# Pool Filter Sand or Silica Sand?



## sandandrocks

Which do you prefer and why?

I currently have silica sand and love it, but it's just a little too fine. Just bought some pool filter sand but the grains look big. Not sure if i wanna use it cause it reminds me of gravel.

The pool filter i bought is from Menards, All Star brand, 20/40 gradation


----------



## vann59

Pool filter sand is definitely better. I recently changed out all the fine play sand and it was a pain to get out, but if you scoop as much as you can, use a credit card to rake it into piles, scoop some more, then vacuum it, you can get it all out.

The larger grain sand settles faster than the poo when it is sifted, and this keeps the poo on top, and easier to clean.

Wash it first. There are instructions in the library of this site. It's much easier to wash clean than play sand. Remember to dechlorinate afterward, by putting the washed sand into a bucket half filled with treated water.


----------



## sandandrocks

I haven't opened my 2 bags of pool filter sand yet. I think i'll wash them tonight and test them out in one of my empty tanks prior to setting it up in my 125 in case i don't like it. But it seems pool filter is what most people prefer to use, guess i won't know until i try it myself.

Thanks for the input.


----------



## DJRansome

My pool filter sand IS silica sand. The PFS is nice because of the large, even grain. Not for looks, but for practicality. Easier to clean and does not grind up your filter.


----------



## sandandrocks

Yes i understand pool filter sand is dried silica sand. I just don't like how PFS reminds me more of gravel than sand.


----------



## hey_wood1981

It comes in different grades. Just look around until you find the size you like.


----------



## DJRansome

20 grain is the ideal size. Maybe with the 40 mixed in it was too coarse.

The grain size is important when you hear about the advantages...it's the heavier grain that keeps it from swirling into the water at the slightest disturbance.


----------



## sandandrocks

I think you're right about the 40 mixed in. Good thing i didn't open up the bag yet, i'll have to look around for just #20.


----------



## vann59

sandandrocks said:


> I think you're right about the 40 mixed in. Good thing i didn't open up the bag yet, i'll have to look around for just #20.


It should look about like the ice in a snow cone, only not so white.


----------



## FishLover66

I just want to be sure I have this correct. Pool filter sand (20 grain) is superior to any other sand you can add to an aquarium? I'm replacing the gravel in my 27 Gallon Cube with sand, but want to be sure it's safe for cories and Bolivian rams. So it would be better than any of the natural/pH neutral aquarium sand that's offered at pet stores?

I do have some sand along with the gravel in my tank, but I bought it at a petstore, and clouds up the tank any time I rearrange plants, etc., so now I'm wondering if I should just take everything out and replace it with PFS instead....


----------



## vann59

FishLover66 said:


> Pool filter sand (20 grain) is superior to any other sand you can add to an aquarium?
> 
> So it would be better than any of the natural/pH neutral aquarium sand that's offered at pet stores?
> 
> I do have some sand along with the gravel in my tank, but I bought it at a petstore, and clouds up the tank any time I rearrange plants, etc., so now I'm wondering if I should just take everything out and replace it with PFS instead....


The superiority is debatable, but many of us here like it, and so there's probably a good reason. :thumb:

It is pH neutral.

If you wash it properly, as you should wash any sand, it will not cloud the water. There are instructions in the library about how to do that.

And it's cheaper than most stuff you buy at the LFS.


----------



## BillD

There seems to be some confusion as to the grading of the sand. #20 is coarser than #40. I am surprised to hear of a #20/40 PFS. the spec for filtration is #20 sharp sand. A 20/40 would be a mix of everything between the two sizes. A #20 silica sand should look identical to a #20 silica PFS. Not all PFS is white silica. PFS could be any inert substrate ground to #20. Red Flint has a really nice PFS that is identical to their aquarium sand, that is same colour and grit size. Personally, I don't care for the unnatural white look.


----------



## vann59

BillD said:


> There seems to be some confusion as to the grading of the sand. #20 is coarser than #40. I am surprised to hear of a #20/40 PFS. the spec for filtration is #20 sharp sand. A 20/40 would be a mix of everything between the two sizes. A #20 silica sand should look identical to a #20 silica PFS. Not all PFS is white silica. PFS could be any inert substrate ground to #20. Red Flint has a really nice PFS that is identical to their aquarium sand, that is same colour and grit size. Personally, I don't care for the unnatural white look.


Right, and it sounds like the store selling something mixed between 20 and 40 may just be selling a cheap product, or doesn't know the actual grade.

I like the look of the bone colored sand I have, but it's a matter of personal preference on that. I just really like the ease of cleaning.


----------



## FishLover66

Ok, another clarification....what's better for aquarium use, 20 or 40 grade?


----------



## vann59

I doubt it would make much difference. The problem with gravel is that it's large enough to let food and waste to get down into it and decompose, and must be vacuumed out, whereas the poo sets on top of the sand and doesn't get lost in it.


----------



## DJRansome

20 grain is what I was told to look for, and what mine is. I never even knew there was a 40 grain sold as pool filter sand until this post.


----------



## magic10

you can go to your local home depot or lowes and they will have all the pool sand you need


----------



## sandandrocks

I returned the 20/40 PFS and have returned to Silica Sand. But i'm going to keep my eyes open for just 20 grain. Still wanna try PFS.


----------



## vann59

Just to clarify:

silica

A white or colorless vitreous insoluble solid (SiO2); various forms occur widely in the earth's crust as quartz or cristobalite or tridymite or lechatelierite

vitreous

Relating to or resembling or derived from or containing glass

Pool filter sand is a vitreous silica sand and is pH neutral. Coral sand, on the other hand is mostly calciferous and composed of dead coral and contains less silica, and is alkaline. Many organisms will grow better in the high pH calciferous material, than in the neutral silica.


----------



## BillD

FishLover66 said:


> Ok, another clarification....what's better for aquarium use, 20 or 40 grade?


I find that #20 is as fine as I would go. I have a bag of #12 black blasting sand in the garage, because I thought the #20 was a little too fine.


----------



## BigTuck STL

I am about to go pick up some 20 grade sand and had a question. This will be the first tank I have done with sand. Do I need a special filter or are my Penguin Emporer Bio Wheel filters fine?


----------



## DJRansome

No special filters are required. :thumb:


----------

