# CRAPPY POOL SAND!!



## Dawn78 (Nov 11, 2011)

Im converting my tank from stone to pfs. I went to my local Big R and picked up 2 50# bags which cast me around $15 total. Not the cheapest price out there I know but figured it would be good and fairly clean for that price range WRONG. I washed my first bag last night and it took me forever!!! I rinsed small amounts at a time figuring i could clean it more thouroughly and quicker but ended up rinsing each small bucket full like 15 times a piece. The water in the sand is still kinda cloudy so im going to rinse it all again today :? Does the run off water ever get sparkling clear or am I just having a ocd moment :lol: I thought pfs was suposed to be fairly clean and didnt require that much rinsing so did i just buy a crappy brand?


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## 60gallon (Dec 14, 2010)

You probably have some crappy pool sand. :lol: I buy my sand from Leslies. I bought 2 50# bags in January and I cleaned it in a 5g bucket. Id fill the bucket maybe half full of sand and itd take maybe 3-4 fills / rinsing to get the sand completely clear, very quick and easy!!

Fast forward to 2 weeks ago....I went back to Leslies and bought some more PFS, brought it home cleaned it the same way and I tried rinsing it / filling it at least 10x and it would still run dirty. I found a picture of my old bag of sand and it was NOT the same brand. I went to 2 other leslies and everyone had a different brand (seagull and filtersil) and all of them said it was the same sand but obviously it wasnt since the other brands were very ditry! I finally found 1 bag of my old sand at Leslies, the name of it is "southern filter media" filter sand. If you have a local Leslies I highly recommend you get that sand! :thumb:


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## aggriffin3 (Aug 15, 2009)

I also bought mine at Leslies, and it's great. The first time, I did clean the sand, although I don't think I had to. The second tank, smaller, I didnt, and it was fine.

Anyways, Leslies is the place to go if you can find one

Art


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## Anthraxx8500 (Feb 11, 2011)

always clean it.. and dont feel bad i did the same thing with my argonite.. took FOREVER 1 hour per bucket of ten lbs... and theres.. something like 120 lbs in the tank.. and even then its STILL dirty a bit. GL to ya just have patience..


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## Andy Somnifac (Jun 1, 2005)

With all sands, I've always just dumped it into an empty tank, filled it 1/4 - 1/2 way, stirred up the sand real good and siphoned out the mess. Repeat a couple times. Has even worked with really dirty play sand.


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## vann59 (Jun 20, 2011)

Before being bagged, bulk materials are moved around by machinery and bulldozers so the material from the top of a pile, versus the bottom of the same pile could vary in how clean the product is. That being said, we can't assume all companies produce the same quality sand. I think the lesson we should learn is to always wash the sand first. If this sand were being put into a pool filter, it could be backwashed after installing it in the filter, but in a fish tank, it's too late to just wash it.

Still, PFS should be easier to clean than play sand.


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## Cartem2 (Oct 4, 2011)

I did 200lbs of PFS using the "hose in bucket" method as the video in the library shows. I did 25lbs per bucket and it only took about 15min per bucket for the water to run clear. I stirred the sand the entire 15min so maybe keeping it agitated helped or maybe I just got lucky and had a clean batch but I defiantly didn't have any problems with it.


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## ecoli1973 (Sep 29, 2011)

I rinsed a bag and then decided it was madness and dumped rest 200 lb into the tank...the water was cloudy for 1 day then it cleared...I did run my eheim 2262 with fine filter floss and rinsed it out afterwards though


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## Dawn78 (Nov 11, 2011)

GOOD NEWS , I went ahead and added the pfs i had washed (i didnt rewash all of it like I said) and it looks good. must have done a better job at rinsing it then i thought. Looks great and the fish love it!!


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## 60gallon (Dec 14, 2010)

:thumb:

I just washed some more this past Friday and it didnt even take 5mins to do each bucket. I filled and dumped the water 4 times and the water ran clear. I love PFS!! :wink:


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## bluenosebully6 (Oct 24, 2011)

I feel like a retard after reading this thread I just bought a new bag of playsand from hd and it was filthy I rinsed it in a 5 gallon buchet filled a third of the way for about a half hour each bucketful and it still was making the water a Lil cloudy I thought maybe it was just the lighting in the bathroom and went ahead n put it in the 55 I just bout and filled it and stacked stone in it and everything and now I have cloudy water!!!! What should I do??? Siphon it all out and start over or will my filter eventually clear it up?????? There's like a film of dust particles I'm assuming floating on the top and everything smh I'm an idiot. I'm just maD cause the ps I bought n rinsed for my other tank barely needed any rinsing


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## 60gallon (Dec 14, 2010)

Your filter will eventually clear it up. If you do several water changes over the next few days that should help. I feel your pain! :x


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## bluenosebully6 (Oct 24, 2011)

Ugh it just sux I got all the rockwork perfect powerhead setup heat perfect arrrrrgh ! Lol lesson learned though.thanx ill try doing a 50% change today n see if that helps. Do u think it would be better to just change all the water now though seeing as I just set it up and have no fish in it and it isn't cycled?


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## vann59 (Jun 20, 2011)

bluenosebully6 said:


> I feel like a retard after reading this thread I just bought a new bag of playsand from hd and it was filthy I rinsed it in a 5 gallon buchet filled a third of the way for about a half hour each bucketful and it still was making the water a Lil cloudy I thought maybe it was just the lighting in the bathroom and went ahead n put it in the 55 I just bout and filled it and stacked stone in it and everything and now I have cloudy water!!!! What should I do??? Siphon it all out and start over or will my filter eventually clear it up?????? There's like a film of dust particles I'm assuming floating on the top and everything smh I'm an idiot. I'm just maD cause the ps I bought n rinsed for my other tank barely needed any rinsing


Just wrap your filter intake with some felt from a fabric store and change it as needed. That will clear it up fast. :thumb:


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## vann59 (Jun 20, 2011)

Dawn78 said:


> GOOD NEWS , I went ahead and added the pfs i had washed (i didnt rewash all of it like I said) and it looks good. must have done a better job at rinsing it then i thought. Looks great and the fish love it!!


See? It's really not so crappy after all...


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## bluenosebully6 (Oct 24, 2011)

Felt? Cool ill try it out thanks !


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