What Type Of Sand Is Best

[SLIM]

The title says it all, which type of sqnd is best for a freshwater aqaurium?

Many people on here suggest play sand from argos.
I want to avoid this sand really as its very hard to clean, takes hours to settle and easily turns aquarium water cloudy.

Iv been reading about pool filter sand.
Has anybody used this stuff?
Is this stuff safe?
Will it discolour?
Can I use any pool filter sand?
And isnt pool filter sand silica sand which will encourage brown algae?

Or maybe there is a better sand to use

Im very interested in hearing your views on this

 

[KittyKat]

All sand is silica, which is what makes it sand I prefer to use playsand, I never found it any more difficult to clean compared to anything else and for me it has always taken the same amount of time to settle as every other type of sand.

 

[SLIM]

All sand is silica, which is what makes it sand I prefer to use playsand, I never found it any more difficult to clean compared to anything else and for me it has always taken the same amount of time to settle as every other type of sand.

Have u ever used pool filter sand?

 

[jkilby]

Silica is a quartz sand, it has a slightly larger grain than the play sands you can get (picture below is of my silica sand and you can get a general idea of the grain size). You do have to give it a really good clean before you use it, which isn't hard but takes a little time and patience. Once you get the knack of cleaning sand it isn't tricky and won't cloud your tank and in my opinion it gives a nice natural look to a tank and a lot of the bottom feeders love it because it is easy to dig around in.

 

[jacko32]

all depends how much you want to pay and what you want to do with it ie if you want to put plants in it i found play sand very poor for live plants even after adding laterite i prefer to spend the extra money and buy the ADA or unipac from green machine.

http/www.thegreenmachineonline.com/products/aquatics/substrate-system-substrate-additives/sand-gravel

 

[SLIM]

I realize the sand will need washing out. But as you say, pool filter sand is a larger gran so it takes half as much washing as playsand and sinks easier.

Jacko32, iv checked your link out and that is exactly the kinda sand i want but just far too exspenive.
I need about 40kg and at £10 for 2kg... well i think that just says it all lol

Can anyone please suggest somewhere or even better, provide a link to a site that sells good pool filter sand
(in the UK)
Iv look myself and have found some but they all seem to be really drab colours like grey and brown.
Im after a very light white/yellow/orangish colour. The same sort of colour that jkilby has in his picture above

Any help would be appreciated

 

[jacko32]

I realize the sand will need washing out. But as you say, pool filter sand is a larger gran so it takes half as much washing as playsand and sinks easier.

Jacko32, iv checked your link out and that is exactly the kinda sand i want but just far too exspenive.
I need about 40kg and at £10 for 2kg... well i think that just says it all lol

Can anyone please suggest somewhere or even better, provide a link to a site that sells good pool filter sand
(in the UK)
Iv look myself and have found some but they all seem to be really drab colours like grey and brown.
Im after a very light white/yellow/orangish colour. The same sort of colour that jkilby has in his picture above

Any help would be appreciated

how did you work that out the unipac zambezi and limpopo is £24.50 for 25kg thats £1 per kilo

 

[Tizer]

I have silica sand from MA stores, a little pricey but how often am i likely to replace it? probably never

 

[SLIM]

Oh really? what the hell was i looking at then lol let me take a second look

I have silica sand from MA stores, a little pricey but how often am i likely to replace it? probably never

MA stores? are they online?

I realize the sand will need washing out. But as you say, pool filter sand is a larger gran so it takes half as much washing as playsand and sinks easier.

Jacko32, iv checked your link out and that is exactly the kinda sand i want but just far too exspenive.
I need about 40kg and at £10 for 2kg... well i think that just says it all lol

Can anyone please suggest somewhere or even better, provide a link to a site that sells good pool filter sand
(in the UK)
Iv look myself and have found some but they all seem to be really drab colours like grey and brown.
Im after a very light white/yellow/orangish colour. The same sort of colour that jkilby has in his picture above

Any help would be appreciated

how did you work that out the unipac zambezi and limpopo is £24.50 for 25kg thats £1 per kilo

Sorry mate i was looking in the wrong place. found it! Nice one. Might just have to buy from them.

 

[jacko32]

Oh really? what the hell was i looking at then lol let me take a second look

I have silica sand from MA stores, a little pricey but how often am i likely to replace it? probably never

MA stores? are they online?

I realize the sand will need washing out. But as you say, pool filter sand is a larger gran so it takes half as much washing as playsand and sinks easier.

