Quikcrete play sand?

Becca

Becca

Members
Has anyone used this as a substrate? Has anyone used it in a planted aquarium?

Any thoughts?

Thinking of swapping it out for my black flourite/floramax substrate.
 
dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
It's really, really dirty and will require 10,000% more cleaning than pool filter sand...

Matt
 
mchambers

mchambers

Former CCA member
PFS comes in various colors, since it's for use in pool filters. You probably can find some lighter colored PFS, but need to check the bag.
 
TMSB805

TMSB805

Members
I went the expensive route in most of my tanks by buying the caribsea brand. For my larger tanks mix the leslie pfs,caribe sea, and gravel. it gives a real natural look in my opinion.

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Becca

Becca

Members
Hmmm... all our local pool store has is the tan. I will have to investigate other stores.

I have a bucket of white play sand that Sam gave me - I'm going to experiment with washing it next week - but that's for the 55.

My 29 is chocolate gouramis - so I have to be careful about carib sea stuff because a lot of it has crushed coral/shells. Sometimes I wish I'd gone with the fluorite red for that tank, but I couldn't find it when I was setting the dang thing up.
 
Tony

Tony

Alligator Snapping Turtle/Past Pres
Play sand tends to have a lot of dust and dirt in it.

Pool filter sand is generally not marked for color as people will never actually see it (being for a pool filter and all). The color doesn't matter to the pool store folks - nor 99% of the people who buy it.

Because of this, it tends to be more a matter of luck in finding the color you want.
 
D

DougGosnell

Members
I used play sand in that huge fluidized sand bed filter you saw outside my fishroom. It took a day to get the dust out of it and that was flowing ~5g a minute through it top to bottom so I would imagine you would be a lot longer.
 
daninmd

daninmd

Members
Becca said:
Hmmm... all our local pool store has is the tan. I will have to investigate other stores.

I have a bucket of white play sand that Sam gave me - I'm going to experiment with washing it next week - but that's for the 55.

My 29 is chocolate gouramis - so I have to be careful about carib sea stuff because a lot of it has crushed coral/shells. Sometimes I wish I'd gone with the fluorite red for that tank, but I couldn't find it when I was setting the dang thing up.
Click to expand...

the only white PFS I have found is Mystic White II. I bought it at a pool place in Crofton (Danny's Pool I believe). the stuff is bright white and hardly needed to be cleaned at all.

here is a link, I did the same and called the manufacturer to find a local distributer and tracked it down. the stuff is awesome:
http://www.capitalcichlids.org/forums/showthread.php?t=17164
 
AquaStudent

AquaStudent

CCA Members
As most of the people here have said Play Sand is not a very good option in fish tanks. From my experience it makes the water extremely cloudy and when stirred up clouds the water for usually at least an hour after.

I picked up my PFS from Leslie's and, as you were referring, it is not pure white. You could try calling around the other supply stores in the area and see if they have any. You could also try shipping some in.

Just please don't go with play sand :)
 
cichlidaddicted

cichlidaddicted

Members
As a mason who uses concrete on a daily basis I can say you never really get a consistant color with regular masons sand. You do however get a consistant color with sand that is specially designed to color different types of mortar. There are color additives that are added after mixing and color additives that are added before mixing, this often times is no more than just colored sand. I never put it in a fish tank and can't vouch for its safety. This is a very big buisness and a call or two should answer any questions or concerns you have. A company called lithochrome may have a pure white sand. When I get to the office on monday I can recommend some others if your interested in pursuing this option. It may be the only option other than buying fish tank sand that was produced to be consistanly white. Just an idea.

Sent from my SCH-S960L using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 
F

Fraviz

Members
I have Quikcrete in 2 of my tanks.... yes it was super dirty.... but after 2000 wash... I decide to use it anyway.... (hey after the work.... I was not going to throw it away)
Cons:
very dirty....
takes a couple of days to settle...
does not look that "white" when wet. Mine is tan.
Pro:
After it settles stay put
Sand is "heavy" does not move that much even with vacuum
Cories seem to like it ... and do not see damage to them
I have cypts and pigmy chain in there and do not float... grow slowly with tabs...
 
V

Vincebus

Members
I believe that is what I use in my 75, no clouding and I cleaned it to darn near clear in about 20 mins.. its in a tropical community planted tank though.
 
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