Can I use sand from Lowes

[waterbear]

The directions are on the bottle of filter cleaner. I know that aquachem, glb,and robarb make them and I am sure other companies do as well. Once again I am not a sand filter expert (use cartridge myself) but my understanding is that organics will build up on the sand after time and lead to clumping and channelling of the medium and reduced filtratration. I assume it is a similar process to soaking a cartridge in an acidic degreaser. From the aquachem website they give these instructions for their product:

"Sand Filter
Backwash first. Then clean the filter sand with AquaChem Filter Cleaner as follows. Close the valves into and out of the filter. Add the product full-strength to the filter top through the inspection port, anode port, sand fill or pressure gauge hole (whichever is applicable). After 1 hour, open valves and backwash the filter thoroughly. Resume normal operation."

Some of the sand filter owners on here might be able to advise you better on the process.