LF: Pool Filter Gravel, Not Sand

[Kalinkacat]

I want to redo my 85 gallon tank but am looking for small fine gravel - not sand for the substrate.  I have heard that there is fine gravel, not sand, available for pool filters.  Does anyone know where I can get this?  Most pool places seem to carry only the sand.

If I can't find this, does anyone have any other suggestions for small fine gravel and where to get some?

Thanks,

[matttimms49]

Hey, I got some pool filter gravel from club piscene on hunt club. It's a small dark grey gravel. Almost in-between sand and small gravel. Its super cheap too

[Gilbotron]

If you want something slightly bigger than PFS, but smaller than normal pea gravel, I got some very small gravel at Petsmart (National Geographic brand maybe?).  I used it in my 10g lighted cave in my gallery if you want to see what it looks like (on the sides, not the path). Not cheap tho - standard gravel prices...

[lucius]

CaribSea has small gravel.  You can get them at BA's but it's pricey also.

https://www.caribsea.com/caribsea_super-naturals.html

[Kalinkacat]

Thank you everyone.  I have picked up a few bags at club piscine and will redo my 55 gallon for the third time, this time with the fine inert substrate.  I hope it works this time.  If it does go well, I will be using the same substrate to redo the 85 gallon tank too.

[matttimms49]

@Kalinkacat - how have you found the Pool Filter Gravel? I found that it was pretty dusty out of the bag, I gave it a good rinse through but i'm yet to do a gravel vac on it to see what kinda dust/dirt was left. It's been in my tank for about 4 weeks now and I'm very happy with the look, just wondering what your opinion on it is?
cheers

[Kalinkacat]

Funny you should ask that.  It has been in the tank for a week now and yesterday I did my first water peramiter check.

The water came up as "moderately hard" with a KH of 30 and a GH of 160 with a high Calcium/Cao3 reading as well.  I have never had hard water here.  I did a 50% water change after I did the peramiter check and ran the tests again this morning.

The readings this morning had the same KH of 30 but a lowered GH of 100 which translates to "slightly hard".  This leads me to believe that the crushed natural stone contains some sort of rock that is hardening the water.  In 20 years here, I've never had such a high reading.

Continuing with this experimental stage, I added DIY CO2 this afternoon and will take new readings tomorrow.  The CO2 mixture in itself is an experiment as well.  No fish to worry about so I am looking to see how the CO2 will affect the hardness, if at all.

Tomorrow, I plan to add fertilizers and see again how that changes the chemistry by taking a reading 24 hours later again.  I hope these experiments prove interesting and educational for me but the rock is definitely making the water a bit harder.  That's ok though, the plants seem to be taking and that's the main thing.  I also really like the size of the grains.  Yes, it was very dirty to clean and took me about 5 hours to clean 75 pounds of it but I think I will continue to use it in other tanks.

[matttimms49]

That is interesting I will get my KH and GH readings and see if they are similar or if they are different to my other two tanks with different substrate. Would be interesting to see.

I really like the look of it and the size also. I got a small school of pygmy Cory's yesterday and they are enjoying scurrying around in it looking for food

[Anubias]

A KH of 30 translates into 17.9 x 30 ppm as CaCo3, i.e. about 535 ppm. This is very high. Most likely you have a type of crushed grey dolomite gravel. Is the gravel sharp-edged? What is your pH?

I have used pool sand from Mermaid Pools on Ogilvy Road. My pigmy corydorus are fine with it. It is neutral.

[Kalinkacat]

I think there is a lot of Micah rock in it.  I say that because I noticed a lot of sparkles in the water.  I also realize that each colour of Micah rock is different because they each possess a different mineral that gives them their colour.

Whatever it has in it, the plants are doing good in it even after only a week.  The Water Sprite is reaching the top of the tank, the Quadrocostatus has lots of runners growing, the Lilaeopsis is nice and green and the Cabomba was staying neutral until I added Co2 on Sunday.  I notice they are greener now and there is root growth.  The Crypts don't seem too happy, I've never had Crypts before but I read that they don't like to be transplanted so I will wait and see.

I will be re-doing the other tanks with the same substrate since the plants like it and the peramiters are basically good.  I really like the grain size since it will allow delicate plants to grow and the plants are growing - not melting like in the previous substrate mix or my other two tanks which I will now re-do.  I was waiting to see how the plants would do before re-doing the other tanks, but I am quite happy with the results so far.

[Anubias]

Very interesting. The GH is fine, but the KH is very high. Sounds like a good find. Maybe I should try this.

[Kalinkacat]

Cheap too!  $8.00 for 50 pounds - just very dirty.

[matttimms49]

Yep the cheap is what did it for me, plus it goes well with the hardscape I wanted too. But second on the dirt/dust. I would recommend it just make sure to give it a good wash!