Jacko32, iv checked your link out and that is exactly the kinda sand i want but just far too exspenive.
I need about 40kg and at £10 for 2kg... well i think that just says it all lol

Can anyone please suggest somewhere or even better, provide a link to a site that sells good pool filter sand
(in the UK)
Iv look myself and have found some but they all seem to be really drab colours like grey and brown.
Im after a very light white/yellow/orangish colour. The same sort of colour that jkilby has in his picture above

Any help would be appreciated

how did you work that out the unipac zambezi and limpopo is £24.50 for 25kg thats £1 per kilo

Sorry mate i was looking in the wrong place. found it! Nice one. Might just have to buy from them.

just been going through the whole pricing up myself i prefer the darker sands which can be hard to get at the right price especially since i need around 50kg the unipac is the best ive found and its free delivery on orders over £60 which suits me.
i had playsand in a smaller tank and removed it after a few months horrible stuff IMO and it stunk when cleaning it.

 

[Tizer]

I have silica sand from MA stores, a little pricey but how often am i likely to replace it? probably never

MA stores? are they online?

Maidenhead Aquatics, they have a website, but dont think you can buy online. Plenty of stores around the UK.

 

[SLIM]

Oh really? what the hell was i looking at then lol let me take a second look

I have silica sand from MA stores, a little pricey but how often am i likely to replace it? probably never

MA stores? are they online?

I realize the sand will need washing out. But as you say, pool filter sand is a larger gran so it takes half as much washing as playsand and sinks easier.

Jacko32, iv checked your link out and that is exactly the kinda sand i want but just far too exspenive.
I need about 40kg and at £10 for 2kg... well i think that just says it all lol

Can anyone please suggest somewhere or even better, provide a link to a site that sells good pool filter sand
(in the UK)
Iv look myself and have found some but they all seem to be really drab colours like grey and brown.
Im after a very light white/yellow/orangish colour. The same sort of colour that jkilby has in his picture above

Any help would be appreciated

how did you work that out the unipac zambezi and limpopo is £24.50 for 25kg thats £1 per kilo

Sorry mate i was looking in the wrong place. found it! Nice one. Might just have to buy from them.

just been going through the whole pricing up myself i prefer the darker sands which can be hard to get at the right price especially since i need around 50kg the unipac is the best ive found and its free delivery on orders over £60 which suits me.
i had playsand in a smaller tank and removed it after a few months horrible stuff IMO and it stunk when cleaning it.

No i aint a fan of play sand either which is why i wanted to find an alternative.
Anyway thanx for that link, iv ordered my zambezi sand now so im sorted!

Obviously i plan to wash the sand really well, but im also goin to use THIS method when it comes to putting the sand in. Check it out its pretty cool!

 

[jacko32]

Oh really? what the hell was i looking at then lol let me take a second look

I have silica sand from MA stores, a little pricey but how often am i likely to replace it? probably never

MA stores? are they online?

I realize the sand will need washing out. But as you say, pool filter sand is a larger gran so it takes half as much washing as playsand and sinks easier.

Jacko32, iv checked your link out and that is exactly the kinda sand i want but just far too exspenive.
I need about 40kg and at £10 for 2kg... well i think that just says it all lol

Can anyone please suggest somewhere or even better, provide a link to a site that sells good pool filter sand
(in the UK)
Iv look myself and have found some but they all seem to be really drab colours like grey and brown.
Im after a very light white/yellow/orangish colour. The same sort of colour that jkilby has in his picture above

Any help would be appreciated

how did you work that out the unipac zambezi and limpopo is £24.50 for 25kg thats £1 per kilo

Sorry mate i was looking in the wrong place. found it! Nice one. Might just have to buy from them.

just been going through the whole pricing up myself i prefer the darker sands which can be hard to get at the right price especially since i need around 50kg the unipac is the best ive found and its free delivery on orders over £60 which suits me.
i had playsand in a smaller tank and removed it after a few months horrible stuff IMO and it stunk when cleaning it.

No i aint a fan of play sand either which is why i wanted to find an alternative.
Anyway thanx for that link, iv ordered my zambezi sand now so im sorted!

Obviously i plan to wash the sand really well, but im also goin to use THIS method when it comes to putting the sand in. Check it out its pretty cool!

looks like it could take ages to do 50kg that way i think ill stick to the bucket method

 

[KittyKat]

All sand is silica, which is what makes it sand I prefer to use playsand, I never found it any more difficult to clean compared to anything else and for me it has always taken the same amount of time to settle as every other type of sand.

Have u ever used pool filter sand?

A long time ago.

 

[SLIM]

Whats the best way to clean sand with a syphon?

Do you jus hover it over the sand to pick up the dirt or do you stir the sand up and syphon out what floats up?

I know sand needs stirring about once a month due to gass build up.