Thanks guys for the posts...

@Schrody - can I use any pool sand and is it required for some pea gravel. If so, where did you get yours from. I saw Ace hardware sell pool sand for $13/50lb...
Think I need 5 bags depending on whether pea gravel goes in or not...
Did you put gravel in and where do you get that


thanks

I'm sure the pool sand from Ace would be fine. The filter says .018 - .022 inch (~.45 - .55 mm) or "20 grade" sand. If yours is a TA-40 it should only require 175 lbs (4 bags) if you don't use any pea gravel. I just paid a little more than $15/bag at Leslie's...so Ace sounds like a good deal!

I haven't used a pea gravel combination so I can't comment on that. As small as your filter is, I'm seeing some mixed reviews on adding pea gravel. The recommendations seem to be higher for the larger sand filters. Once everything is up and running you can look into adding a little DE through the skimmer for better filtration.

Update: I did find a Tagelus manual that says you can replace the first 50 lbs of sand with 1/8" to 1/4" diameter pea gravel. In a TA-40 that would leave you with 125 lbs of sand and the "free board" (distance from top of sand to top of filter) should be 7.75 inches.

Attached is a screenshot of the table.