George Monnat Jr Posted May 24, 2013 Share Posted May 24, 2013 As we've been discussing in another thread, I've been looking at pool filter sand (PFS) for my new FW substrate. I've read tons of reviews on many different forums, and pretty much all of them have liked the PFS. There were some that were almost hysterical about PFS causing diatom blooms, but one guy shut that down. I wanted to compare several brands for sharpness and color, so I planned on buying one bag of each kind I could find. I've seen a lot of it online: hth Aqua Quartz® 50lbs Pool Filter Sand Pavestone 50 lb. Pool Filter Sand Quikrete Pool Filter Sand, 50 Lb That last one, for example, is only $7.09 for 50# online (via Amazon), but it's $35.05 S&H! I went to 1 Lowe's and 2 Home Depots with no luck. I went to Warehouse Pool Supply, and they had 50# bags labeled "contour Sea Gull" for $9 a 50# bag. I took it home hoping to get some others to compare it against. I then went to Leslie's Pool Supplies, and they had the same bags of "Sea Gull". It wasn't their brand they advertise that has 1 glowing review by an aquarist. I tried other places, but either they didn't have any or they were bought out by Leslie's (SELF CHEM) and had only the "Sea Gull". I haven't been able to find a web site for the Sea Gull PFS, which is odd. The Sea Gull PFS is standard, slightly dark beige. It felt relatively smooth (important for the Elephant Noses we plan on getting), but I didn't have anything to which to compare. It said it was washed, so I didn't rinse much. My DT has nothing but water in it, so I figured I could dump it in. It's been two days with a mechanical filter in my sump, and the water is still really cloudy. From just 40# of slightly rinsed Sea Gull PFS. I'll be rinsing it thoroughly in the future, that's for sure. So far it seems like a great, inexpensive alternative to the pet store substrate. If you like the color. I'm going to keep trying, and I'll update here if I find another source and how much I use, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsea Posted May 24, 2013 Share Posted May 24, 2013 George, When I lived in DeRidder, I collected white sugar sand from some spring fed rivers in west Louisiana. I used it in a 4" DSB 29G AIO reef tank. I also debunked the silica diatom bloom issue. Only on Six Mile Creek and Bundick Creek was the sand white. On the Whiskey Chitto and the Calcascheau the sand was tan. Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted May 24, 2013 Share Posted May 24, 2013 I've been reading a lot more on the silica sand diatom theory. Seems the diatoms are just a natural process in sandbed building up diversity since the silica in the sand itself isn't soluble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 Correct. My tank was several years running with silica sand and was algae free. I replaced that with mineralized topsoil and turface and have had insane amounts of diatoms and green spot. I think it's just a process. Unavoidable and it will pass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haze152 Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 I have been Running PFS in my cichlid tank for over a year. I bought it from pool supply store in round rock. 10 bucks for 50lb bag 50 grit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmvanness Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 For african cichlids I used aragonite. It buffers the water and it's nice looking. Petsmart has the best price on it. I actually have some if you want it. Never had any problems with diatoms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bige Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 I've used pfs for the last 5 years with no problems. I got the kind from Home Depot and its kinda brownish. I've heard lowes brand is lighter in color but have not seen it myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted June 8, 2013 Author Share Posted June 8, 2013 None of the Home Depots or Lowe's in NW Austin carry PFS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bige Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 Wow, really? I had to work pretty hard to find it. And the employees weren't helpful. But I eventually found some. Then of course I found lowes bags. I can check if mine has some if you would like. I think I even have a bag that is at least half full you can have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 Yeah I'd check any pool supply store. Lowes and HD have pool sections, but I know the ones here in college station don't carry pool filter sand either. I looked for it when I was setting up my plantedtank a long time ago. Pool supply stores will definitely have it. They gotta have it to use in the filters they sell lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bige Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 Well duh. Pool supplies. Why didn't I think of that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robb in Austin Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 I used the Quikrete sand(not the play sand, this was in a brown bag with green/black lettering), rinsed well, in my FW tanks. Really liked the way it looked, it's tan and looks very natural. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted June 8, 2013 Author Share Posted June 8, 2013 Wow, really? I had to work pretty hard to find it. And the employees weren't helpful. But I eventually found some. Then of course I found lowes bags. I can check if mine has some if you would like. I think I even have a bag that is at least half full you can have. I can order it to pick up here, so it's ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted June 8, 2013 Author Share Posted June 8, 2013 Yeah I'd check any pool supply store. Lowes and HD have pool sections, but I know the ones here in college station don't carry pool filter sand either. I looked for it when I was setting up my plantedtank a long time ago. Pool supply stores will definitely have it. They gotta have it to use in the filters they sell lol I checked all the pool supply stores in NW Austin, which is just Leslie's and Warehouse. They all had contour Sea Gull PFS only. I'm using 200# of it now. You have to clean it really well (even though it says pre-cleaned), but it's working well. It's a bit yellow/beige, so I might checkout the Lowe's PFS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted June 8, 2013 Author Share Posted June 8, 2013 I used the Quikrete sand(not the play sand, this was in a brown bag with green/black lettering), rinsed well, in my FW tanks. Really liked the way it looked, it's tan and looks very natural. Where did you get it? I saw it on Amazon for like $6, but it was $36 S&H. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robb in Austin Posted June 9, 2013 Share Posted June 9, 2013 Lowes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bige Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 What did you end up with? I'm setting up my daughters fw tank and found my old bag ( which never leave a now 6 and 8 year old in charge of a bag of sand) and it is quickrete sand. Just like Robb described. Now I just have to buy more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted June 18, 2013 Author Share Posted June 18, 2013 I'm using 200 lb of the contour Sea Gull PFS from Leslie's/Warehouse Pool Supply. I'm been happy with it. I still haven't seen the Quickrete, mainly because my dogs' woes have kept me busy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bige Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 Look at my thread my sons freshwater tank. That's the quickrete sand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted June 18, 2013 Author Share Posted June 18, 2013 Look at my thread my sons freshwater tank. That's the quickrete sand. It might be a little lighter; hard to tell. It looks about the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bige Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 I've heard lowes is almost white. I can't find it to say for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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