The pool filter sand thread!!

[Steveo McNello]

Hey guys,

I'm trying to start a thread of pictures of tanks that have a PFS substrate. And by doing so, I hope to gather some ideas!

And does anybody have anything to add about PFS? Does it come in different colors? I have heard its better to use than LFS sand because it's a bigger grain or something?

aaaaaand GO!

 

[HackJob]

I tried play sand...stayed murky and never settled, very dusty. Got PFS, my local store had 2 varieties, white, and brownish. Opted for the darker brownish, looks natural, poop stays on top. Can still be vacuumed and generally settles quickly so it doesn't get sucked into filter.

Easy to clean, but you do see more poop than gravel IMO, mostly because it doesn't settle into the gravel cracks.

No pics, because I am lame, and I haven't taken pics of tanks...but I have it in a 20h with goldfish, 55g african, and 10g guppy. All running smoothly, and easier to clean.

 

[Steveo McNello]

The only thing I'm worried about with sand is it getting in my FX5. Thought PFS would be ok because I've heard it doesn't stir as easily. I spot clean the waste every day so that doesn't bother me too much.

 

[Jon M]

 

[Steveo McNello]

Dude that's awesome. I saw this in the thread you made about taking the decorations out. I really like the look of it. How does the PFS "behave" for lack of better words? Is it light and gets whipped around?

 

[Jon M]

Dude that's awesome. I saw this in the thread you made about taking the decorations out. I really like the look of it. How does the PFS "behave" for lack of better words? Is it light and gets whipped around?

It settles and stayed that way just fine. Even if a fish shoots by the substrate surface and pops up a cloud it settles in seconds. I removed all the decor btw.

 

[Steveo McNello]

It settles and stayed that way just fine. Even if a fish shoots by the substrate surface and pops up a cloud it settles in seconds. I removed all the decor btw.

Yeah I've been following that thread. It looks great! I'm just worried about my catfish stirring up sand all day. My FX5 intake is half way up the back and back when I had sand I'd get piles of it in my filter.

 

[Inglorious]

The intakes for both of my filters are about 5" about my substrate(100# PFS mixed with 20# tahitian moon) and I don't have any problems with it getting sucked up. And just for the record the PFS is heavier and settles much quicker than the tahitian moon.

 

[soulpatch]

I have an FX5 and XP4 on my tank with PFS. The Oscars in there like to kick up the sand as they move the plants and driftwood around. Each time I clean the filters I find a bit of sand in the bottom of the filter but in over a year it has yet to cause any issues with the impellers and such.

 

[lipadj46]

most canisters with the impeller in the lid you don't need to worry if sand gets sucked up, it will never make it to the impeller. Here is an old pic of my 55. PFS still goes anaerobic though not as readily as play sand which is the worst substrate IMO: