Why is coarse silica sand impossible to find?

[cubequeen]

I doubt anyone can answer the question, so this is basically more of a rant than a question. Since I no longer use a UGF I am thinking of switching to a smaller grained substrate. Currently I have small silica gravel. The grains are about 1/4 inch. I got some pool filter sand to try, but it's really finer than I'd like. It's my understanding there are supposed to be at least two different grain sizes of pool filter sand, with something called high rate sand being a larger grain size, but I can't for the life of me find anything other than the fine stuff. What I would really like is something about 1-2 mm or about the size of glass seed beads, but it seems to be nearly impossible to find something that size in the U.S. by anybody for any purpose. Frac sand would be almost ideal. I hate the crap sold by aquarium supply places and pet stores and find it baffling why none of them would stock silica sand. SOME of the National Geographic sand LOOKS like silica sand, but it doesn't say that it is. For various reasons I have ruled out dirt, special aquarium soils and blasting media of any sort. For now I'm going to go ahead and try out the pool filter sand in the small 5-gallon plant-only tank and see how it goes.

 

[wesleydnunder]

There is a company here in Texas called Texblast that screens coarse sand for the aquarium trade. The grain size is about the size of the zero on your keyboard. Sounds like what you may be looking for...probably be expensive to ship though.

Mark

 

[sumthin fishy]

Have you tried the hardware store? I got blasting sand at Tractor supply, and they had 2 grits, and told me if i needed something different they could order it. I'm sure the same would apply to other products. Although I don't think tractor supply has what you are looking for, maybe somewhere like ACE or OSH might be able to help. Also try plant nurseries, as they deal with landscaping supplies that most places don't carry.

 

[cubequeen]

I hear of a lot of people using and recommending sand blasting sand but I'm worried about that with cories. Isn't sand blasting sand deliberately made sharp for abrading stuff?

 

[wesleydnunder]

I hear of a lot of people using and recommending sand blasting sand but I'm worried about that with cories. Isn't sand blasting sand deliberately made sharp for abrading stuff?

Typically it's not "made". Most of it is natural sand that is screened for different sizes/grades. There is a by-product of coal combustion called coal slag that is crushed and forms very sharp grains. There are some aluminum oxide abrasives made but normally are too expensive for normal sand-blasting applications. The company Texblast sells blasting sands of varying size. Their product comes from a sand quarry. I've tried many grades and brands of blasting sands over the years and aside from the O (ought) size sand that Texblast sells, all had too many fines in the bag for what I wanted...grain size not nearly uniform enough.

Mark

 

[SnakeIce]

It isn't the sand that bothers cories, but water quality. Keep water quality high and it doesn't matter what you have on the bottom of the tank.

 

[jpierce3]

Catfish can be bothered by coarse or sharp substrates as it can wear on their barbels. It can also bother some sand sifters as well.

Pool filter sand is more coarse than blasting sand because it is meant to trap particles. Reference: http://ppoa.org/?page_id=399

A size chart for blasting sand: http://www.washingtonmills.com/guides/grit-sizes-ansi/particle-size-conversion-chart-ansi/

 

[Blueiz]

What about paver sand? My husband purchased some for his tank and it is really coarse.

 

[fishorama]

Try a landscape rock yard for graded sand & rocks. If price is not an issue I love the look of Peace River by Carib Sea although I haven't tried it. Almost more like small smooth gravel & a pretty color.

 

[kj5kb]

Golf course trap sand? http://www.partac.com/details1.html