Sand, break a powerhead?

[PunkMartyr]

I know sand can damage a power filter, but I am not knowledgeable of canister filters or powerheads. Do they use an impeller also?

Do you guys clean very small amounts of sand and add, because I have tried pillow case method and the bucket method and either way it is still cloudy in the aquarium until i do numerous water changes.

 

[Toooloud]

When using sand in a marine enviroment.. what you want to do is place the sand in the tank, then add the water, wait a couple of days untill everything settles.. then syphone out the settles particals..

Yes sand will damage Powerheads and filters that do use Plastic empellers...

i would not use a sand in marine tank unless you are using a Overflow unit with sump.. as fish will stir up the sand and over time will be replacing empellers.

 

[Elmo]

I suppose that the larger sand particles could damage a powerhead, but the smaller particles that would be temporarily suspended in the water should not.

I am going to have to disagree with Toooloud on a couple points.


wait a couple of days untill everything settles.. then syphone out the settles particals..
Siphoning out the settled particles may not be the best idea as it is often the really fine sand that you want if you are setting up a DSB.

i would not use a sand in marine tank unless you are using a Overflow unit with sump.. as fish will stir up the sand and over time will be replacing empellers.
Sand is very common in tanks without overflows. I use sand in my tank with impeller driven circulation and know of many other people who also use sand without any problems.

 

[Toooloud]

Well myself and many others who i have talked to and meet have all had issues with Sand.. Its amazing stuff, looks great, but does cause issues.. Now again, i was talking from personal expereince.. and my current tank witch is larger tank than most, and i have larger fish, i currently have a large Naso tang, who when i was running my tank with "southdown Playsand" would go and Race and kick up soo much sand that in fact i replaced the prepeller in my Powerhead 402 3 times in 1 year.. every time i took the unit apart it was the sand particals in there..

As for the DSB, i currently no longer use Southdown, had issues with it.. and i have a very well and active DSB using just plain old Crushed Coral... and when stated about syphoning the crap on top of the substrate i was talking Brand new sand.. you just dump it in, wait a couple of days the for the cloudy ness to clear the run your syphone overtop about 3-4 inches above the substrate.. to get off the powdery residue.

but we have straied of topic here..

the Question here was , that he knows that Sand"Can Cause damage" no one said it will but it can cause the damage, some have been lucky, some have not.. but he asked if Powerheads and Canester filters use the empellers.. witch yes.. 99% do, if not all of them.