# play sand and pool filter sand



## chase127 (Jun 8, 2008)

im wondering about the play sand from wal mart and why it says "not for aquarium use" i think the bag said it had some silicates in it. does anyone know why its not supposed to be used? 

also the pool store i went to told me NOT to use their sand in aquaria. it was pretty fine, i forgot to ask for the grit size.. could this also have silicates in it? are silicates even the culprit? 

thanks


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## spinycheek (Apr 26, 2008)

They just don't want to be responsible if your fish die, it's just silica sand. I've used it with no problems, it's the most inert sand you can get. 

A couple things to watch out for is make sure the sand doesn't have shell pieces in it. I had this happen before and I couldn't get my tank below pH 7.8. Pool sand is probably the safest bet for that. Second, if the sand is too fine, it's very hard to siphon without sucking up the sand also.


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## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

Many products say not for aquarium use for liability issues. Ignore it. Same with the people at the pool store. That said, you can get PFS cheaper at the BORG.


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## chase127 (Jun 8, 2008)

the BORG? sounds like a club..


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## fritz (Jun 3, 2008)

They sell pool sand?!


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## mizu-chan (May 13, 2008)

I've used play sand in my 10 gallon, and my fish were all fine. No losses 
Plus I love the look of sand.


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## samckitt (Feb 14, 2008)

I just put pool sand in a 55G tank. Got it at Lowes for around $6 per 50 lbs.


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## fishbguy1 (Feb 29, 2008)

I have a 14' x 14' x 12'' sandbox in my backyard...literally...lol

I have no shortage of asnd for my aquariums...lol, so naturally, I've used play sand before.

I've had it in a 10 gallon with no problems, and I currently have it in my 20 long with my N. multifasciatus. I've never had issues with it, but make sure you rinse it really well. It takes forever to rinse, and you'll lose about half of what you started with, but in the end, it's defaintly worth it.


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## chase127 (Jun 8, 2008)

thanks guys!


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

The only thing I don't like about play sand is how the waste sits on top, easier to clean but u-g-l-y, plus I've converted the playsand tank to low maintenance so it's really an issue now. Mulm falls through the cracks easier in pool filter sand.

That said, all my plants do fine in play sand, trumpet snails keep it from compacting.

FYI, don't ever tell anyone you're using something for an aquarium, even in a pet store every question gets you a bogus answer. I love the look on old timers' faces when I tell them I purposely dump N and P in my tank every other day 

BORG = big orange retail giant


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## DiscusIt'sWhats4DinneR (Apr 25, 2008)

jaidexl said:


> The only thing I don't like about play sand is how the waste sits on top, easier to clean but u-g-l-y, plus I've converted the playsand tank to low maintenance so it's really an issue now. Mulm falls through the cracks easier in pool filter sand.
> 
> That said, all my plants do fine in play sand, trumpet snails keep it from compacting.
> 
> ...


waste does sit on top, but i find this to be desirable because i can clean it up easy, sort of the same way you clean easily clean a bare bottom tank. i use play sand in all my tanks. its cheap and looks natural.


i have to agree on never telling people youre using stuff for an aquarium.
i think less than 1% of anybody will have any idea of what youre talking about.

somebody on here described this saying that they will give you the same look a deer gives a passing train, they get confused..then spit out some unapplicable answer


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## chase127 (Jun 8, 2008)

lol yeah the people at a Pinch a Penny were just like 'how dare you use this in anything but a pool??'

thanks guys! probably gona go with PFS for my new tank.


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## prototyp3 (Dec 5, 2007)

One thing worth mentioning, not all pool filter sand is that unnatural white color. I just picked up a bag and it's multi-colored with tans and browns through out; similar to play sand. It still has the bigger granules though, about .5mm in size. It's nice stuff, especially for $8.75 per 50 pounds.


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## chase127 (Jun 8, 2008)

thats what i'm looking for, the darker kind so it doesn't wash out my fish.


