HELP PLEASE!!! subtrate questions....

[noobF1]

Well Hi to everyone this is my first post on this forum! :) Okay here's the deal, I live in San Jose, CA and i can't seem to find any POOL FILTER SAND. Anyone in my area using this for their tank?!?! please reply. I'm going crazy searching the net and going to local stores (home depot, leslie pool supplies....) no where to be found. Please tell me the brand and location THANK YOU THANK YOU for reading!!!!

[Yboat]

leslies didn't have it? wow.

I can tell you many places you can get it in sacramento, but I doubt you want to drive that far.

[noobF1]

well there's two leshlie near my place, one of the place is called
Leslie's Swimming Pool Supply the have it in the PLAY SAND COLOR! (light brown color) i want the white color. The second place is called Leshlie Poolmart Inc. i havent try that place yet, will call tomorrow. Oh and thanx for the quick reply. This is buggin the *BEEP* out of me. So POOL FILTER SAND has differnet color? what brand am i looking for? can u send me pic or link with the actually picture please? THANK YOU once again!

[LAfish]

I went to Leslie's, they didn't have any sand out on the floor but they did in the back when I asked the staff

[winschuc]

Check Petsmart. The one here (Augusta, GA) had a few different types of sand in stock. Hope this helps.

[DiscusLoverJeff]

Try this link

http://www.intheswim.com/shopping/product.aspx?productid=SKU1635&e12=k232270&scode=I8AFFILI&keyword=A6400&e11=Y

Or this

http://www.amazon.com/Quikrete-Pool-Filter-Sand-50/dp/B000KKPB2W

Or this

http://www.acehardwareoutlet.com/productdetails.aspx?sku=83029&source=GoogleBase

Or this

http://www.thetoolworkshop.com/quikretecompanypoolfiltersand501153-50.aspx

[noobF1]

WOULD THIS WORK PEOPLE?


http://www.lesliespool.com/browse/Home/Filters-Filter-Supplies/Filter-Supplies/Silica-Sand-Only-sold-in-the-CA-stores/D/30100/P/1:100:6000:600030/I/14700


Thanx for the HELP!

[noobF1]

is this the pool filter sand everyone is talking about?

http://www.lesliespool.com/browse/Home/Filters-Filter-Supplies/Filter-Supplies/Silica-Sand-Only-sold-in-the-CA-stores/D/30100/P/1:100:6000:600030/I/14700

[mathao]

yep thats the stuff your looking for.

[cyberhog05]

I cant tell you guys enough....Go to a masonry shop. they have silica sand for cheaper than pool places and its the same crap. You can also go to an auto body paint and supplies store and get the same stuff but its used for sand blasting. ITS ALL THE SAME!

[Prez]

The sand at Leslie's Pool Supply (sku #14699) is more of a mix of light/dark brown silica sand...I should know since I manage a store :D I have never seen the white silica, as seen in most pictures, sold at a Leslie's store-- at least on the East coast.

[Tito]

The sand at Leslie's Pool Supply (sku #14699) is more of a mix of light/dark brown silica sand...I should know since I manage a store :D I have never seen the white silica, as seen in most pictures, sold at a Leslie's store-- at least on the East coast.

Plus 1 - havent found it on this side of the contiguous.

[DiscusLoverJeff]

I cant tell you guys enough....Go to a masonry shop. they have silica sand for cheaper than pool places and its the same crap. You can also go to an auto body paint and supplies store and get the same stuff but its used for sand blasting. ITS ALL THE SAME!

+1

Its very true!

[Yboat]

becareful with blasting media, its often "sharp" not really a big deal with discus, but if you have fish that swim on the bottum, it can be.

[tcyiu]

noobF1,
Over the last 3 years, I've searched high and low in all of the South Bay (and a bunch of places in SF and the East Bay). I can save you a bunch of gas. Don't bother.

