Going with the grain: What size of sand do you use in your reef tank?

[Peace River]

Going with the grain: What size of sand do you use in your reef tank?

Just like the difference between stepping onto a soft white sand beach on Florida’s Gulf coast or the course shell and sand mixture of Florida’s Atlantic coast, there are many types and textures of sand for our aquariums. In fact, some of the available comes from familiar places like Florida and other sand comes from more exotic locations. There are many reasons why different sands would be selected for the aquarium including its tendency to stay put in flow or possibly the sand burrowing creatures that we may keep. Some reef keepers are very intentional about their sand choices and others go with whatever is available or the most common. While many will choose aragonite sand there are multiple grain sizes in addition to deciding whether to use dry sand, live sand, or no sand. Let’s talk about the sand that you use and why. What size of sand do you use in your reef tank?

Photo by @ChristopherKriens


This QOTD is sponsored by: www.tidalgardens.com

“The goal of Tidal Gardens is to offer the highest quality corals to those seeking a piece of that world without destroying it. We hope to instill a deep appreciation for the natural reefs and help develop a self sustaining hobby that no longer requires the collection of fish and corals.”

 

[blaxsun]

Oolite. It's a blessing and a curse. Beautiful, bright white caribbean sand - which the fish love to throw everywhere...

 

[Troylee]

Special grade!

 

[stoney7713]

Special grade in my 75, it's great it doesn't blow around and isn't chunky but looks less than stellar.

With my nano I went with Bimini Pink, it's .5-5.0mm it looks great, natural, my pistol shrimp loves the variety of sizes. Small chunks to build walls to his cave.

But he definitely stirs up fine particles and I almost always have some blowing around.

 

[Anemone_Fanatic]

I think I used two bags of Fiji Pink and one of Special Grade, or maybe I have that backwards. I think that the bigger grains are better in general, as they don't blow around so much and they don't seem to grow algae as easily.

If I were to do it again though, I'd have gone bare bottom. Bare bottom looks so much better most of the time, and you can place corals on the bottom without worrying about them getting buried.

 

[codenfx]

Special grade. Doesn't fly around the tank, diamond goby can sift through it, wrasse can dive into it no issues.

 

[Timfish]

I've always liked Fiji Pink but I'm happy with anything smaller than ~2 mm. What I don't like with coarser stuff like crushed coral is it's tendancy over time to turn grayish green as endoliths burrow into it. Since endoliths are burrowing into all carbonate substrates I'm guessing coarser substrates get more stuff discoloring it before it breaks apart into smaller sizes. But I see this strictly as an aesthetic issue. As far as a reef system goes it seems any carbonate substrate is going to help maintain alkalinity.

 

[Alexraptor]

I use 0.1 to 0.5mm Nature's Ocean sand in all my tanks. I find it the most conducive to all forms of marine life.

 

[Nemo&Friends]

I do not know, just brought back some from the beach. Did not take the coarser, nor the finest.

 

[design.maddie]

I can't recommend enough the CaribSea's Aragonite Special Grade (Dry). I just love the size and weight of the grains. They can move around but they don't get kicked up into the water column.

 

[exnisstech]

I'm currently in the process of removing Figi pink and replacing it with special grade in the one tank I have with sand. The Figi pink is to small and blows around, at least in this tank. Maybe a larger tank with less flow it might work.

 

[shakacuz]

i use about 30LB fiji pink, and 10LB special grade over the top. i've since sprinkled some of aquabiomics live sand around the top of the sand as well.

 

[kazeespada]

I had some leftover African Cichlid white sand from Carib-Sea. Asked some friends if it was okay to use, and they said it was fine, but consider it the same as dry sand. The sand has worked very well, keeps my ph at 8.2, small enough for my diggers to burrow into, but not so small it blows around easily.

 

[cilyjr]

I use this. I've never seen it anywhere except here.
It's a coarse feldspar. 2ish mm. Very similar in size with the tropic Eden mesoflake.
I have been using it for about 4 years now.

Here it is in the tank

 

[mxzx8004]

kay, glad I stumbled on this. We are setting up our Reefer 350 and we ordered 1 bag of Caribsea Pink Fiji, but now I am realizing this is likely not enough, so would it be silly to mix that with a bag of special grade?

 

[Starganderfish]

If I were to do it again though, I'd have gone bare bottom. Bare bottom looks so much better most of the time, and you can place corals on the bottom without worrying about them getting buried.

I’ve always loved the idea of bare bottom tanks but I can’t seem to avoid crap building up on them. Even just putting the rock in and filling the tank Initially there’s dust and grit and stuff falling on the bottom, no matter how well I wash everything. I think you need really good flow pointed at the bottom and directing everything to a pick up spot?
Besides, I quite enjoy having sand sifting gobies in the tank, so I’ve come to accept the sandy bottom. One day I will commit to a bare bottom tank though and do what’s necessary to get it looking good.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Fiji pink for me

 

[Paul B]

I use dolomite gravel. I doubt you can get it any more as they use it for mausoleums in Italy.

It's about as course as rice and I need it because I run an undergravel filter.

 

[death-by-reef]

Going with the grain: What size of sand do you use in your reef tank?

Just like the difference between stepping onto a soft white sand beach on Florida’s Gulf coast or the course shell and sand mixture of Florida’s Atlantic coast, there are many types and textures of sand for our aquariums. In fact, some of the available comes from familiar places like Florida and other sand comes from more exotic locations. There are many reasons why different sands would be selected for the aquarium including its tendency to stay put in flow or possibly the sand burrowing creatures that we may keep. Some reef keepers are very intentional about their sand choices and others go with whatever is available or the most common. While many will choose aragonite sand there are multiple grain sizes in addition to deciding whether to use dry sand, live sand, or no sand. Let’s talk about the sand that you use and why. What size of sand do you use in your reef tank?

Photo by @ChristopherKriens


This QOTD is sponsored by: www.tidalgardens.com

“The goal of Tidal Gardens is to offer the highest quality corals to those seeking a piece of that world without destroying it. We hope to instill a deep appreciation for the natural reefs and help develop a self sustaining hobby that no longer requires the collection of fish and corals.”

It’s a mix

 

[Peace River]

It’s a mix

Do you remember what types of sand are in your mix and what the blend is?