Does Angular Mystic White II Pool Filter Sand Raise PH?

Does anyone know if Angular Mystic White II Pool Filter Sand Raises PH ? & also What is the difference between these two pool filter sand. I am looking for white pool filter sand with vibrant color to buy that doesnt raise PH. Any recommendation is welcome. Thank you

 

Does anyone know if Angular Mystic White II Pool Filter Sand Raises PH ? & also What is the difference between these two pool filter sand. I am looking for white pool filter sand with vibrant color to buy that doesnt raise PH. Any recommendation is welcome. Thank you

I would assume it is 100% inert, but I wouldn't risk it. I used this sand and it works great and is 100% inert. hth Pool Filter Sand 50 lb. 26 in. H x 14 in. W x 4 in. L - Ace Hardware

 

Thank you for your recommendation but I rejected this sand for being too tan. I am looking more for snowwhite vibrant type.

 

You should be fine with it. It's near 100% quartz silica. The only odd part is that it is screened specifically for it's jagged angular shape. Might be rough on sand sifters, but it may not.

Here's a shot of the MSDS with the breakdown:

 

Ooop, I don't have the answer to your question, but you asked me to let you know when my Caribsea sand arrived - it has arrived & I love it. You can order a finer, whiter version called Moonlight Beach, I have the crystal river, if you wanna see some pics you can check out my thread!

My first tank in years... watch it grow. 20 Gallon Tank - | Freshwater Aquarium Journals Forum | 478868 (fishlore.com)

The water's a little cloudy right now, but not too bad, the fish seem to like it more than the gravel I had in there too. I hope you find a sand that works for you and your tank!

 

Thank you sir, and what do you mean by jagged angular shape. do you mean round shape? and I am guessing it shouldn't be that rough on sand shifter after all its a sand

hey Jacklynn yes, I think I found the sand I was looking for lol I am going with the above white mystic Pool filter sand. and yess crystal river looks awesome too tho I would switch the plastic plant with the real plants. Tehee just an opnion ^^

 

Thank you sir, and what do you mean by jagged angular shape. do you mean round shape? and I am guessing it shouldn't be that rough on sand shifter after all its a sand

Well, no, I do not mean round. I am a literal type of person and mean it's is intentionally graded to be jagged. AKA: sharp, rough, *angular*.

This sand is designed to run in a reactor style pool filter. It is jagged to allow it to filter/cut/grab more debris. Also in a bio filter it would hold extra bacteria. Here is a close up of it directly from manufacturer website:


And the link: "Mystic White® Premium Swimming Pool Filter Sand | U.S. Silica" Mystic White® Premium Swimming Pool Filter Sand


By sand sifter, there are some fish that eat the sand and pass it though the digestive tract, and some that simply mouth it and pass it through the gills. I don't own any and use black diamond sand (also jagged) but would reconsider if a species I wanted to keep needed the consideration.

In my tanks as they are now though, yes, I would use this, and I would recommend. Unless: sand sifter.

 

hey Jacklynn yes, I think I found the sand I was looking for lol I am going with the above white mystic Pool filter sand. and yess crystal river looks awesome too tho I would switch the plastic plant with the real plants. Tehee just an opnion ^^

I am in the process of doing so now! I am ordering a bunch of plants next week & I can't wait! I am glad you found what you were looking for !

 

You sir deserve a Victoria Cross : ) I feel like i can ask you anything regarding aquarium and bother you a little more with questions if thats ok with you lol and yup I figured and looked into it too. A lot of experts probably would not recommend it due to the sand being jagged/sharp in this case coz it might cut thru the gills of bottom-dweller fish like corydoras and cause fish infection. However, there are people who have kept bottom dwellers like myself for years with such sand and have not had an issue so i dont think it should be that big of a concern in my opinion : )
I was just bit worried about which sand would look more bright among the two. but I guess it doesnt matter now coz I already picked the left one ^^

 

I'll pass on the cross, haven't earned anything that noteworthy yet. I'll gladly answer questions when I have the time though. Don't confuse me for an expert though, just a quick and curious study.

 

that wont be stopping me from asking you questions buddy lol next question: any idea where can I order an Acrylic lid for a rimless tank? like any sites that make customize acrylic lid for rimless tank? I hope you wont be too modest in your answer. let that precious information out.

