SAND for Geos

[shiver905]

I need some opinions on sand and its impact of Big canister filters for sand shifting fish (geo sveni).

I started to rinse Quickrete play sand from home depo. I'm reading stories about it getting into canister filters and ruining them.

Its a 6 foot tank with an fx6- stocking will be Geo Svenis.

Have any of you ran into this issue. Iv used play sand for years but for non sand shifting fish.

My other options are :
#20 pool filler sand- Not the biggest fan of the white look
Carib sea super naturals:

Sunset Gold

0.25 – 1.0 mm

Fine, soft sand

Crystal River

0.5 – 1.0 mm

Slightly thicker fine sand

Jungle River

0.5 – 1.5 mm

More medium grain

Peace River

~1.0 – 2.0 mm

Coarser, closer to gravel

 

[Gourami Swami]

The finer sand is better in general for earth eaters. I'm using caribsea sunset gold for a SA tank at the moment. No geos in the tank, but no noticable affect on the filter either, and I do vaccuum it/kick it up regularly.
I have used play sand, PFS, and larger grain aquarium sand in the past. I much prefer larger grain sands in terms of maintenance and looks. The sunset gold also took a couple weeks of polishing with fine filter floss and clarifiers to really clear up, much longer than any other sand I have used.

 

[duanes]

I use a combination of PFS and a little smattering of more coarse stuff for Geophagus crassilabris , and another sand sifter from Central America, Dareienheros calobrensis.

both cichlids were caught together in the same sandy, and leaf strewn habitat.
The banks were strewn with river stones, but the deeper channel was sandy and leaf littered


The current was fairly strong.


The most common fish caught with the cichlids were Characins, at a ratio of about 20 tetras per each cichlid netted.

Next most common species were plecos, maybe 5 or 6 armoured cats per each cichlid.

 

[phreeflow]

My buddy had a tank with play-sand and his Fluval FX5 was always full of sand…even when he raised the intake higher. Switched to pool filter sand no more problems

 

[duanes]

PFS is a bit more dense than play sand, so stays put, and doesn´t as easily get sucked into filters, where it can ruin impellers.
Its dense enough to be backwashed, and heavy enough to settle faster than play sand.

 

[shiver905]

I'm thinking about dumping the washed play sand and hitting up the pool shop. Iv already read that some geos put out better color in lighter colored substrait. Meaning they get darker (grays) when put in a blacked out habitat.

Can anyone recommend a brand of pfs? maybe one that isn't very dirty. Even better if darker. Things are still frozen here in Canada, getting out the hose outside is proven to be challenging.

 

[shiver905]

I have found some 2mm Grainsize pool filter sand. Would this be too large for geos?

 

[Toby_H]

I used Leslie Brand PFS for decades. Though a few years ago they switched their product line. It's now a wider range of grain and generally lighter in color. They also upped their prices some. (lower quality, higher prices. Welcome to the 2020s).

5 or 6 years ago I switched over to HTH PFS from Ace Hardware and have been quite happy with it. It's lighter in color than I'd like, but isn't whitewashed. Its consistently sized and large enough to stay (mostly) settled. It does get into my filters, and causes an impeller to get loud from time to time, but not enough for me to label it a problem.

I have one Sveni (who doesn't like other Svenis, weirdo) currently. I've kept Tapajos on the Leslie's sand previously. I've never noticed any issues relating to the sand.