find right now is on facebook when I had a bowl with GloFish (I know, I know, I didn't know any better back then). You don't have to be my friend or anything to see it (but feel free to friend-request me if you want). Here's the link:

Login | Facebook

It made the tank look awesome for about a week and a half, and then it got dirty and maintenance was a real pain. I had to take all the rocks out and scrub them just to get it to look good again. It stressed my fish out every week or two, but it gave me lots of options for different color combinations and stone sizes (and I didn't have to worry about sharp edges). Also, for some colors of stones, after a couple times cleaning them the color would start to flake off, sometimes in the tank when the fish were there.

I eventually stopped doing it because I wanted less maintenance, and I also wanted to keep plants. Just thought I'd throw in my experience, I know it doesn't exactly apply to this but take it for what it's worth.

 

[kiddamiankitkat]

Thanks for the advice all, I shall cop a feel of it as Bigjim said and decide from there thanks. Thanks for sharing the experience Adam.

I think most people are aware of sand been the main component of glass, I was just throwing this substrate idea out there to see what other people thought of it...thanks for the science lesson though

 

[mgamer20o0]

thats what the black moon sand they sell.

i dont think we are running out of sand though. another option would be something like colorquarts.