Black Estes or 3M quartz?
- Thread starter West1
- Start date
I like the Estes but it is so light it gets sucked up into filter systems when the rays disturb it to much or if you try to gravel vac it gets sucked up very easily.
So I use a natural river gravel which is around the size of the T grade from 3M. The granuals are appx. 1/16-1/8 of an inch. (See Avatar) Plus it lightens up my marbles.
So I use a natural river gravel which is around the size of the T grade from 3M. The granuals are appx. 1/16-1/8 of an inch. (See Avatar) Plus it lightens up my marbles.
i use black estes but am wanting to switch because black just dosent bring out the color of the rays. plus sand isnt fun cleaning. you stir it up and watch the hob filter suck it up. canister does fine though.
West1;3741650; said:
I have never used 3M but Estes is very fine. It sifts right through the smallest net
I have. And tends to almost float back to the bottom not just sink. I use black in one
of my other tanks, just not ray tank.
West1;3741650; said:
They are similar in grain size, but I would say the S grade is slightly smaller than the Estes.
My tank has built in overflows in the back draining water into a sump. There is some sand in the bottom of the sump, but I suspect most of it got there when I added the sand. Some of the Estes would float on the surface of the tank and the floating grains sound their way into the overflows.
spotfin;3741877; said:
Thats odd... I have 150lbs of white S grade and have had it for the past year. I have cleaned my sump out 3times and dont have any sand inthere or in my sump sock. The height to my tank is 24" and im wondering if the Estes is slightly bigger but lighter? I never had and float unless it was pushed/moved but always comes down
Does estes have a size just bigger than S grade? Is it good for Rays if they do?
When I first washed the Estes, many grains floated on the surface in the bucket I was using. Even after several rinses, some grains would still float if exposed to air. When scooping the sand into my tank, some grains would float away; these are the ones I think got into the sump. If I could agitate the surface, most of the grains would then sink. I don't remember the 3M sand doing this.