# Pool filter sand or this petco rock/sand



## nstanford99 (Feb 6, 2012)

Im going back and forth on what to use, what looks better pfs, or this rock/sand from petco. can anyone show me some pictures of pfs in their tank, and this stuff from petco if anyone has it??

here is the stuff from petco


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## thatbb6 (May 3, 2012)

How big is your tank?? I have that exact sand in my 30G and it's quite nice. Make sure you wash it in the bucket thoroughly because the set up I did for my GF where I didn't wash it enough, the dusts seem to be never ending. If your tank is 50G and up, I would go with pfs mainly because of the price point.


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## CjCichlid (Sep 14, 2005)

I prefer Quikrete's medium grade and general purpose sand. Both are about $7 for a 50lb bag. I believe I got mine from Lowes but I'm sure other hardware stores carry it as well. I find Pool filter sand to white colored for my tastes and anything from the petstore's is WAY over priced...


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## reflexhunter (Jul 25, 2009)

Arrg, iPads don't like photobucket lol ill try to get to a laptop to download some pics for you on pfs

It really comes down to personal preference and what kng of fish you have, keeping shellies or sand sifters you will want to keep sand everything else it's abut what you like heck you don't even need a substrate, there are a lot of people who don't and won't use it because it is easier to clean and therefore easier to maintain water quality, they just paint the bottom of the tank and are done.

I personally like pfs looks good, cheap, easy to clean(gravel IMO holds a lot of detris and requires alot of vacuuming) and you don't really have to worry about it getting stuck in you fishes gills like some larger gravel or stones.


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## nstanford99 (Feb 6, 2012)

Thanks for your help guys! yeah if someone could get a picture up of pool filter sand vs the quikrete's medium grade stuff.

And thatbb6 you have that stuff from petco in your tank???


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## CjCichlid (Sep 14, 2005)

Here is my tank with a mix of natural colored gravel and the Quikrete's medium grade sand (about a 20/80 mix). The lighting you use will also of course effect how the color of the sand looks...


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## reflexhunter (Jul 25, 2009)

Pfs pic


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## CjCichlid (Sep 14, 2005)

^^ That pool filter sand actually looks pretty good, did you mix it with anything? All the PFS I have seen had a very artificial bright white color to it...


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## reflexhunter (Jul 25, 2009)

No just what they sold me at home depot, but from what I have heard that can be different from different parts of the states.


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## JimA (Nov 7, 2009)

nstanford99 said:


> Im going back and forth on what to use, what looks better pfs, or this rock/sand from petco. can anyone show me some pictures of pfs in their tank, and this stuff from petco if anyone has it??
> 
> here is the stuff from petco


 I have this sand in mine mixed with some PFS and argonite. I have really been debating to suck it out and go with something else just not sure what? I saw a tank where someone had taken PFS and mixed it with the carib cichlid mix stuff, has rocks, shells and psc of other stuff in the there. It looked really natural.


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## FishLover66 (Feb 15, 2012)

I would stay away from completely WHITE sand--no matter what kind it is. EVERYTHING will show up on it. I switched from natural gravel to white & light beige aquarium sand (looks and feels like beach sand). Initially, I loved it. It brightened up my tank, my cories really stood out, and I loved the look and feel of it. However, in a matter of days, the bottom looked dirty and no amount of vacuuming gets it to look clean--very frustrating. The other thing about aquarium sand is that it doesn't allow for any air to reach the bottom of the tank and bad bacteria ends up breeding in it and turns the sand black. You need to mix it up every so often to prevent that--and boy does it stink.

I ended up buying the brown pool filter sand at my local hardware store and then, since it's a bit dark for my tast, I purchased a bag of white (actually more light beige) PFS and plan on mixing the two together to get a lighter, but not too light, sandy substrate. I plan on swapping out the white sand for the PFS soon, but

My questions about PFS are:

1. Is PFS easier to vacuum than the smaller grained aquarium sand (would I be able to stick the vacuum in the sand without it getting sucked up)?
2. Do the larger grain size of the PFS allow oxygen to get to the bottom of the tank, or will I still have to stir up the sand to prevent the bad bacteria from multiplying?


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## reflexhunter (Jul 25, 2009)

No you can't suck up pfs like gravel, and yes you will eventually have to stir it up,some.

Most times the fish I keep stir it up enough for me, in other tanks mts do the job.


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## nstanford99 (Feb 6, 2012)

so do you guys think i could do black sand with frontosa in a 220 gallon tank? i keep going back and forth about what to do whether it will be pool filter sand or black sand, or the stuff from petco. Do they sell PFS that is black??


