Pool filter sand before and after

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Bajormatt said:
Looks really nice, I have 100lbs of black sand that's actually a sand blasting media called black diamond, it's about $8 per 50 lb bag. Here's how it looks, the glass is still dirty and I'm still figuring my lighting out so I haven't been able to choose a color that looks good with the sand color yet and I need to add more rock still too. View attachment 875044View attachment 875045



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+1 I just put black diamond in my tanks too, i love it, the fish love it. Looks great il never use anything else.
Although rinsing was a b%$#h lol
WORTH ALL $8 :D

SENT FROM THIS HERE HOOSKERDOO!
 
Looks good big difference :thumbsup:
 
Just looked at the black sand, I didn't know it was full of glass. I'm heading back to to pool place for filter sand. I'm sure the black sand would work awesome for sand blasting but I don't want my catfish digging in tiny sharp pieces of glass. Ill just mix some black rock into my sand for a different look. Ill post pics later of how my 100 gallon looks :).


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I tried the Black Diamond blasting media you guys were talking about and it was a nightmare for me. The stuff never would settle. I had black particles floating all over the tank. I put a sock over my filter intake and the next morning there was still a ton of media floating around in the tank. It was some very dirty stuff that smelled a little like oil to me. I washed it for a long while too. Am I missing something? I bought the Black Diamond blasting media from Tractor Supply 20/40 grit. It was cheap so it wasn't a huge waste just wasn't happy with the result. I cleaned it all out and went back to bare bottom for now. Just glad I didn't use it in my larger tank first. Sorta bummed it didn't work out for me. I see a bunch of people having great results with pool filter sand. May do that later on.


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With mine when I cleaned it, I poured half in a large bin and ran water in it until it would run clear then I would mix it up again and after doing that about 5 times, I would stop the water and let it settle in the Bin and then I got rid of the stuff floating at the top and then drained the water, let it dry and did it again. It only took me 2 days to do 100 lbs with 4 different bins but it worked out well for me


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Bajormatt said:
With mine when I cleaned it, I poured half in a large bin and ran water in it until it would run clear then I would mix it up again and after doing that about 5 times, I would stop the water and let it settle in the Bin and then I got rid of the stuff floating at the top and then drained the water, let it dry and did it again. It only took me 2 days to do 100 lbs with 4 different bins but it worked out well for me


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Yea I could see that working but that is a ton of work to get it right. Do you feel it was worth it now? I was terrified I was going to ruin my filter with so much media floating around in the water column.
 
For the first week or two, you'll be cleaning your filter a lot and I suggest if you have a hang on filter, that you have plenty of cartridges ready, I went through 3 with my marine land filter but it was worth it to me. It's not so much the sand building up and clogging it but the sand will begin to settle in the filter too. I eliminated that by getting a dust filter sponge for a vacuum and I put it in my filter intake and it goes from a larger gradient to a finer and it catches the sand before it can get to the filter. I clean it here and there but it hasn't been an issue lately at all and everything is going fine. It will take about a week with no filtration and just air for the sand to settle. I have a 60g with 100lbs of sand in my tank.


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