Pool filter sand

WynandvL

WynandvL

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Hey

I know this is going to sound stupid but I was just wondeing if you could use pool filter sand as a substrate in a marine aquarium and if you can't can youplease tell my why I can't use it...:whistling:

Thank you:thumbup:
 
Hi Annoying i will rather do it the right from the start,use live aragonite from caribsea and not playsand or any other type of sand if its not aragonite,cured live rock and stability from seachem,the live aragonite contains buffing agents that helps with your cycle, and its better in the long run,rather save up and do it right,take your time and you will have a excellent setup
 
Hey annoying:)

Imarine has it spot on, best to go with the things that have been found to be correct for a marine setup, learning curves are best learnt once:)

but to answer why NOT to use pool filter is a little complicated. It doesnt add any benifits such as buffering and often leaches undesirables into the water collum. Fairly often the sand particles are not as smooth as sea sand or aragonite leading to sharp edges which cut and damage microorganisms which you want in the sand and can be very damaging to larger things like sand filtering fish (gobies etc) or burrowing fish like wrasses.

in all its better to go with aragonite (in my view) or failing that, reggies.

If cost is a major constraint i would say Bare bottom is better than filter sand.


does that answer your question well enough?
 
Ya, thanx but isn't the play sand in reggies a brownish colour and isn't it almost the same as normal river sand?
 
ive never used reggies but i understand it to be rather different from filter sand as you were asking about.

reggies is a brownish colour to start but you need to wash it wash it wash it untill its white
 
Ok so filter sand is out and either argonite or reggies is in... Thanx allot
 
I use reggies with great results ...... !!!!

I agree that if budget were not a constraint then aragonite would be best, however this is not for the "traditional" reasons. I am a geologist and this "buffering effect" that is proposed as one of the best resasons is in my educated opinion, not effective in a timescale required for an average fish tank. Geological processes happen over millions of years...... whithout launching into a scientific dissertation, there is no way in my opinion that the requirements of a fishtank from a chemical perspective can be met by a geological process, at least not close to the level of efficasy that we demand in this hobby. I would choose aragonite for 2 reasons alone, first the Specific gravity of Aragonite is 2.9 versus reggies (which is essentially quartz) which has a SG of 2.65 .... essentially the aragonite is heavier per given volume than reggiess (in general aragonite has a larger particulate size which magnifies the effect)..... what is the positive of this ... simple, the particles are less likely to "blow" around in the current. Secondly the aragonite particles are generlly rounder which as crispin pointed out is important for the little bugs living in the sand. I am told that aragonite holds its whiteness better than reggies, but have no comment on the validity of this.

Pool sand... no ..... in my opinion the particles are extremely roungh in comparison to the other options and not worth persuing. I would also worry about the chemicals as per crispins comments.

Reggies or aragonite or local sea sand ...... all effective if used in a PROPPERLY designed and thoughtout filtration system..... the sand is simply one component of the system.
 
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