Sand filter media

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Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jan 15, 2011
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I have a 18" Hayward sand filter with 150pounds of sand. Its about time i open her up and change the sand and i was thinking of running pea gravel in it. Pro and cons? I know i wont get the polishing i do now on the plus side i think it would run at a lower psi and have less maintenance. What do u guys think?


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A bed of pea gravel is often placed at the bottom of the tank just high enough to cover the laterals. It helps keep sand from blowing into the laterals, helps with the sand channeling, and distributes flow slightly more evenly during backwash.

I dont see it working very well as the standalone media in the sand filter. Its heavy and would not backwash properly and waste would accumulate in the gravel bed.

Maybe try something like sinking poly beads, zeolite, or glass so you can continue to run the filter in downflow.
 
Zeolight where could i order some that would be safe for aquaria use.


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Would less sand help with offten back flushes. Is channeling common in sand filters. Is it bad?


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I believe you keep rays so with the high bio load its tough to get the sand filter to work properly. The past few weeks I have been testing a bunch of different configurations to use mine more efficiently (Ive never used sand as a media in it though).

Less sand may help a little with backwashing but I dont think sand is a good media for use in the filter at all. Zeolite is probably slightly better but far from ideal.

Channeling is bad, its when the sand has calcified or clumped together into a concrete like block preventing anything from passing through resulting in rapid pressure build up.
 
Ic what media do u use and whats ur running psi and maintenance?


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