im switching my very find sand out of my 125 beacause it cant be vacumed with the python and its a pain in the ***. I was woundering what type of sand can be gravel vac. ed and if pool filter sand is one of them? thanx
can pool filter sand be gravel vac. ed
- Thread starter ssminnow81
- Start date
PFS can be...but it does take some practice. I love the sand look but only one of my tanks has it for substrate. The other 4 tanks have CC for substrate and I really like it.
I use PFS on all my tanks and yes it can be vac'ed easly just don't dig into it skim over the top making light contact is not an a prob. A little practice you'll be a pro in no time. The black TMS is a real pain to vac.
I've had sand substrate tanks for many years now, and find that if you put a bucket under the drain ov your vacumn, then the sand you suck up gets caught in the bucket, and the water will jsut over flow out of the bucket along with most of the lighter stuff you sucked up. Once the sand dries you can easily sift it through a cheap fish net and add the sand back into your tank
i tried the bucket in the sink but the sand i had was so fine it would flow right down my drain. im looking for a coarse grain sand that i can stick the gravel vac right into and not have to worry about it getting sucked up . i prefer the look of sand over gravel now i just have to find a coarse sand. i was just hoping pool filter sand was coarse enough because its so cheap.
I use 3m colorquartz T and S grade sand. Its alittle pricey....about $30 for a 50lb bag, but the stuff is great!! and comes in tons of colors!
There is no reason to stick the vac into the sand like you have to with gravel. You merely skim the top to pick up the poop or any uneaten food. After you are done with that then you want to stir up the sand slightly once in a while to allow any bacteria pockets to be taken care of. PFS will allow you to skim the top though without picking up any sane really. You might get a tiny bit but nothing you will notice.