sand substrate and a FX5?

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koop171

Fire Eel
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i am looking at doing my new 125 with sand and it will also have a FX5 in it what i was wondering is will i have to keep the inlet of the FX5 higher off the sud. then i do im my other tanks or will it not have enough suction to pull the snad into the filter?

Also what is a good sand to buy? this is a fresh water tank
 
Angler

Angler

Polypterus
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May 8, 2007
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Sand is not bad for canister filters, even if you end up getting sand in the filter. If you had an HOB filter, sand is probably not a good idea.

The only sand I ever had was play sand from Home Depot. It is cheap and looks fine. Youi just have to rinse it off really well. Other than that, many people like pool filter sand.
 
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koop171

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can u get play sand in BLK b/c that is the color that i want also i am looking at doing HOB filters as well ... you say they DO suck sand? or does the sand just clog the filters that much faster ?
 
Angler

Angler

Polypterus
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koop171;1701041; said:
can u get play sand in BLK b/c that is the color that i want also i am looking at doing HOB filters as well ... you say they DO suck sand? or does the sand just clog the filters that much faster ?
Click to expand...
I think the playsand comes in like 15 or 20 pound bags. It is cheap though. If sand gets into HOB filters (which would be very likely if you had fish that dig), the impeller will start making a loud grinding noise, and it may stop working all together. You could put a pre-filter on the intake to keep sand out.
 
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koop171

Fire Eel
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Angler;1701052; said:
I think the playsand comes in like 15 or 20 pound bags. It is cheap though. If sand gets into HOB filters (which would be very likely if you had fish that dig), the impeller will start making a loud grinding noise, and it may stop working all together. You could put a pre-filter on the intake to keep sand out.
Click to expand...


i am keeping RBPs in the tank so i like having the extra filters and they can go apeS*** and throw the sub. around a lil bit. and i really don't want to get a HOB if its going to go to crap on me for having a sand sub. ill have to look at lowe's website for the sand thanks
 
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DISCIPLE

Candiru
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Mar 5, 2007
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IM IN 20723 MARYLAND DOING A WATER CHANGE!
koop you could always use 3m color quartz aggregate w/o a problem. always try and keepb the intake about 3-4 " from sand.
 
Gr8KarmaSF

Gr8KarmaSF

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Pool filter sand is very cheap BUT does not come in black. Just looks natural.

Ive got two FX5s with pool filter sand and I have made both my intakes shorter/closer to the top. Thus far Ive had ZERO sand in my filters!
 
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KenyanSandBoa

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koop171;1701041; said:
can u get play sand in BLK b/c that is the color that i want also i am looking at doing HOB filters as well ... you say they DO suck sand? or does the sand just clog the filters that much faster ?
Click to expand...
DO NOT GET PLAY SAND!!!

I made that mistake and I'll never use play sand again. It is so fine that a lot of it will be free floating and it will cause HUGE problems with your props and overall filter performance.

I would get the pool filter sand...it's granual size is large enough where it's not going to cause any problems.
 
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USMCtanker

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im thinken of geting an fx5 for my 150, i have sand in it as well. would the fx5 be good as the only filter on the 150 or should i still run the hob filters ass well
 
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