I went to all the rockeries, home building supply places, nurseries/landscaping companies, Leslie's and the big box stores and spoke with a bunch of people. I came to realize that sand is sourced locally. In other words, it is too expensive to ship/truck sand from across the country when there are local supplies. What they quarry here in the Bay Area is beige.

When people on the forum tell you they bought white pool filter sand at XYZ place, that may well be true, but it is not true everywhere. What is sold as pool filter sand on the East Coast is different than that on the West Coast.

Unfortunately for us in the Bay Area, that means no white sand. Not cheap any way.

In the San Jose area, we only have Carib Sea, and 3M Colorquartz. Neither is cheap. (roughly $1 /lb)

Unfortunately, your only choices are to bite the bullet and spend big bucks for white sand, or end up with beige sand at $5 per 25lb bag.

BTW, the rockeries are not significantly cheaper than the big box stores. But you do have more choice in terms of granule size.

Tim

[tcyiu]

becareful with blasting media, its often "sharp" not really a big deal with discus, but if you have fish that swim on the bottum, it can be.

Very true. Most blasting and pool filter sand is human processed crushed quartz. This means that the granules will have sharp corners. This is desirable for those applications. But the sharp edges are not good for human lungs (causes same disease as asbestoes), and bad news for cories and fish with barbels.

Tim

[spyder329]

I actually just got off the phone with US Silica company and asked them what pool supply stores sold the Mystic White pool filter sand. The lady that answered the phone was super pleasant and got me the information in about 2 minutes. I then called the place that ended up being 15 minutes from my house. They sell 50lb bag of Mystic White for 9.69.

Needless to say I am going there this weekend to pick some up.

If anyone is interested here is the number I called.

800-243-7500


-Nick-

[BABYJIZAY]

HUGE HELP!!

[Apistomaster]

Glad you found the sand you were looking for but the white silica sand used for sand blasting actually works fine for Corydoras, Apistogramma, Discus and Geophagus. All the sand sifters. Fractured gravel is what is hard on Corydoras barbels.
Most of us wash the dust out before using it and a few times in your life you have to get it out the bag is not enough exposure to cause future health problems and it is certainly nothing a disposable dust mask can't handle if you are truly worried about it. Once it is wet it no longer is a dust source and there are any number of ways to prevent dust. Doing the work outdoors is a good way and stay up wind.

[spyder329]

So this weekend I went and picked up the pool filter sand and added it to my tank.. What an amazing difference it made with the look of the tank.

I followed this on how to clean the sand before putting in tank.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/cleaning_sand.php

[inmisawa]

Thanks for the heads up. There's a Leslie's Swimming Pool Supply just down the street from me :) What ratio of sand to gallon are you using? I was always told 1 lb per gallon, but that was for gravel and not for plants. I'm not putting in too many plants. Thanks!

[wgtaylor]

You know, I've always heard play sand sold at hardware stores is no good because it raises the ph of the water. I also read on other forums a lot of people using play sand with success. So I bought some, rinsed it good and filled a tank with 1" using my soft water.
Ph was 6.8, tds 65 ms, gh and kh <1 when I filled the tank. Tested the water daily and after 3 weeks with no fish the water tested exactly as when I filled it. I loaded the tank with fish and it's acting no different than a bare bottom tank. I may just have the right water for using really cheap play sand from our Ace Hardware but it doesn't look bad and fits my cheap budget. May be worth a try if you like the look. :)
Bill

[Apistomaster]

Sand is always sourced as close to the point of sale as possible and in most cases there is a local source of quartz sand but occasionally some sands will contain calcareous minerals which can raise the hardness and pH but for many reasons such sources are generally avoided. Most sand ends up in concrete or asphalt pavement and it is desirable in general for the sand to be fairly chemically inert for a higher quality of concrete or if used in asphalt pavement the sand must be durable and be of a certain range of specific gravity which is fairly high. These are also qualities quartzite sands possess. It is a happy coincidence that the industrial sands are usually pretty safe for aquarium use.