[duke105077]

does anyone have info about sandbox sand? my local masonry dealer is selling 50 lb bags for only $4. is it the same as pool filter sand?

 

[GTZ]

Normally referred to as play sand I believe.

 

[60gallon]

Get PFS, its only a few dollars more.

 

[duke105077]

my main question i guess is, "is play sand silica sand?" because the nearest pool supply place is kinda far away.

 

[702Cichlid]

I believe most playsand is silica. However I think in the end you'll spare yourself a lot of time and aggrevation by driving the extra distance and paying a few bucks more for pool filter sand. Play sand is much finer and lighter per grain which means it takes much longer to clean and doesn't settle as well under water. The finer grain will help to eliminate anaerobic pockets, but will also require more sand to get the same substrate depth. That fine sand will get into filters and powerheads, shortening their life span, and if you have any fish that dig expect your water to be a lot more cloudy. Just my 2 cents: you may save yoursel a drive now, but every time you clean it later its going to aggrevate you.

 

[pork_chop]

I used play sand last summer, BIG mistake. it was extremely difficult to clean, the water was cloudy for over a week, plus a wrecked a perfectly good filter.

 

[DanniGirl]

I've used play sand before and personally, I prefer the look of a finer grain sand.
It settles fine; if you were to count it might take a few seconds longer to settle than PFS.
It does take longer to rinse but if you wash it well, the water will not become cloudy if the fish dig in it and my tanks are always crystal clear.

I think it's all about your personal preference and what you want out of the tank.

If you prefer PFS, then drive the distance because you'll never be satisfied unless you have it. :thumb:

 

[Flippercon]

I have playsand in one of my tanks and it does okay. It does stir up a little easier but it was a lot cheaper then the stuff i put in my 125. I got 100 lbs from the home depot for 6 bucks. I figured it was worth a shot. If you don't like it ,your out a days worth of work and six bucks. If you do like it , you got what you wanted cheaper. :thumb:

 

[duke105077]

i think ill go with the pfs for a couple reasons...1) i have a lot of diggers that'll stir up the sand a lot...2) upon application, i dont want it to be cloudy for a week and risk breaking my filters. so thanks for the input guys!