Aquarium Decoration (Rocks, Plants and Substrates)

by **acrosstic** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 11:07 pm

What is the difference between pool filter sand and silica sand?

From what I have read Pool Filter Sand is 98% Silica.

by **Toby_H** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 11:12 pm

Just about all sand is silica sand...

Pool Filter Sand is simply silica sand that falls within a specified range of particle sizes... this means you will not have nearly as many small particles which cause the water to become extremely cloudy if not washed out... Also the larger grain sizes of the PFS will stay on the bottom of the tank where they belong much better than fine grained sands...

I have several hundred lbs of PFS throughout most of my tanks...

by **yogurtpooh** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 11:47 pm

is it normal that pool filter sand's coloration is not uniform? I see tan to white to black grains mixed in. Would different brands have different coloration?

by **Joea** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 7:38 am

yogurtpooh wrote:Would different brands have different coloration?

Yes. I've seen variations between one manufacturer and another.

by **MalawiLover** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 8:27 am

yogurtpooh wrote:is it normal that pool filter sand's coloration is not uniform?

The color of the particles will vary depending on where the sand was collected due to the different compositions of rocks and soil

by **acrosstic** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 9:58 pm

So its probably best to go PFS over just plain old Silica.

Its about 3 times the price, but at only $9 per 50 lbs I can deal :thumb:

by **Joea** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 10:39 pm

acrosstic wrote:So its probably best to go PFS over just plain old Silica.

PFS is just plain old silica sand, it just happens to be used for filtering pools. :wink:

by **acrosstic** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 2:34 am

30 grade Washed and Kiln Dried Silica is what I can get at HD. It is a tanish with a few darker particles. It is normal pacific beach sand i have seen my whole life.

Pool filter sand is in that range with a few grades finer as well, but is it whiter?

http://www.fosterdixiana.com/pages/filtersand.html

I'd rather have some of the PFS that is whiter in color.

Anyone's PFS white? I found this pic and it is very white here.

by **acrosstic** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 2:28 am

Picked up about 125 pounds of PFS today. They gave me 25% off because all the bags had holes and one was only 2/3 full.

I got mine from Leslie's Pool Supplies. Anyone else get their sand from Leslie's?

The sand it pretty white, but not super white and rather coarse. I'm worried its too coarse and it will be more like gravel than sand.

I'll post a picture soon, but I'm thinking it is too coarse now that I look at it a little closer.

Maybe someone who has used PFS from Leslie's can fill me in.

Thanks,

Chris

by **CDMOK** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 9:55 am

Weird??

I got mine from Leslies. Granted, this was a couple of years ago, but it never seemed coarse to me. Odd? I need to go back and pick up a few more bags myself. I hope they haven't changed their grain

The color, I think, is perfect. White, but not bleach. :thumb:

Here are some photos of the sand (not that it would help in any way):

Excuse the mess - I havea habit of taking photos before any cleaning

by **acrosstic** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 2:41 am

Maybe I am over reacting.

It is a lot coarser than play sand or the 30 mesh silica sand I found at Home Depot. That is for sure.

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by **acrosstic** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 2:43 am

CDMOK wrote:Weird??

I got mine from Leslies. Granted, this was a couple of years ago, but it never seemed coarse to me. Odd? I need to go back and pick up a few more bags myself. I hope they haven't changed their grain

The color, I think, is perfect. White, but not bleach.

Here are some photos of the sand (not that it would help in any way):

Excuse the mess - I havea habit of taking photos before any cleaning

Does help, I want to see what it is going to look like before I switch over.

by **CDMOK** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 8:04 am

Do you have a 10 gallon to test it out in?

I really am happy with it, and the fish love it too. They sift and spit and play. I am going today to pick up three more bags. :thumb:

I am sorry that it's not what you had expected. All I can suggest at this point is, as I said, test it out in a smaller tank OR go buy another bag from another retailer to see if it's just Leslie's or that type all together.

Good luck

by **acrosstic** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 4:01 am

You know, my guess is it will do what it should, which is keep the debris on top, since the sand is designed to keep everything but water from going through it.

I have a 20 gallon I could test out on. I think I set up the 20 this weekend with the new sand, the gravel I have in there is 27 different shades of ugly (epoxy coated multi color consumer mixed ick).

I might not want ot get rid of the 20 if the sand looks good in there! :lol:

I might end up trying to use the 20 as a hospital underneath my main tank. I can;t have multi tanks, but I have to have a hospital/fry tank. "Do you want the baby fish to get eaten?" I'll say. "Do you want the good looking fish to die and the ugly fish to take over." Hopefully that works.

by **yogurtpooh** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 2:53 am

i use the same exact sand and i find it ideal in terms of not getting sucked up too much by my siphon. it looks a lot whiter when in water and under bright lighting. my only complaint is that it isnt too uniform. check out my tank and videos

Aquarium Decoration (Rocks, Plants and Substrates) • Pool Filter Sand

Pool Filter Sand

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