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## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

chris127 said:


> the BORG? sounds like a club..


Yes, Big Orange Retail Giant, aka Home Depot


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## prototyp3 (Dec 5, 2007)

chris127 said:


> thats what i'm looking for, the darker kind so it doesn't wash out my fish.


This is the best I was able to find. You can see it at redflint.com, maybe you can locate a source near you?


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## eyebeatbadgers (Aug 6, 2007)

I like the color of that sand! I found some "Paver Sand" at the Home Deport the other day, and will be putting it in my 10 gallon soon. It has a similar look, more natural than the stark white play sand.


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## Logan's Daddy (Jul 15, 2008)

I have been curious about how the paver sand would look, it has a much larger and less uniform grain size than play sand, very natural.

Please post some pics and let us know how you like it once you have it in!


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## icom (Mar 14, 2008)

prototyp3 said:


> This is the best I was able to find. You can see it at redflint.com, maybe you can locate a source near you?


 
thats nice!! that might be worth the drive to Eau Claire to get some ..is that where you picked yours up at ??


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## prototyp3 (Dec 5, 2007)

You wouldn't have to drive that far. I picked mine up in the Milwaukee area, at: 
Wolf Pools & Spas Inc
6536 S Lovers Lane Rd
Franklin, WI 53132


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## didjman89 (Apr 12, 2008)

> Quote:
> Originally Posted by chris127
> the BORG? sounds like a club..
> 
> ...



or the evil star trek guys....


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## Logan's Daddy (Jul 15, 2008)

Resistance is futile...


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## Rod Hay (Feb 11, 2006)

Not all sand is created equally. Pool Filter Sand is the only sand that categorically will NOT alter your water chemistry.

Other sand can and will vary from one part of the country to another. Even the same manufacturer will have several different packaging plants throughout the USA. Sand from Sakrete, Quikrete or Pavestone can be different in New York than it is in say, Oklahoma or Arizona.

The sand itself my be okay. But if the manufacturer is bagging concrete or limestone products at the same plant there can be contamination. If you are using these in a low tech tank w/ no CO2 injection it may not present any problems. HOWEVER, if you plan on injecting CO2 into your aquarium you are playing Russian Roulette.


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## wayneside (Jun 17, 2008)

was going to get some pool sand today but chickened out...grrrr. ended up getting some white gravel from a petstore...


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## Mangala (Jul 23, 2006)

Just to add a personal story:

Being the broke person I was, and wanting to get rid of my clown puke, I went to home depot for one of my tanks to get some play sand for the tank. I figured that you just couldn't beat 5 bucks for 50lbs! so I brought it home and put it in and everything was fine (and still is)

But then I got myself a nice 45 gallon tank for angelfish, and needed some sand so again I went to the same exact store and got the same exact bag of sand for 5 bucks. 

I put the sand in and everything was fine (I thought) 

over time I watched my baby angels grow kinda slow-like. The pure black angels started to look kinda marbly, which kinda ticked me off but whatever. they were still pretty...

One day I decided to get a few rubber lipped plecos and put them in the 45 gallon tank.

The next day they were all dead. All three plecos.

I was very sad. I took it in to the pet store and they did a water test.

My PH was so low, it didn't even register!

I had just done a water change two days before, too. So I had no idea what the heck could be happening. I only had two pieces of driftwood and they weren't even that big of pieces. 

Anyway, long story short, I figured out that it was the sand and I took it all out and splurged on some nice, black onyx sand. Ever since, whenever I buy substrate, I'll only get nice, inert black onyx sand. iz nice stuff.

So that's my story of two completely different results from the same store, same brand, same kind of dirt not even bought long apart from each other. lol...


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## wayneside (Jun 17, 2008)

ok...now i'm glad i just went with the regular gravel. just dont want to take any unneeded risk at this time...


