Bluechem Filter Sand From Builders is it safe and how to clean it

Good Morning everyone glad to be here i really need some help im changing the substrate in my 4ft tank and i wanted to know if i can use the bluechem filter sand from builders as its alot cheaper for 40kgs of sand thank you in advance for your help guys

 

Hi, I use the sand in my 810L tank, I had to get it a good wash for days and still was not clean. So prepare yourself to for alot of work.

 

I'm not sure if mine is bluechem specifically, but I did buy pool filter sand (pfs) from builders, and like @Whoknows says, needs a looooot of washing and rinsing, but other than that it's perfect for using in a fish tank. Just keep in mind it's inert so if you want plants, you'll need to supplement (root tabs or liquid ferts). I use neither because I keep forgetting, but my plants are pretty low requirement plants and I had quite a few fish and so they helped with the fertilising too

 

Trick is, once done with washing it and it's laid out in the tank, to put a plastic packet or large plate or something similar on the sand then direct the water slowly onto that. There should be little disturbance to the sand and the water should be clear then.

 

Going to be getting an arm workout

 

gonna have my work cut out for me thank you guys really appreciate the quick responses this is a good community

 

I used it mixed with playsand. Works out better for fish that sift the sand looking for food.

 

I did in the past use an old pillow case and washes a kg at a time

 

Yes it did. Filled the pillow cover. Then put a hose in and held it closed and let the water spray. When it was ready you could tell from the clarity of the water. I just punched the sand a few times to ensure it was definitely alll done and that was it. It did take long though less effort than washing in a bucket

 

Perfectly safe to use just need a good wash. One good trick is to build a cheap and nasty water polisher to put in the tank temporarily after you filled it. Take a coldrink bottle of between 500ml and 1.5L cut off the bottom, fill it with filtet floss and attach it to a power head or small pond pump. Throw it in the tank and run it 4 around 3 to 4 days changing out the filter floss ever 24 to 48 hours. This will remove any excess dirt and dust from the filter sand.

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Someone on fb just told me that silica sand (iow the sand I bought from stodels yesterday) is not the same as pool filter sand. She says silica sand is dangerous for things like corys and plecos as it's fundamentally made out of tiny shards.of glass.

Is this true? I was under the impression all pfs is silica sand.
She reckons the one from builders warehouse is perfectly safe, but silica sand is not.
I'm not sure if there's any truth in that or if whoever told her that was scare mongering.

This is a closeup of the sand I bought. It is silica sand. I'm wondering now if I should return it and buy bluechem pfs from builders rather or of it really is all the same thing.
I certainly don't see any sign of glass in this.

 

Also wanted to know and seeing you asked the question, i googled a bit:
https://shawresources.ca/what-is-silica-sand/

 

Thanks @krg007, that's an interesting article.
I think based on that, and also on everything else I've read on Google, the sand I have (silica sand) really is the same thing as pool filter sand and should be safe to use in the tank.