The Puffer Forum

From what I've read as long as the bag doesn't state chemicals added or 'Not Safe For Aquariums' (even better if it says non-toxic) Most likely it's safe. I was thinking you said that it was already in the tank, but by a quick glance I didn't see it again. If you rinsed it well, IMO I think you should be fine

Yeah it is in the tank I added it last night but have not put the fish in it yet. It does not say anything about Aquariums I did rinse it very well and it has not done anything to the water ph or anything like that either. I just called couple stores I can also get HTH Pool Filter Sand and another white aquarium sand for US Silica (the same people who make the kind I have now. http://www.idealtruevalue.com/servlet/the-38774/Detail and then I can get this http://www.u-s-silica.com/mystic.htm

I've seen others on forums use the Lighthouse brand of PFS. I think they sell it at Wally World so a lot of people use it. As long as your water is staying clear and your are fairly confident that the sand wasn't exposed to anything bad, your probably OK. I would almost say that even if it was exposed to something bad I would think that you probably washed it away because PFS shouldn't be absorbent.

And speaking of rinsing and rinsing and cloudiness...Yesterday I started converting my 46g over for the F8 and BBGs and the aragonite sand and crushed gravel was a damn mess. I bet I wasted nearly 300 gallons of water rinsing it. It was still cloudy but it settled very quickly.

Good luck.

JRC3 wrote:I've seen others on forums use the Lighthouse brand of PFS. I think they sell it at Wally World so a lot of people use it. As long as your water is staying clear and your are fairly confident that the sand wasn't exposed to anything bad, your probably OK. I would almost say that even if it was exposed to something bad I would think that you probably washed it away because PFS shouldn't be absorbent.

And speaking of rinsing and rinsing and cloudiness...Yesterday I started converting my 46g over for the F8 and BBGs and the aragonite sand and crushed gravel was a damn mess. I bet I wasted nearly 300 gallons of water rinsing it. It was still cloudy but it settled very quickly.

Good luck.

Alright that makes me feel better about it knowing other people use it for substrate. My main concern was not knowing if anyone has used it before. I am 95% confident that it was not exposed to anything bad. It was outside with a two 1 inch holes in the bottom of the bag and all the sand I took was from the top. It has cloudy at first but once I rinsed it was absolutely fine. My water is crystal clear and it did not even cloud up when I put it in the tank. I tested my water params and everything is how it should be. It didn't effect PH or anything ( I figured if it did have something funky in it maybe it would alter the PH?). I know how you feel about wasting a ton of water LOL, I wasted a crazy amount myself washing aragonite sand for my F8 and this pool filter sand for my SAPs.

You're lucky to be able to get the darker color PFS. I looked everywhere and couldn't find any in my area. I hate how light and white the sand and aragonite look when it's new. Time will darken it though.

I also meant to say "crushed coral" and not "crushed gravel" in my other post.

Oh, I had found where people were using it on reptile forums and on MFK as well

JRC3 wrote:You're lucky to be able to get the darker color PFS. I looked everywhere and couldn't find any in my area. I hate how light and white the sand and aragonite look when it's new. Time will darken it though.

I also meant to say "crushed coral" and not "crushed gravel" in my other post.

I figured you meant crushed coral . By the way, how does your F8 and BBGs get along together? Would it be possible to do a couple of them in my 30 gallon you think? I am actually loving the way this sand looks. It looks very "natural" and goes with the theme of my tank so well.

Ohyouknow wrote:Oh, I had found where people were using it on reptile forums and on MFK as well

Hrm, I've searched on there myself couldn't find anyone. But I am happy that others use it too

borgey wrote:By the way, how does your F8 and BBGs get along together? Would it be possible to do a couple of them in my 30 gallon you think?

I got the original 2 BBGs a few months ago. Then I added 6 more 5 weeks ago. And then a pet shop got 3 in because I had asked about them once so I bought them too; that was a few weeks ago. They have been doing great and the my F8 could care less about them. The BBGs do tend to keep an eye on him and get out of his way if he comes too close or they feel cornered but they don't seemed threatened in any way. I just got done switching everybody from the 29g over to the 46g so I definitely think they'll all be fine in there. With all that said, who knows how a different F8 will act. Mine is extremely docile and I've even seen ghost shrimp snatch food from him. I've even had the same ghost shrimp in there for a couple of months now. I think he has picked off 1 or 2 but that was probably more out of convenience and opportunity.

The BBGs are great little fish and I would keep at least 5 together so they feed properly. They know when I turn of the filter and tap on the brim of the tank that it's dinner time. Once again I'm lucky because my F8 doesn't interfere with their feeding but different one might. The BBGs like to be around each other but they do get in little squabbles sometimes if somebody else gets in their personal space and it's pretty funny.

I have BBG's with my F8 too. If anything they push him around. They get very territorial if any fish gets too close to one of their shells.

Thanks for the input guys. I am very interested in getting some for my F8 tank. My F8 seems pretty docile as well but I have not tested this with tank mates. How would you guys suggest I test this? I would love to get some but I don't want to be stuck with them and have to setup another tank since I have no room for another at the moment. I have always been interested in them since I seen them being kept with F8s.

I popped into my local DIY shop one sunday morning in a bit of a hurry to get some playsand for substrate for my tank,grabbed 4 bags,got home and started to clean them and no matter how many times i washed i couldnt get rid of the frothy bubbles,thats when i decided id read the bags that i bought which said playsand on thm,it wasnt untill i saw right at the bottom of the bag that it was actually a shock absorbing sand,lol...Luckily enough i took them back,less one and replaced them with the correct ones...

shimmy33 wrote:I popped into my local DIY shop one sunday morning in a bit of a hurry to get some playsand for substrate for my tank,grabbed 4 bags,got home and started to clean them and no matter how many times i washed i couldnt get rid of the frothy bubbles,thats when i decided id read the bags that i bought which said playsand on thm,it wasnt untill i saw right at the bottom of the bag that it was actually a shock absorbing sand,lol...Luckily enough i took them back,less one and replaced them with the correct ones...

Haha, good thing you read the bag. The frothy bubbles would have put up a reg flag for me also. The sand I am using is actually great, I love the look of it. It did not make my tank cloudy one bit either which is a great plus. Yeah I had to rinse it a little but it was worth it no doubt about it. I don't think I'll use anything else for substrate in my freshwater tanks. I wanted to originally use Aragonite sand for the tank but was worried about the PH and hardness of the water. It's cheap and it looks so much better then gravel also. I LOVE IT!

I have silica sand in my piranaha tank for about a year now, they love it and it hasn't caused me any problems.

I have silica in my soon to be fahaka tank as well.

HGI wrote:I have silica sand in my piranaha tank for about a year now, they love it and it hasn't caused me any problems.

I have silica in my soon to be fahaka tank as well.

Yeah it's been great so far for me also. It seems like my Puffers like it a lot. It's also so much more easy to clean then the regular gravel in my opinion. Ugh I will never use gravel again.