Pool filter sand

I was recommended to use pool filter sand. I was told that it will keep my ph higher. My ph atm is 7.2 but I purchased a trio today and the breeder said to keep them at 7.6 which is what he keeps them at. My tank temperature is 27. Do any of you use that pool filter sand and if so will it clog up my filter. I don't no if it will be safe or useful.

I use it. Its called Silica sand, and it wont buffer your pH at all. Silica sand is inert chemically so it will not pull the pH lower or higher.

While the bristlenose you have may have bred in the past at 7.6, generally they like pH less than 7. Their natural habitat of the bristlenose is the amazon basin which is low pH, soft water with lots of tanins etc.

I use PFS and it does buffer my PH to higher levels....my PFS is definately not silica sand.

well, i guess it depends on where you buy it from then

I bought mine from Clark Rubber and I asked for their pool filter sand, knowing that it was silica sand. Cost me about $22 for 20kgs.

Needs to rinced a lot though and avoid the dust as its nasty nasty stuff

I got mine from Clark Rubber, same price. Mine was excellent to clean, quick rinse and into the tank

I got 2 quotes first from Clark Rubber & $15.00 for 20kg other from Bunnings & $19.00 for 15kg. Bunnings was called Zeolite. Is that different to silica.

The zeolite is as far as i know unsuitable for mass use in fish tanks...i know i researched it back when i was first looking into it.

You need just Pool filter sand, that is what is written on the bag, mine is a larger grain, great for deep vacuuming as it doesnt disappear up the tube. Mine has what appears to be shellgrit, this is what would be buffering my water. Its a lovely tan colouration, looks absolutely awesome in tank.

I am removing all silica sand (bunnings playsand) from my tanks and switching over to the PFS...including my bristlenose tank

Alasse wrote:

The zeolite is as far as i know unsuitable for mass use in fish tanks...i know i researched it back when i was first looking into it.

You need just Pool filter sand, that is what is written on the bag, mine is a larger grain, great for deep vacuuming as it doesnt disappear up the tube. Mine has what appears to be shellgrit, this is what would be buffering my water. Its a lovely tan colouration, looks absolutely awesome in tank.

I am removing all silica sand (bunnings playsand) from my tanks and switching over to the PFS...including my bristlenose tank

can you mix PFS with anything else to look nice or does it look nice as is.

I like it as it is

This is my 5ft that is done with PFS

It looks nice. Is it easy to grow live plants in it. How much would I need to get for my tank it's 120cm x 35cm. I'm thinking 20kg would be to much. I would like it about 3cm deep that how deep yours would be am I correct Alasse.

None of the plants i have in the tank are substrate grown, all are tied to wood or the rocks It will grow plants though, i previously had swords, val and crypts growing in it.
There is 40kg (2 bags) in the 5ft tank....honestly if i had plants going into the substrate i would add at least another 10kg., it is around 3cm, not quite in all areas

A 4ft would take at least 20kg i would think

I have PFS from clark rubber. It looks very nice and dosent buffer the water.

Have you got any pics of the bag of the PFS.

Silica Sand rocks
Most of my tanks have it.
They safe for the delicate barbs of the Corries and the Plants root easily in them.
I have a the fine grain size, probably a millimetre or two. The sand does not get sucked up by the filters/power heads (400-600l/h)
The only down side is that the sand is a pain in the back to get clean. It took me a few hours to clean.
So if you get the washed type rather spend the extra money

I believe the silica sand type (the non-buffering one) is Unicorn Sand. It comes in a white bag with a blue imprint of a unicorn on the front. if you are looking to plant it up then you should try what i did. Worked so well that i turned off the CO2 system and still has lotus growing out of control!!

I went with a layered sand aproach. The bottom layer was propogating sand from bunnings. This comes in a 5kg yellow plastic bag. I spread this to a depth of 4-5 cms across the bottom. Then I sprinkled a fre teaspoons of blood and bone onto that. Some people also add some marble chips at this point but I didnt have on hand and couldn't be bothered going out for a handful of them. I packed that down reasonalbly well and made sure it was nice and flat. I then covered the whole lot with silica sand to a depth of about 5cms. This gives you a very deep bed of substrate. The propogating sand is full of clay and other nutrients so the plants will love it but as it is covered by the silica sand it shouldnt make your tank go cloudy. Also having the 5cm depth on top allows for a bit of gravel cleaning without distubing the bottom layer.

Worked amazingly well. I had lotus growing like weeds, hairgrass spreadding like wildfire, the val would grow at 3-5cms a day and the crytps took on a lovely deep red colour.

When i switched from planted discus tank to an oscar tank i wanted to remove the clay layer as the ocsars are known to dig. So, i just set about it with the gravel cleaner, it sucked the clay out no worries while leaving the sand. a lot easier than I thought it was going to be.

here is a pic of a similar sand setup in my shrimp tank. only there is only a cm of propogating sand at the bottom of this tank

Beautiful tank Alasse !

I Like the look of your shrimp tank doug. I see the java moss on the rocks on the bottom but what is the moss that is stuck to the wood in the middle of the tank?

Doug wrote:

I believe the silica sand type (the non-buffering one) is Unicorn Sand. It comes in a white bag with a blue imprint of a unicorn on the front.

that's the one I got 20kg @ $13.00. Now im not good at maths and
I would like to no whats the cubic measure for my tank. Its 120cm long and the width is 35cm. I would like to no if 20kg be enough im prefering it to be at between 3cm-5cm deep. Would I need to go another 20kg. Cheers guys.

dragonboy69 wrote:

Doug wrote:

I believe the silica sand type (the non-buffering one) is Unicorn Sand. It comes in a white bag with a blue imprint of a unicorn on the front.

that's the one I got 20kg @ $13.00. Now im not good at maths and
I would like to no whats the cubic measure for my tank. Its 120cm long and the width is 35cm. I would like to no if 20kg be enough im prefering it to be at between 3cm-5cm deep. Would I need to go another 20kg. Cheers guys.

I would

Thanks Hillbilly. The stuff growing on the 'tree' is a type of filamentous algae that I got from one of the boys upstairs. No idea what it is called but it is awesome stuff! I know it is odd to activly grow algae in your tank but with the right maintence it can really look good.

You wouldn't guess what's happened. I've come home to find one of my son and my wife whom have no idea about fish keeping have put into my fishtank my substrate. They have rinsed it but not thoroughly. So now the whole tank is cloudy like dirty sand. So my question is will it clear up or not as I can't see inside. It has been like that since 4.30pm.

make sure your filter is on & it should clear up overnight....

50% change now!

the silica dust will not be good for the fish. it will be damaging their gills. I would do a 50% change now and another large one in a day or so. the other thing is that it is going to clog your filter really badly so you will be needing to clean that out.

It will settle eventually but everytime your fish move over the sand it will stir it up again. i figure if i cant see the back of the tank then there is an issue and the fish are prob not too happy.

I done about 20% change when I got home they said they they took out about 20 litres from the bottom of bare tank before they put the substrate in. So I done want to take out much more atm. I'll take out 20% each day for next 3 days should that be enough. They said they rinsed it but not really well. It was inside a 65 litre platic rubbish bin. They said they rinsed it out about 3 times.

it needs heaps of rincing! like 5-6 times minimum

dragonboy69 wrote:

I done about 20% change when I got home they said they they took out about 20 litres from the bottom of bare tank before they put the substrate in. So I done want to take out much more atm. I'll take out 20% each day for next 3 days should that be enough.

will this be ok for the the next 3 days or 1 times every second day for 3 times.