Where to find 3M colorquartz?

C

carolinyens

AC Members
Apr 20, 2009
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Butner NC
I want to change my gravel substrate for a sand bottom. I think this would be a more natural look for my native tank. So after a few searches about the topic in general(trying to save everyone the hassle of throwin up thread links) I want to use 3M colorquartz S or Tgrade. I tried googling it and couldnt find an online seller or any useful info on where to look for it. I assume that I would have to buy it from a pool distributor. I wouldnt mind doin a mix of this and mineralized soil but havent decided yet. If anyone knows of an online site or a retailer hook me up. Also any other comments about using this substrate would be cool too.
 
I went through the 3m website to find someone local. It came up with 2 distributors in NJ but they don't sell to the public. I would have to go through a pool place myself. It was recommended to me to use the T grade which is a little coarser the S grade is fine.

I haven't gotten it yet myself.
 
Go here:
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/ColorQuartz/HomePage/Products/Buy/

Select 'I need a distributor' and put in your state. Leave the other two selections as no preference. Just for comparison, S grade size are a tiny bit bigger than poppy seeds, and T grade size are a bit smaller than the salt grains on a soft pretzel. I put about 1" of just soil in the tank bottom. Then I mix S grade with soil 1:2 for the next layer and top it off with T grade. If you haven't found the link, here's gwapa's article on mineralized soil substrate.
http://gwapa.org/wordpress/articles/mineralized-soil-substrate/

GL & Have fun!
 
JAY973, where are you in NJ? I found a place in Philly that sold it to me. I can get you info later tonite when I'm on the home computer.
 
I just picked some up recently (in WA, found through 3m's site), and all I can say is rinse until you can't rinse anymore....and then do it again. It's beautiful , I got the black S grade and it's very much like heavy poppy seeds, but the oily black residue took forever to rinse off, stained my bucket and hands black, and even after I thought I got rid of it all, it left a black ring around the rim of my tank. That wiped off easy enough, but the stuff is persistent! And I'd do it outside with a hose...I did the first bucket in the bathtub and decided I didn't want to risk it staining, cleaned up, and moved to the hose. Worth the work though, I love how it looks. Good luck!
 
I've been considering getting ColorQuartz for the 135 gallon project I'm working on. I'm a little worried about the s-grade getting sucked into the filtration and ruining the impellers on my Eheim 2217's.

Is anyone using the s-grade stuff with canister filters?
 
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