Sand recommendation for catfish tank?

[black_sun]

I want to swap out the gravel in one of my tanks for sand. (Well, if I can. Would this be a problem for my catfish and cories?)

But I'm not sure what kind of sand to use or where to buy it from. The last time I tried sand, I bought a bag from Petco, but it just made my tank water really cloudy (even after being rinsed and what not). So, I think I want to avoid Petco sand. But anyway, I don't really care about the color (though, I've seen some people on here with black sand, that looks really neat)... I'd just like to have sand in my tank.

Any recommendations for type, brand, place to buy it, etc?

Thanks!

 

[iloveoscars702]

if you have a local leslies pool supply store... go there and pic up a bag of the pfs. very nice stuf, its more of tan/white color

 

[Angler]

Go with either pool filter sand or 3m colorquartz.

Sand making your water cloudy is pretty normal no mater how much you rinse the sand. I have had a couple of kinds that I rinsed for ever and it still made my water cloudy. It will clear up.

 

[dravesef]

well i just did sand in ine of my tanks, went to hardware store bought pool filter sand. i washed 10lbs at a time( i had 100 lbs to wash) took awhile thought i cleaned it good but put it in the tank and it was cloudy for 2 days but then went clear.

 

[flstffxe]

Go with either pool filter sand or 3m colorquartz.

Sand making your water cloudy is pretty normal no mater how much you rinse the sand. I have had a couple of kinds that I rinsed for ever and it still made my water cloudy. It will clear up.

I second this, I prefer the 3m colorquartz to the pool filter sand as far as cleaning goes. Seems like it takes less to get it clean from my experience.

3M colorquartz info:
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/ColorQuartz/HomePage/Products/Crystals/

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/ColorQuartz/HomePage/Products/Buy/

Prices very but seems to run around $12-$22 for a 50lb bag. Two grades are available:

S-grade, non-abrasive, comes many Colors: White, Blue, Black, Cayman Green, Red, Peach, Plum, Brown, Buff, Tan, Grey, Smoke and is round shape which is good for bottom dwellers.





T – Grade, mildly abrasive and Angular shape which may irritate some bottom dwellers ,comes in 5 colors: White, Blue, Black, Cayman Green, Red.