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

There's no risk with pool filter sand, that's why people use it. One of the requirements for sand to be used in a filter is that it has to be absolutely inert. Balancing pool chemistry is a non-stop job and the last thing you need is something wacking the parameters out. You know your getting quartz every time, it's basically the same as the light colored aquarium gravel but crushed down.


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## eyebeatbadgers (Aug 6, 2007)

Mangala said:


> over time I watched my baby angels grow kinda slow-like. The pure black angels started to look kinda marbly, which kinda ticked me off but whatever. they were still pretty...
> 
> One day I decided to get a few rubber lipped plecos and put them in the 45 gallon tank.
> 
> ...


In my experience, black or marbled angels do grow slower than their striped counterparts. Sometimes, I believe, the pure black angels are marbled angels that have been raised under 24 hour lighting. I'm guessing that if they are removed from that environment, then they may lose their full black appearance. I could be wrong there.

The angels could have pecked your plecos to death, mine never liked other fish. The plecos could have been sick, or not acclimated properly.

How low is "did not even register"? 6.5? 6.0? 5.5? 0.5? My point being that there could have been other issues at stake here, that you weren't aware of.


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## Mangala (Jul 23, 2006)

It was lower than 5. or possibly exactly 5? but it was slightly lighter than the lowest color on the test chart at the store, and then when I did it again at home with MY test kit, it registered the same. Either at 5 or below.

The rubber noses were fine when I got them (lol, of course, right?) And I got some after I changed out the substrate (from the same store) and I actually still have them, and that was over a year ago. 

To be honest, the two that were DD black were the only two that marbled, and the three that were striped black didn't marble, and the one that was solid... chocolate? colored didn't marble either (until he and his "wife" were mating, then they just beat each other up until it looked like they were marbled... but that's just SCARRING) 

here's an old photo of them when they were babies:










Of the angels in that picture, the only one I still have is the one on the top in the middle, facing away from the camera.

And marble angels will have marbled babies. black lace angels will have Silver striped angels, black lace angels and DD black angels (double dark black angels) I actually have a couple DD blacks that I kept from my mated pair that I eventually got rid of (they spawned like EVERY MONTH!!! I can't keep up with that!) but when I lost my 45 gallon tank, I never got really good growth out of the babies, so they're all kinda runty, unfortunately. If I ever do angels again, it'll be with at least a couple of 60 gallon tanks. 

But, I digress... I've totally stolen this thread and I feel kinda bad about it now lol..


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## chase127 (Jun 8, 2008)

this threads been dead for a while so its yours for the tanking


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## purplecity (Jul 28, 2008)

i just put in some playsand from home depot in my tank last night
i also put some in a rimless 5.5 gal
the 5.5 gal seems to be clearing up slowly

but my 10 gal which is running a filter, seems really cloudy
the sand is settled but the water is just cloudy 
anyone know how long it will take to clear?


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## lescarpentier (Feb 2, 2008)

purplecity said:


> i just put in some playsand from home depot in my tank last night
> i also put some in a rimless 5.5 gal
> the 5.5 gal seems to be clearing up slowly
> 
> ...


Mine cleared up in about 3 or 4 hours,but I rinsed it very good.


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## medicineman (Sep 28, 2005)

Pool filter sand is fine for planted tank. Just look for the plain ones (inert). Test with strong acid solution for calcium impurities. Around 1-3 mm particle size would be nice.

You should be doing reasonably well while using it with water collumn fertilizing and some substrate inserts (root tabs).

Almost everybody in my country use a variety of pool filter sand (we know it as silica sand). Be it white (usually from sea bed) or naturally coloured (from inland sources).


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## forddna (Sep 12, 2007)

Can anybody post pics of their pool filter sand in their tank??????


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## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

I picked up a bag of really white play sand today.. I tried to rinse it.. man it was soo milky.. 

Any other things I should do to prep it?


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## Rain-bow-head (Oct 31, 2008)

have any pics of he white play sand in your tank?


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