 

Thank you sir, and what do you mean by jagged angular shape. do you mean round shape? and I am guessing it shouldn't be that rough on sand shifter after all its a sand

I agree with John it is odd.
Normally PFS is sand that is rounded / polished and more or less of the same size.
Exactly that causes there is always space between the grains to let water (including oxygin and ferts) pass through.
That is exact why it is used in Pool Filters.

Sand that is edged / angular will not show this. The spaces between the grains are "filled", water won't freely pass and the sand in fact will earlier "close down".

So in fact it won't do the job as intended for filters and neither for our tanks. And that is odd.

 

wait you got me thinking too and in dilemma I just ordered this sand last night already and now i am wondering if i should cancel it and get the one with round shape PFS?
Also can you tell me how damaging could it be to tank if water cant pass thru the sand? Will the surface of the sand be really hard concrete with the angular shape sand ?
I have attached a picture of different types of sand shapes and i am thinking the mystic sand would probably look like one i marked, correct me if i am wrong anyone ^^ also theres two different types of Mystic white sand (one with black label and one with blue label) I ordered the black label one yet still dont know the actual difference Between the two sands. If anyone can answer it that would be helpful too

 

Well, looking at that picture in their website, it looks to be beyond "very" angular according to your chart. It has "T" and "L" shapes tossed in there. I agree mostly with DoubleDutch in the fact that angular sand typically will pack down. *But* In a gravity pool filter there is a backwash mode that stirs the sand that had settled to the bottom. In a reactor type filter like we would use, the water flows from the bottom preventing packing. In pool filters, the sand gradually rounds out until it cannot trap debris, and then it needs to be replaced.

As a substrate, not considering sifters, I think this sand should be fine, the point made about it packing will be true but it shouldn't get hard at the top. The raking and smoothing you do will gradually shake the finer granules to the bottom but I don't think you will have any issues with root binding. Also, I use a "tumble" method where I let the siphon bell fill with sand, kink the hose, and let the sand fall back in and it seems to work fine and would likely prevent too much packing. This won't work perfectly in all rooted plant areas but you can easily tuck the roots back in with a sand spreader and tongs.

I do find the picture and the claims of the site odd though. I use HTH and BDBS, neither of which claim to be that angular/irregularly shaped. With both of the sand I run I have managed to grow plants well. I would still give that sand a go as a substrate, it might surprise us all.

 

Ahhh bit different than I thought. It makes more sense now. In fact it is the same but the little bumps more ot less do the same (keeping distance). Otherwise it wasn't usable as pool filter sand as well.
I think ut is okay.

 

I do not know how the whole gravity pool filter or pool filter in a swimming pool works in general so from my understanding, you are saying the sand doesnt have a uniform size and may cause issues in growing plants? Also the sand description says "uniform grain size is achieved by carefully screening and grading the sand at our manufacturing facilities." is this what you are implying too? trying to get a more uniform size, separate fine particles from the others by dipping the hose in the sand and let the water clear up the debris? let me know if I get you right.

 

No that is nit what I mean. As the name suggest this sand is used in poolfilters Water is pushed / sucked through it and dirt will stay behind in the sand.
To make that possible the sand must be and stay open to let the water penetrate.
This is one of the unique selling points we benefit of in our hobby.
Water / oxygen and ferts are able to penetrate into the substrate which is great.
Your PFS is a bit different but has the same properties. So I wouldn't doubt.

 

Hey DoubleDutch & John58ford I just received the sand and recorded a video for you guys to decide & see if it looks any different or similar than how you guys imagined, let me know your thoughts. Also don't be confused with other sand, the right sand is my previous sand which I got it from a dollar tree store that caused to raised my PH significantly thus i am buying the PFS and the left is the Mystic white PFS. Also I did a test using API Nitrate bottle # 1 on both sands to check for any kind of carbonate or bi-carbonate that contributes to raising in PH and as you can see the right sand starts to reacts and fizzes up meawhile the PFS has no reaction so it means this Mystic white sand PFS doesn't raise the ph and is aquarium safe.
My personal thoughts, it looks clean and pre-washed. Also, I wished it could have been vibrant white & a tiny bit smaller with uniform size like the right sand but that could just be my eyes not getting used to the new sand. Overall I like the sand and would recommend to anyone looking for white sand.
link 1 -

link 2-

 

Looks good to me. PFS is quartz / silica and inert. Other sand could be have a shell origin which leaks carbonate / calcium.

Don't show these vids to the DEA btw.

Still rinse it before using !!!!

 

DoubleDutch yea if they are dumb enough to use this as evidence in a court of law.