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## Anthraxx8500 (Feb 11, 2011)

to prevent dust wash it more then you think is necessary, and if it still ends up being dusty after u add it add some filters to the tank and let it all settle then gently vaccum the surface of the sand, that and lots of water changes is the best way *** found to fight it. as for the picture ur referencing thats jim's tank and he uses a mix of crushed argonite and that cichlid sand stuff. to get that great algae growth i believe he runs 2 30'' dbl/reef bright LED's. couldnt tell ya what specifically brandwise but his tank his stunning (actually got his old stock when he swapped to those troph lol) GL in your choice of sand just dont go TOO white itll come back to bite ya, and remember if you think its washed enough wash it two more times for good measure.


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## CCichlids (Sep 27, 2011)

nstanford99 said:


> so do you guys think i could do black sand with frontosa in a 220 gallon tank? i keep going back and forth about what to do whether it will be pool filter sand or black sand, or the stuff from petco. Do they sell PFS that is black??


I had black sand in my 36 bow a few months ago. It looked good for the first few weeks but it shows EVERYTHING. You would think that it doesn't, but it does. On top of that it washed my fishes color out, the complete opposite of what I thought it was going to do. In the long run I swapped it out for some beige crushed coral sand. I wouldn't recommend black sand. Just my two-cents. Good luck!


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## biglove (Jan 4, 2010)

Recently switched from PFS to Petco brand black sand. Love it! And at less than half the cost of the Caribsea, was a steal! Rinsed it but the water ran crystal clear with first wash.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

biglove said:


> Recently switched from PFS to Petco brand black sand. Love it! And at less than half the cost of the Caribsea, was a steal! Rinsed it but the water ran crystal clear with first wash.


Have the same in my tank. I love it as well. As another poster mentioned it does show everything but if you have good circulation to keep waste suspended to be picked up by the filter it will stay clean. Mine stays very clean except for a couple spots behind a couple rocks where it seems to swirl a bit. However you can't see it unless you look in from the side and peak around the rocks. I really like the black. The fish pop off of it. I will say that I also have bright white holey rocks which help with contrast. If you want black sand and have a dark background you might consider lighter colored rocks or some bright green plants along with bright lights. The black sand and background do absorb the light so having a good bright light is a must unless you prefer a dark tank. You can see mine in my sig line.


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## Ensorcelled (Mar 1, 2011)

Is the Petco brand sand actually sand? Judging from the picture(s) on here and the site, it looks more like smaller gravel? I have been wanting to switch my wife's 29G over to sand and this caught my interest.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

Ensorcelled said:


> Is the Petco brand sand actually sand? Judging from the picture(s) on here and the site, it looks more like smaller gravel? I have been wanting to switch my wife's 29G over to sand and this caught my interest.


Technically I think it is crushed and painted gravel. It is very fine though and has the same consistency as sand. As a matter of fact it is a finer grain than my 20 grit PFS.


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## Dawg2012 (May 10, 2012)

I bought some of the Petco stuff and hated it. True it was very clean, but it just seemed weird to me. It seemed like it would stick to air bubbles and large collections of it would periodically float to the top of the tank, and drop a few pieces in the filter intake on the way. Didn't feel like sand either... My guess is it was some industrial byproduct they got real cheap and clean and bagged it up. It also 'stuck' to stuff... like static... Idk, just didn't seem natural.

After a day in my tank, before I stocked fish - I decided to pull it and go with some Carib Sea actual sand. Didn't want to setup the whole tank and regret it. It might have been okay but I just didn't have a good feeling about it.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

Dawg2012 said:


> I bought some of the Petco stuff and hated it. True it was very clean, but it just seemed weird to me. It seemed like it would stick to air bubbles and large collections of it would periodically float to the top of the tank, and drop a few pieces in the filter intake on the way. Didn't feel like sand either... My guess is it was some industrial byproduct they got real cheap and clean and bagged it up. It also 'stuck' to stuff... like static... Idk, just didn't seem natural.
> 
> After a day in my tank, before I stocked fish - I decided to pull it and go with some Carib Sea actual sand. Didn't want to setup the whole tank and regret it. It might have been okay but I just didn't have a good feeling about it.


I noticed the same thing for the first day or so then as it became saturated the problem went away. Now it acts just like any other fine grain sand. Actually wouldn't say fine grain but more like a medium grain between the fine sand and PFS. I would guess it is around 30 grit.


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## halffrozen (Sep 24, 2011)

I have used Petco Black sand, Petco Gravel, Pool Filter Sand, Beach Sand and now some Carib Sea Aragonite*.

And I have to say, all of the sands are very easy to clean. As well as the gravel, but IMHO sand is superior. It keeps all of the waste on top.


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