Pool Filter Sand or Good Play Sand in Calgary?

[punman]

I bought pool filter sand in Calgary a few years ago from a pool service company but I have not seen it for awhile. The last three years I have used Target playsand from Home Depot and it was good but now I see they don't carry that brand anymore and I am looking for sand.

Where in the Calgary area have you bought sand recently (apart from pet stores) that was of good colour and fairly clean?

Edited June 2, 2010 by punman

[Wingin' It]

As of late, i've not been able to find the lighter colored playsand, but rather the dark brown playsand at Home Depot...but I would imagine that Totem and/or Rona would have some as well.

The dark brown stuff I recently bought needed a lot of rinsing, probably more than the lighter stuff I bought last year...go figure.

[cdnarcher]

When I set up my tank, I went to Burnco Rock Products and bought Sil #7 Silica Sand in 100 lb bags for $9. It is a light tan color and really works well.

Here are a couple of photos that show the sand.

[Kronosdelsol]

That color of sand looks similar to playground sand. I also have that in my tank and like it a lot. I'm loving your tank btw. Good choice of sand for that wood stain.

You can also look into sandblasting media at the larger auto shops. That is pretty popular and offers a different color.

To clean sand - Fill a bucket half way with sand and stick the garden hose (without any attachments) in so that it touches the very bottom. Crank the water and leave it for a while. It will be nice and clean without the need to do any manual sifting. I hate when the sand goes up your fingernails.

[BettaFishMommy]

Home Depot carries the Quickrete brand play sand. it does require a good amount of rinsing but looks quite nice and natural in the tank. i recently switched over one of my 55's to this sand and was able to add the sand in with the fish still in the tank, using a large measuring cup and lowering the cup slowly into the water and pouring the sand out slowly onto the bottom of the tank. did this during a large water change and the tank cleared within half a day.

[punman]

I saw the Quickrete brand. Now that I know that someone has used it, I might give it a try. The Burnco sand sounds good and I shop there quite a bit. Don't know if I need 100 lbs.!!!

[rayfong]

I have the Quikrete brand in some of my tanks. I didn't rinse any of it, just put the bag in, cut a slit and slowly poured the sand out. It was still cloudy from when I removed the old substrate but it cleared up in a day.

[Blue Ram]

I think I bought pool filter sand that I really liked from Oasis Pool in Calgary. They were close to Chinook Centre.

[GIJester]

hey cdnarcher.

Was just looking at there website and saw both SIL #7 and SIL #4... which is coarser? I do not know sand grade terminology - but love the look of the sand in your tank

[cdnarcher]

hey cdnarcher.

Was just looking at there website and saw both SIL #7 and SIL #4... which is coarser? I do not know sand grade terminology - but love the look of the sand in your tank

The #7 (U.S. Mesh Size) is screened through a #7 screen with a opening size of 0.111" and the #4 is screened through an opening size of 0.187", so the #4 will have some larger particles in it.

[t-man]

Used the play sand from home depot and it seems to be fine and I have rays in the tank. Rinsed it in a 5 gallon pail with a garden hose and it doesn't take long at all.

[punman]

I went with the Burnco Silica 7.

I know Burnco carries 3 mm and 5 mm in their yard so I somehow figured "7" would have been larger grains but that was not the case. The silica stuff was quite fine in size and lighter in color than the last play sand I bought. I am happy with this stuff. It rinsed up quickly.