play sand
- Thread starter bigdoden
- Start date
i have a 210 gallon with playsand and one of my filters are a magunum 350 and i have or had no promblems so far i washed the sand and let the tank with sand sit for a day or two before turning the filters on
i have a mixed opinion. i changed from gravel to play sand, and will never have gravel again. however, i am going to change to pool filter sand. it is a little larger and heavier. the play sand contains alot of very fine particles that will be very easily kicked up by fish or sucked up while cleaning substrate. it also seems to pack pretty tightly.
also from what i have seen most pool sand has a little more variance in color. all the play sand i have seen is almost uniformly gray. i prefer a little bit of white and brown mixed in.
in the end though any sand is better than gravel
also from what i have seen most pool sand has a little more variance in color. all the play sand i have seen is almost uniformly gray. i prefer a little bit of white and brown mixed in.
in the end though any sand is better than gravel
I like pool sand better than play sand. I've tried both, and the pool sand looks a little more realistic. The play sand has such a flat smooth color, I like the little specks in the pool sand. Waste also shows up better on the play sand, so it looks dirty unless you're extremely religious about siphoning.
Pool sand is a little larger, a mix of colors together, and MUCH easier to clean. I spent about 10 minutes rinsing enough pool sand for a 60 gallon, and about 30 minutes doing enough play sand for a 10 gallon. The bag of pool sand I bought was like $8 for 60 lbs, compared to play sand at $4 for 60 lbs. Not enough of a difference to justify the work involved in play sand.
Also, as they've already said, because play sand is so much finer, a lot of it will cloud up. If you have bottom feeders who dig in the sand, I'd definitely go with pool sand to save filters & prevent cloudy water.
Pool sand is a little larger, a mix of colors together, and MUCH easier to clean. I spent about 10 minutes rinsing enough pool sand for a 60 gallon, and about 30 minutes doing enough play sand for a 10 gallon. The bag of pool sand I bought was like $8 for 60 lbs, compared to play sand at $4 for 60 lbs. Not enough of a difference to justify the work involved in play sand.
Also, as they've already said, because play sand is so much finer, a lot of it will cloud up. If you have bottom feeders who dig in the sand, I'd definitely go with pool sand to save filters & prevent cloudy water.
I just got some Quickrete All Purpose sand at Lowes the other day. $5 for a 50lb bag.
After reading all the horror stories of sand other than pool filter sand I declined to even bother rinsing it, I just poured it from a bag into the bucket to make it easier to pour in the tank. Obviously it clouded up something fierce at first but less than 24hrs later was fine. Looks great now.
After reading all the horror stories of sand other than pool filter sand I declined to even bother rinsing it, I just poured it from a bag into the bucket to make it easier to pour in the tank. Obviously it clouded up something fierce at first but less than 24hrs later was fine. Looks great now.
Ok... you all know that "play Sand" is just beach/desert/dunes Sand right?... you don't get more realistic than that 
One of the reasons it needs to be cleaned so much to use it is because it's full of organics and dirt from not being "cleaned" but sifted from it's collection point.
Which accounts for it's ultra low price.
Pool sand looks better if your looking for a specific color but in terms of realistic looks... play sand is by far the best since it's the actual sand found in nature... once wasked and cleaned propperly ( doesn't mean letting all the dirt settle to the bottom then turning on your filters...) It's Wonderfull stuff!
Cleaning methods are different for everyone... but my method is to take a shallow bucket... add in about 4-6" of sand... let water run into the bucket (either with a hose or from the faucet dirrectly (Personally prefer the hose and do it in the driveway method but in the winter I'll do this in the sink ).
let the Bucket fill up and over flow, stick your hand down in the sand and start diging through the sand till the water is all dirty and all the dirt will over flow with the water after a few mins the water will become clean and clear even while yourswirling your hands in the sand... and Presto! It's Clean... I have a Thin screen which I will also sift the sand through once it's dried out again... this makes the sand uniform in size and I get all the larger than desired rocks and other organics that didn't come out in the washing (Some pieces of wood, bone fragments, snail shells ect)
Anyway thats enough of my ranting
One of the reasons it needs to be cleaned so much to use it is because it's full of organics and dirt from not being "cleaned" but sifted from it's collection point. Which accounts for it's ultra low price.
Pool sand looks better if your looking for a specific color but in terms of realistic looks... play sand is by far the best since it's the actual sand found in nature... once wasked and cleaned propperly ( doesn't mean letting all the dirt settle to the bottom then turning on your filters...) It's Wonderfull stuff!
Cleaning methods are different for everyone... but my method is to take a shallow bucket... add in about 4-6" of sand... let water run into the bucket (either with a hose or from the faucet dirrectly (Personally prefer the hose and do it in the driveway method but in the winter I'll do this in the sink ).
let the Bucket fill up and over flow, stick your hand down in the sand and start diging through the sand till the water is all dirty and all the dirt will over flow with the water after a few mins the water will become clean and clear even while yourswirling your hands in the sand... and Presto! It's Clean... I have a Thin screen which I will also sift the sand through once it's dried out again... this makes the sand uniform in size and I get all the larger than desired rocks and other organics that didn't come out in the washing (Some pieces of wood, bone fragments, snail shells ect)
Anyway thats enough of my ranting
basslover34;3002880; said:Ok... you all know that "play Sand" is just beach/desert/dunes Sand right?... you don't get more realistic than that
Yes, except play sand is sifted so many times that it's extremely fine and uniform. Find me a beach that actually looks like play sand. Every beach I've ever been to has little specks of different colors in it, little pebbles and all kinds of other stuff. Play sand is sifted to be uniform so much that it takes a natural product and makes it look fake.
rnocera;3002910; said:
not really... it's not sifted anywhere near enough... at least not the stuff i get ... mine looks like it was sifted with someones fingers 
but it looks very very natural... perhaps your getting the higher priced version than I am lol ... I'm cheap like that though 
