It took me about a couple years to pull the trigger on using pool filter sand for a couple of my smaller tanks, weighing in on the pros and cons I'm glad I did. I haven't found any reason not to use it over "fish store sand", it's the same density and granule size, and looks natural to me. Cost wise it's around .20 cents a pound where fish store sand is anywhere from $1-$1.50 a pound.
Yes I agree! I think it is worth it for sure unless you want some crazy colors or “crushed coral sand” to raise your PH. Other than that I’d for sure use pool filter sand. Thanks for watching!
I'm upgrading my saltwater reef aquarium and I wish I could use this stuff! Such a shame this cheap option isn't an option for a reef; it looks so nice!😩 Another great cheap alternative for freshwater is apparently blasting sand - you can get the stuff made of quartz or garnite and it looks very pretty! Also: non-clumping plain clay cat litter is a great freshwater plant substrate that works as well or better than expensive plant substrates!❤
Yeah it would be nice if you could use it in a salt water tank. Thank you for sharing the info! I’ll have to keep that in mind if I ever setup a planted tank :)
Great question, I’ve never kept live plants but I assume there would be no issue if you normally put the plant in sand, maybe try to do some research on a forum. Sorry I wish I could be more help!
Will be a problem for plants. Would need a dirted substrate and have the white sand as a cap. Plants need nutrients that are not available in white sand only. Google Father fish and be enlightened.@@fishwateraquatics
Other alternatives are sand used for sandboxes or garnet sand for sandblasting (nice because it's heavy and stuff planted in it definitely stays down), though simple gravel shouldn't normally cost you an arm and a leg - it's just the fancy ones or plant substrates/aquarium soil that's expensive. For plants, a simple 3-4 mm gravel is usually good enough for water circulation and root growth. Personally I prefer a finer look, but issues like detritus pooling, plants not being anchored as well and so on should be considered. Then there's also stuff like using literal dirt under a gravel layer in the Walstad method, etc.
@@madji6886 Nah. You forget we are talking about fishtanks here. Waterplants can and will assimilate nutrients from the water column alone. Root fertilizers can be beneficial for some species, but they are far from necessary to grow most aquarium plants. Also, forget planting epiphytes in gravel, that will just cause their rhizomes to rot and kill them.
Dude, I use Quickcrete and Quickcrete play sand from Home Depot for all 12 tanks I have. I haven't had any issue other then you gotta clean it a bit more before you put it in! Screw these " Aquarium" substrates. This is the hobby, make it work for you bro. the poop actually gets sunk into the sand and will feed all of your plants plus most fish love it. Its a win win
It took me about a couple years to pull the trigger on using pool filter sand for a couple of my smaller tanks, weighing in on the pros and cons I'm glad I did.
I haven't found any reason not to use it over "fish store sand", it's the same density and granule size, and looks natural to me.
Cost wise it's around .20 cents a pound where fish store sand is anywhere from $1-$1.50 a pound.
Yes I agree! I think it is worth it for sure unless you want some crazy colors or “crushed coral sand” to raise your PH. Other than that I’d for sure use pool filter sand. Thanks for watching!
An attractive inexpensive option is to mix pool filter sand with black diamond blasting sand. 👍🏻
That’s a good idea!
I'm upgrading my saltwater reef aquarium and I wish I could use this stuff! Such a shame this cheap option isn't an option for a reef; it looks so nice!😩 Another great cheap alternative for freshwater is apparently blasting sand - you can get the stuff made of quartz or garnite and it looks very pretty! Also: non-clumping plain clay cat litter is a great freshwater plant substrate that works as well or better than expensive plant substrates!❤
Yeah it would be nice if you could use it in a salt water tank. Thank you for sharing the info! I’ll have to keep that in mind if I ever setup a planted tank :)
Beautiful tank! Love the sand!
Thank you!
PFS is great, I have some in my indoor pond
That’s awesome! Indoor pond sounds so cool
@ I would prefer a large tank, but for the size the pond was $200 vs around $1500 for a tank lol
What brand would you suggest? Thanks!
I used HTH because it was the first one I found, it’s been great but I’m sure any brand of pool filter sand will work👍
Got it, thanks!
Have you silica sand in all my aquariums from salt water to freshwater for over 3 years it’s at Home Depot cheap and is in a 100 lb bag
Very nice, I’ll have to take a look at silica sand for my future tanks!
How is it for live plants?
Great question, I’ve never kept live plants but I assume there would be no issue if you normally put the plant in sand, maybe try to do some research on a forum. Sorry I wish I could be more help!
Will be a problem for plants. Would need a dirted substrate and have the white sand as a cap. Plants need nutrients that are not available in white sand only. Google Father fish and be enlightened.@@fishwateraquatics
I've got pool filter sand in 2 of 10 tanks and as long as I put root tabs in it does amazing g
What is the name of this pool filter sand you have in your tank
HTH Pool Care Pool Filter Sand
Other alternatives are sand used for sandboxes or garnet sand for sandblasting (nice because it's heavy and stuff planted in it definitely stays down), though simple gravel shouldn't normally cost you an arm and a leg - it's just the fancy ones or plant substrates/aquarium soil that's expensive. For plants, a simple 3-4 mm gravel is usually good enough for water circulation and root growth. Personally I prefer a finer look, but issues like detritus pooling, plants not being anchored as well and so on should be considered. Then there's also stuff like using literal dirt under a gravel layer in the Walstad method, etc.
@@madji6886 Nah. You forget we are talking about fishtanks here. Waterplants can and will assimilate nutrients from the water column alone. Root fertilizers can be beneficial for some species, but they are far from necessary to grow most aquarium plants. Also, forget planting epiphytes in gravel, that will just cause their rhizomes to rot and kill them.
I used pkay sand. Went black and stunk like 💩
I’ve heard mixed reviews with play sand, i wonder why some people have good luck with it and others don’t, maybe there is a specific brand that works.
Dude, I use Quickcrete and Quickcrete play sand from Home Depot for all 12 tanks I have. I haven't had any issue other then you gotta clean it a bit more before you put it in! Screw these " Aquarium" substrates. This is the hobby, make it work for you bro. the poop actually gets sunk into the sand and will feed all of your plants plus most fish love it. Its a win win