Silica sand question

[Trevor W]

I am just wondering if there are any types of silica sand products out there that may contain other minerals or chemicals ect that may be harmful? I found some pool filter silica sand at the local pool supply store but I do not like the colour. Its a darker brown and I am looking for a light beige to white. Could someone please check out these links of some silca sand products and tell me what ya think. Any feed back is greatly appreciated.

-Trevor

http://www.brockwhite.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=38

http://www.sil.ab.ca/Catalogue/006.pdf

P.S Also what is a good grade or size to go with?

[Trevor W]

Sorry the first link doesn't go straight to the silca sand for some reason, just click on concrete accessories, then its in the list near the bottom. Thanks again!

-Trevor

[Eddie]

http://www.acehardwaresuperstore.com/hth-pool-filter-sand-50-lbs-p-69631.html?ref=42

You posted this in another section....????

[Trevor W]

Yea sorry I posted this one first and than realized that perhaps I posted it under the wrong section... i appologize for polluting the forum with my lack of proper forum edicate haha. Anyways thanks for the reply... do you see any reason why I shouldn't use either one of those products? Is there anything I should "watch out for" ? or is any silica sand useable? This isn't 'pool filter' sand its used for sand blasting. I don't think it makes much of a difference however I have never used silica sand in a tank before so im sure you can understand my concern.

Thanks,
Trevor

[Eddie]

Yea sorry I posted this one first and than realized that perhaps I posted it under the wrong section... i appologize for polluting the forum with my lack of proper forum edicate haha. Anyways thanks for the reply... do you see any reason why I shouldn't use either one of those products? Is there anything I should "watch out for" ? or is any silica sand useable? This isn't 'pool filter' sand its used for sand blasting. I don't think it makes much of a difference however I have never used silica sand in a tank before so im sure you can understand my concern.

Thanks,
Trevor

Sorry Trevor, never used that type so not sure. I have only used the one in the link I posted to you.

Eddie

[Trevor W]

hmmm....oh well. Thanks for the reply though, like I said its greatly appreciated.

[cyberhog05]

Here is the sand I use. http://www.lanemt.com/LM_typical_screen.htm I got it at a local masonry shop. 6.50 per 100#. That is the link that will kind of explain how they grade and size it. Home depot sells lane mt. But I am pretty sure they carry the finer grains

[Trevor W]

Thanks! now would you happen to know if the lane mountain silica sand is the only white silica sand?

[cyberhog05]

No lane mt is not the only one. It is what I can get on the west side of the country. Im sure most of them will be sized and measured the same because they are used in similar applications.

The link up top to the ace store where the aqua quartz is, that sand is .45-.55mm #20 grade. Roughly half a mm across. Here is some info I dug up. I wanted to know more about silica sand. The first one is a link to the aqua quartz sand, If you look at the bottom right you can click on a link it will give you the specific information on that particular sand. The last link is pretty informative as well.

http://www.fairmountminerals.com/interior.asp?page=PoolFilterSand&category=Products&level1=AquaQuartz

http://www.aquamagazine.com/articles/article.aspx?articleid=1389&zoneid=25

http://www.pflfiltermedia.com/pdf%27s/pfl_material_data.pdf

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/sand.php

[Trevor W]

Thanks! that helps alot, although I am worried about the one brand I listed in my one reply, its only 93.5%. Should I be worried? Do you think its safe to use?

[Don Trinko]

I use "play sand" from home depot. Don T.

[hogan]

just a question i believe on one of those sites they promote using acrylic tanks only with sand. Is it bad to use glass aquariums then with sand

[KDodds]

Actually, sand is MORE likely to scratch an acrylic tank, so I don't see the reasoning behind that. Be that as it may, my 450 is acrylic and I'm using aragonite sand (marine tank). You just have to be careful while cleaning.

[cyberhog05]

Thanks! that helps alot, although I am worried about the one brand I listed in my one reply, its only 93.5%. Should I be worried? Do you think its safe to use?

Im not sure, I guess it would depend on what the other 6.5% was



just a question i believe on one of those sites they promote using acrylic tanks only with sand. Is it bad to use glass aquariums then with sand

It makes no difference. I think it said to be careful with sand in acrylic tanks because it will scratch the acrylic much easier. Glass is quartz silicate sand(Si02) just heated and reshaped.

[Trevor W]

Thanks for all the info guys! I actually found some of that nice white lane mountain silica sand #16. Now for the teadious part of washing it boooo hahahaha.

-Trevor

[atorres]

Trevor
I purchased the sand from Ace Hardware that was recommended by Eddie. It has a beautiful color, it does not get sucked up by my filters and a 50 pound bag cost me $12.95.
Angel

[Trevor W]

Yea I unfortunatly do not have a local ace hardware store, I seen some pics of eddies tank with it in it and I was really impressed. Soooo I had to search high and low I prolly made about 2 dozen phone calls this morning before finding the lane mountain #16 white silica sand in a neighbouring city. All the poolfilter sand I looked at from the local pool shops were too dark for me.
Take care,
-Trevor

[cyberhog05]

I only washed about half a bucket full. I honestly dont think that it is necessary for the bigger grained silica. Other than a tiny bit of dust(very minimal) there wasnt a need too. I just poured what I wanted in the tank directly from the bag. It didnt cloud the water or anything. That was my experience. When we set our other tanks up we doidnt wash any at all with the same results.