Sand: play or pool filter?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
T

Thalan

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Sep 30, 2008
1,098
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jacksonville
Which is better for bichirs? Or does it matter? Ive good and bad things about both.
I'm trying to get my 75g back up and running by this weekend so it can be cycled asap so quick advice would be appreciated.
 
Moon sand looks better but for the price, you can't beat play/pool sand. I used pool filter sand in my 60 gallon and it turned out pretty good so my friend wanted to use it in his. I went to the same place to get the sand and they ran out of the brand that I used so they gave me a different one and the color was awful. It was a greenish brown. So definitely check the color before you buy it. MY girlfriend has play sand in her tank and its lighter than my pool filter sand but it's lighter so it gets kicked around easier
 
pool filter sand is about 1000% cleaner. i prefer it.
 
I don't like playsand. It is very light in weight, and easily gets kicked up into the water column. It is an enemy for powerfilters.

If you can get 3m Colorquartz, I recommend that. If not, pool filter sand will be a good choice.
 
i just switched from play sand to 3m colour quartz. I much prefer the 3m colour quartz for colour and not being so dusty. However it was 10x the price so it is up to you.
 
I like the size and weight of pool filter sand, but its pretty light colored. I tried 3m colorquartz but I didnt like how fine the s-grade was.
 
pool filter sand is definately cleaner. but it just depends on your preference. i like the sugar sized sand or play sand better. needs a lot of cleaning but its not all that bad. gotta keep it away from your filter tho...its also cheaper-$3.50 for a 50lb bag
 
I have been using pool filter sand for 2 months, but I have just switched to tahiti moon because the light color adversely affected the color/patterns of all my fish, specifically my ornate bichir.


pool filter sand has great advantages though:

It looks great with sengalus bichirs IMO - makes them almost look like platinums.

It is heavier than tahiti moon - it is heavy enough to effectively work with gravel cleaner tubes.

Its cheap


Tahiti moon looks great, brings out the best colors in most fish, but it is too fine. It is hard to separate from fish waste(I lose a bit every time I do a water change/gravel clean). And it is very pricey.
 
Pool filter sand
 
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