# Pool Filter Sand



## Emily (May 4, 2010)

I am wanting to use PFS in my 90g set-up because I just love the look of sand. I was hoping I could get some input from people more in the know than me on what I can expect and where I can purchase it. I have a few specific questions:

1. I heard that sand can suffocate plants because the grains are so tiny. For this reason, I want to go with PFS instead of play sand because I heard the grain sizes are slightly larger and therefore better aerated and better for plants than play sand. Is there any truth to this? For the record, this tank will only have a few plants, it is not going to be heavily planted.

2. Is there any way to vacuum PFS without sucking it all up the tube? I am scared that I will get waste accumulating on the top of it and that I won't be able to clean it very well because I can't really vacuum it.

3. Where did people buy their PFS? I have been to a few of the home hardware type stores with no luck 

Any other little pieces of advice or experiences would be very helpful  Thanks!


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

i use crayola playsand, and 100% for sure you will have poop settle on the top of your sand, one way to avoid this is by putting a water fan/powerhead in there to create current so the poop will be whooshed up into your intake, i "gravel vac" my sand every water change and 100% you will suck some up you just have to go a little easier than normal, just have your siphon go into a bucket rather than just out the window than you can recover your sand after you pour off the excess water and waste your sand will still be at the bottom of the bucket, quick rinse and back in she goes

pfs is very useable, but in a planted tank there is a reason people have special substrate, i am not a planted tank guy i kill every plant and the ones i can get to survive my fish destroy.

but i will tell you this i find my tanks are 100 times easier to maintain with sand than with gravel, no nooks and cranny's for tirds or other gross stuff to get lodged in, just a nice neat and clean floor if you will, also when it comes time to gravel vac your sand more often than not you can "hover" your vac over a calm spot in your tank where your fish's nuggets will land and they will get sucked up super easy .


add current or up flow with airstones too the draw from the bubbles going up is often enough to put your fish's poop in motion where it will eventually go up an intake

my 2 cents hope it helped


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## Emily (May 4, 2010)

Thanks that was exactly the kind of help I was looking for  I have used fluorite in the past and know there is some plant specific substrates but I really like the look of the PFS and was hoping I could grow a few 'easy' type things if I use some root tabs. I would really like to have some tiger lotus, and will probably transfer my anubias into this tank as well.


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

those things should be okay, also plants that can be tied to driftwood also work very easily, anubias should be fine, but im no expert, im a plant killer but have yet to try anubias so might be just fine

you could pot you plants and just bury the pos in sand , pot them with flourite and then bury the whole pot in sand, pfs is super cheap so buying alot should be easy assuming you dont have fish that excavate


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## target (Apr 21, 2010)

You can also just 'hover' your gravel vac above the sand. This will suck up the detritus without taking much, if any, of the sand.


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

Alot of times I would just use the gravel vac to give the spot a little stir just to disturb the poop and then the vac will suck it up quite easily. Not even a stir, just enough movement to get the poop up off the sand.


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## Emily (May 4, 2010)

Sweet, sounds like I will do the hover thing and the stirring is a good idea. Now I don't feel as worried about going with sand


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

its still a good idea to siphon into a bucket the sand will fall to the bottom, even if your bucket is outside it will catch your sand and then you wont lose much


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

Emily said:


> I am wanting to use PFS in my 90g set-up because I just love the look of sand. I was hoping I could get some input from people more in the know than me on what I can expect and where I can purchase it. I have a few specific questions:
> 
> 1. I heard that sand can suffocate plants because the grains are so tiny. For this reason, I want to go with PFS instead of play sand because I heard the grain sizes are slightly larger and therefore better aerated and better for plants than play sand. Is there any truth to this? For the record, this tank will only have a few plants, it is not going to be heavily planted.
> 
> ...


1. I use root tabs from Pat of Canadian Aquatic in my PFS. I noticed that the stem plants did not grow well at first without the tabs but now they are okay. I think it is because PFS is inert and does not hold the ferts like some other substrates such as flourite. With some easy low tech plants they should be okay with just some tabs. Some advanced plants like with those with red leaves and things like that might not work very well. PFS is less messy than playsand from my own experience. I put them in without rinsing them and never had a problem.

2. I put my vacuum on top of the sand and if you like you can also use the vacuum to stir it a bit but mostly the dirts will just sit on the sand so you can just suck them out without disturbing them too much. Or you can suck out the debris then stir it a bit after. You can also put a small cup in your bucket so the sand will sit inside the cup while the water will flow out into the bucket if you suck out some sand by acident.

3. I bought mine in Richmond in a store that sells pool supplies, it is about $25 for 50 lbs, all cleaned and sterlized.
Great West Pool & Spa Ltd - 140-9780 Cambie Rd, Richmond, BC
It is located on Cambie in a very small corner mall next to a gorcery store and a music store.


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## roshan (Jul 19, 2010)

i ahve been using beige pfs for a while now, purchased it from Vantage pools in langly, you can get the finer white sand at langley bywater, i just hover the siphon over the sand


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## discuspaul (Jul 2, 2010)

As Roshan mentioned, you can get dense, high-quality quartz-based white silica PFS @ Langley By-Water on Hwy #10, the By-Pass.
About $13. for 50 lbs. It's great stuff - doesn't need any rinsing, easy to keep clean, will not get siphoned up when using a substrate vacuum, and will not free-float into the water column when disturbed, so will not get into your filters and clog them.
I've used it for years, and it'll grow plants well, using root tab ferts.
Here's my tank, if you care to have a look:
lolliblues2 pictures by discuspaul - Photobucket


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## discuspaul (Jul 2, 2010)

Emily, you mentioned you like tiger lotus.
Here's a few more pics of my same tank, taken months before I did a re-scape and got some diffferent fish, when I had been growing some Lotuses in the PFS:
Sept2011 pictures by discuspaul - Photobucket


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## Emily (May 4, 2010)

Thanks everyone so much for the replies, I am going to call up the suggested places tomorrow so I can figure out where to get it from Wednesday


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

discuspaul said:


> Emily, you mentioned you like tiger lotus.
> Here's a few more pics of my same tank, taken months before I did a re-scape and got some diffferent fish, when I had been growing some Lotuses in the PFS:
> Sept2011 pictures by discuspaul - Photobucket


Paul,
Your plants and your discus look soooooooooooooooo beautiful. Really enjoy looking at your pictures. Thanks.


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## Emily (May 4, 2010)

discuspaul said:


> Emily, you mentioned you like tiger lotus.
> Here's a few more pics of my same tank, taken months before I did a re-scape and got some diffferent fish, when I had been growing some Lotuses in the PFS:
> Sept2011 pictures by discuspaul - Photobucket


That is the look I am going for and I am so pleased to hear the lotus should be ok in it! I can't wait to pick it up now  Everyone once again, thanks so much.


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