29 Gallon Tank Safe pool sand thickness?

Well,

I have been reading the Forum for a long time and I am still not sure of what to do!

I am setting up a new planted tank with Mystic Whit II Pool Filter Sand. Does anyone know if this is "coarse" pool filter sand? It seems pretty fine grained to me!

If possible, I don't want:

• to stir the sand
• snails or other critters just in there to sift the sand
• for the sand to go brown or to stink
• thick sand

How thick can the sand safely be and still keep plants and root tabs in place?

 

I think normally for rooted plants most people do around 2-3inchs of sands

 

I think normally for rooted plants most people do around 2-3inchs of sands

Peter, thanks!

Do you remember what brand of sand you used is in your tank? How thick is it? Do you stir it and are your plants weighted? Your tank is actually our inspiration! We love your tank! We even switched from a column tank

 

I use Mystic White PFS. It's the only PFS I've ever seen, so I don't know if it's considered to be coarse or fine. It's more coarse than the Quickrete play sand, which has a lot of super fine particles.

If the sand gets brown and stinky, that's a tank maintenance problem, not a sand issue.

EDIT: I know people say you don't need to wash PFS, but I always do. It's not as dirty as other sands, but still worth cleaning it before using.

 

Peter, thanks!

Do you remember what brand of sand you used is in your tank? How thick is it? Do you stir it and are your plants weighted? Your tank is actually our inspiration! We love your tank! We even switched from a column tank

Ohh wow thanks soo much that means a lot to me, I assume your talking about my 20gal high(I'll put a photo below).

I'm from Australia and I have used pool filter sand, play sand and brick layers sand. When I was setting up that tank it was the only sand I had on hand, at first it will cloud your water for around 2-3days then it will clear up depends on how much you wash it before use.

My tank has around 1.5-2 inches of sand, over time the sand will compact I think at first I added 2.5-3 inches but as air bubbles are released and sand compacts it lowered. I don't have many stem plants but the ones I have are working well, I often make a boarder of small river rocks around the base of plants to weigh them down if I don't have a weight it works well for me.

I don't necessarily 'stir' my sand put I just poke my finger through it and occasionally look to small handful of sand here and there. That tank is only about a 9months old.

Just out of curiosity May I ask what was it about my tank that you liked and is inspirational to you? Please PM me or make a thread and @ me when it's setup I'd love to see it'll.

Thanks heaps and hope it works out for you.

 

I use Mystic White PFS. It's the only PFS I've ever seen, so I don't know if it's considered to be coarse or fine. It's more coarse than the Quickrete play sand, which has a lot of super fine particles.

If the sand gets brown and stinky, that's a tank maintenance problem, not a sand issue.

EDIT: I know people say you don't need to wash PFS, but I always do. It's not as dirty as other sands, but still worth cleaning it before using.

Thanks! If you have Cory’s or Kuhli loaches, how do they do with the Mystic II White?

Ohh wow thanks soo much that means a lot to me, I assume your talking about my 20gal high(I'll put a photo below).

I'm from Australia and I have used pool filter sand, play sand and brick layers sand. When I was setting up that tank it was the only sand I had on hand, at first it will cloud your water for around 2-3days then it will clear up depends on how much you wash it before use.

My tank has around 1.5-2 inches of sand, over time the sand will compact I think at first I added 2.5-3 inches but as air bubbles are released and sand compacts it lowered. I don't have many stem plants but the ones I have are working well, I often make a boarder of small river rocks around the base of plants to weigh them down if I don't have a weight it works well for me.

I don't necessarily 'stir' my sand put I just poke my finger through it and occasionally look to small handful of sand here and there. That tank is only about a 9months old.

Just out of curiosity May I ask what was it about my tank that you liked and is inspirational to you? Please PM me or make a thread and @ me when it's setup I'd love to see it'll.

Thanks heaps and hope it works out for you.

There is so much to like about your tank! I like that the sand is bright white and that there are different grain sizes. The plants are stunning! You have many different varieties and they are placed perfectly. It just looks very natural, peaceful and like a great place to be if you are a fish I even liked your light! The light on my little tank is the old, clunky kind - not led. Funny that I didn't focus on the fish so much! I was really looking more at the set up.

I will show you photos for sure! It is going to take a long time to cycle, grow plants and stock. I don't have a lot to spend on plants and I don't have a lot of confidence in my growing skills. Plants were really hard to grow in my column tank. I couldn't keep the light on because the crazy kitten would have knocked the light in. A lot of my plants turned brown. I am hoping to rescue them.

Thanks for all of your help! And for the inspiration....of course!

 

Thanks so much, I'll get a photo of the sand tomorrow, here is the tank I bought it comes with the light, it's a fairly cheap tank for the size especially in Australia

https://www.dicksmith.com.au/da/buy...BEs0qijXRSRJeSjuof_HFdWThdCsKOGxoCdx8QAvD_BwE

 

Thanks! If you have Cory’s or Kuhli loaches, how do they do with the Mystic II White?

I don't have corys or kuhlis, but when I did have corys they were on Eco Complete (more course and perhaps sharper than sand) and they did great. Never any barbel problems, if that's what your concerned about. I think they would do just fine on sand.

 

As said more often PFS is "designed" to let water through / not to clog. To get such properties the grains are polished / rounded and more or less of the same size. It is silica / quart which is inert.

These properties make it even more usable in tanks than several other types of sand