WHAT KIND OF POOL FILTER SAND SHOULD BE AVOIDED ?

[bert]

I want to use pool filter sand for my aquarium. What are the differences in this sand ? What ingredients should I avoid in the pool filter sand ? I heard something about silica but not sure if that is good or bad .

[Mgamer20o0]

anything thats been treated. other then that it should be fine.

[bert]

Can i go to a pool place and say i want some sand ? what are the ways to tell if it is bad for the tank such as containing things that are harmful. Treated with what ?

[Rbishop]

Some sand has additives to control algae or aid with chlorination. Expalin what you want. Read the labels.

[bert]

thanks, the thing is, I don't know what it is i am trying to avoid in the pool filter sand. what does everyone here use and what ingredient do i need to make sure is NOT in the sand ?

[Squawkbert]

If it's cheap, there are no additives - that's what you want (it costs only a little more than playsand, which you don't want as there are more silicate issues with it). All other things being equal, you want it as coarse as you can get it. #20 mesh or even a lower number than that is preferable.

(#20 means that your sand can fall through a mesh made from 20 wires per inch) - think finer than typical aquarium gravel, but coarser than regular sand - that's ideal.

Also - stay away from diatomaceous earth (a.k.a. DE, it's fine, white powdery stuff - is good for certain filters, not as a substrate, though).

[bert]

Thanks ! that is the info. i have been waiting for !
Bert

[bert]

I picked up 3 50lb bags of #20 mesh pool filter sand it says it is silica sand. it is brown in color and was $11.00 for a 50 lb bag, i hope this is the right stuff.

[Tedzbug]

I bought mine at a LPS (local pool store) :rolleyes: it was about 9-10 bucks a bag and is more of an off white color, and also says silica sand

I washed mine about 20lbs at a time in a 5 gallon bucket with the hose nozzle in the sand agitating it a constantly until the water ran clear. My tank water cleared up very quickly after adding water

[bert]

mine is a brand called target and it comes from canada. it is a light brown/tan and it says processed silica sand and dried and sterilized, low dust.

[Squawkbert]

Sounds good.

[kamikaze_fish]

sounds like a difficult question to answer cause this is the info I was asking for quite a while back. I was just informed "just pool filter sand" cause it's dustless. I'm now really really really thankful I didn't get the wrong stuff.

[ITHURTZ]

I picked up 3 50lb bags of #20 mesh pool filter sand it says it is silica sand. it is brown in color and was $11.00 for a 50 lb bag, i hope this is the right stuff.

brown!! lucky u, all I could find around here was white.

[bert]

I guess different brands have different colors.

[Reddog80p]

Mine was white. All it said was 100% pure silica sand.