# Volume of PFS



## ridley25 (Jan 5, 2008)

There's no way to figure this out so I thought I'd ask to see if anyone knows:

I have two 50 lb bags of Pool Filter Sand. Does anyone have a guess as to the VOLUME of PFS in these bags?

Or, more precisely, it is enough to give me an inch or so over the bottom of my 125 (72x18) tank?

kevin


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## zimmy (Aug 13, 2010)

It will give you over an inch (about an inch and a third to be precise).

This calculator helps figure out volume of sand (scroll to the bottom of the page).

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


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## ridley25 (Jan 5, 2008)

That must be a pretty rough calculator since it ascribes the same density to all "sand," but handy just the same!

Thanks,

kevin


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## gliebig (Oct 1, 2010)

This is how I would calculate it: Dump two bags in your tank. If it's not enough, go buy another bag. 

I'm not good with #'s.


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## RRasco (Aug 31, 2006)

This is one bag, 50lbs, in a 55 gallon 48x12x21.


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## ridley25 (Jan 5, 2008)

I'm sitting on two bags (don't even know what colour it is!) so I'll go with those and see. Getting more PFS in a Toronto winter is a bit of a non-starter.

As Zimmy pointed out, I've got an inch and a third, which will probably work out fine since big chunks of the floor space will be taken up by rocks anyway.

Thanks for the replies.

kevin


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## Guest (Feb 15, 2011)

i put 3 bags of 50 lb pfs in my 125 gallon and it gave me about 2 inchs... its more than enough so you dont have to add sand for a long time due to losing a little each time from the gravel vac.. you could get away with 2 bags but i jus figured ill put 3 so its a little deeper.. plus my botias dig in it like crazy...


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## nodima (Oct 3, 2002)

recently added 100lbs of PFS to both a 180 (24x72) and a 150 (18x72). IMO, it was slightly too much for the 150. You will easily get the 1" you want. Closer to 2" though.


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## zimmy (Aug 13, 2010)

I just filled my 110 gallon this evening (72 x 18 - inside measurement). I don't have a lot of rocks but did put down eggcrate. I used about 75 lbs of PFS and it seems like the right amount (the eggcrate obviously displaces some volume). The sand is about an inch deep.


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## Guest (Feb 16, 2011)

wait why did you put down eggcrate im confused... eggcrate is to make tank dividers.. and barely displaces any water at alll


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## zimmy (Aug 13, 2010)

Eggcrate can also be put down at the bottom of the tank, the theory being that it helps to more evenly distribute the weight of rocks being placed at the bottom.

Here's a video explaining more:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/videos/eggcrate.php

Anything that takes up space displaces volume. In the case of eggcrate, you're right that it's not a lot of volume, but in the context of this thread and the application I used it for, it does displace some volume that would have been filled by sand.


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## Guest (Feb 16, 2011)

yea idk i saw a video of people throwing rocks real hard at tempered glass and it didnt break however i have one 10 gallon with a crack in it idk.. when i did my sand everyone in the thread jus said to put my rocks on the bottom directly on the glass and that way the fish couldnt dig under them to make any rocks falls.. plus i watched a video of a kid standing in a tank and it didnt break then stacking BIG rocks all the way to the ceiling and it didnt break.. i think the eggcrate is just people being paranoid... however i did make a number of tank dividers that i find also help really well when trying to net fish.. i get the one i want to swim by the put the divider up smaller area for them to run easy to net...


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