Mscott19833 Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 Could someone please tell me if Pool filter sand is OK? And if so, where to find it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Link2Hell Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 depends on what you are looking for colour yellowish, white, black - sand or gravel a lot of guys use something like filter sand or playground sand best if you can get some samples to see what it looks like washed and in the tank under water you can mix coral sand with it to help buff the pH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mscott19833 Posted February 3, 2016 Author Share Posted February 3, 2016 Color i am not to bothered about but definetly looking for a good safe sand, I am looking for a cost effective option and have read peoples opinons on pool filter sand and it seems nobody is to sure about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buccal Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 Pool filter sand is fine,,, but play sand or pavers sand (both these are white) from buntings is best bet. just rinse it out first as it has a tea like tannin debri in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigPete86 Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Agree with Buccal, I use the bunnings sand both river & play, both with great results for years now. Normal river sand is a little more yellow/tan, can get white river sand too & play sand is always white. Brands change but suppliers stay the same. If you're still not sure I'll be in bunnings in a day or 2 & will try to remember to take a pic of the couple I've used to let you know which are proven safe (in both Tanganyikan & South American setups). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luis Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Follow up question: how do you clean the glass on your sand-bottomed tanks without scratching? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mscott19833 Posted February 7, 2016 Author Share Posted February 7, 2016 11 hours ago, BigPete86 said: Agree with Buccal, I use the bunnings sand both river & play, both with great results for years now. Normal river sand is a little more yellow/tan, can get white river sand too & play sand is always white. Brands change but suppliers stay the same. If you're still not sure I'll be in bunnings in a day or 2 & will try to remember to take a pic of the couple I've used to let you know which are proven safe (in both Tanganyikan & South American setups). That would be awesome and would be greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buccal Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 That sand in bunnings sold in bags is rediculously cheap to. And Luis, a good magnet cleaner and be very careful while drawing the magnet along the bottom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigPete86 Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 I clean glass around sand with plastic bank card/credit card, flat edge against glass & move slowly Finally got to do a bunnings trip today, went to 3 different ones looking for a particular slightly orange sand I could get up north but all 3 only stocked the ANL sands. I guess Australian Native Landscapes are the Bunnings supplier for sand in Sydney. Both the "Tiling & Sandpit Sand" & "River Sand" from ANL at bunnings are perfectly safe to use & if you wash it well both have no effect on water parameters (fine for soft or hard water). I say "if you wash it well" because there will be a little bit of timber, dirt possibly clay, nothing bad for a soft water tank but not good for hard water eg. Africans so wash fairly well if that's the case. The tiling sand is very fine & comes up white in aquariums, the river sand is coarser & is a more mixed colour in shades of brown/tan. Sorry I can't post a pic up but the bags are clearly labelled in the garden section, "Tiling & Sandpit Sand" with a pale yellow bag, clear on the sides & "River Sand" with a grey bag, clear on the sides. Both bags have "ANL" on the top too. To clean it I put 1/3 - 1/2 a 20kg bag in a big bucket then fill with water, whilst filling swirl sand until most/all is spinning freely in the bucket then let it settle for 5-10secs then pour dirty water out. Repeat 2-3-4 times until water is clear after swirling (some "batches" are dirtier than others). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mscott19833 Posted February 14, 2016 Author Share Posted February 14, 2016 15 hours ago, BigPete86 said: I clean glass around sand with plastic bank card/credit card, flat edge against glass & move slowly Finally got to do a bunnings trip today, went to 3 different ones looking for a particular slightly orange sand I could get up north but all 3 only stocked the ANL sands. I guess Australian Native Landscapes are the Bunnings supplier for sand in Sydney. Both the "Tiling & Sandpit Sand" & "River Sand" from ANL at bunnings are perfectly safe to use & if you wash it well both have no effect on water parameters (fine for soft or hard water). I say "if you wash it well" because there will be a little bit of timber, dirt possibly clay, nothing bad for a soft water tank but not good for hard water eg. Africans so wash fairly well if that's the case. The tiling sand is very fine & comes up white in aquariums, the river sand is coarser & is a more mixed colour in shades of brown/tan. Sorry I can't post a pic up but the bags are clearly labelled in the garden section, "Tiling & Sandpit Sand" with a pale yellow bag, clear on the sides & "River Sand" with a grey bag, clear on the sides. Both bags have "ANL" on the top too. To clean it I put 1/3 - 1/2 a 20kg bag in a big bucket then fill with water, whilst filling swirl sand until most/all is spinning freely in the bucket then let it settle for 5-10secs then pour dirty water out. Repeat 2-3-4 times until water is clear after swirling (some "batches" are dirtier than others). Thankyou very much, you have been a big helping hand for this somewhat confused at times hobbyist. Cheers all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buccal Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 Yeah the credit card one I've never heard of, and sounds the bussines. another one is, (but a little more involved),,, is a piece of 20mm pvc pipe at 30cm long or to your needed length. Stand the pipe upright and with a hacksaw cut a 10mm deep slot on a roughly 20 degree angle. Using 5 minute araldite, smear the cut groove liberally,,, then slide a Stanley knife blade in feeding the rear in first. Youll end up with the blade on the perfect angle to slide the jig up and down and cut the algae of the glass with amazing ease. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fins Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 I use a paint scraper with 9cm wide metal blade. Magnetic cleaners scare me, I seem to always get sand caught in it. I also seem to scratch the outside of the glass with magnetic cleaners Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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