What substrate is best to not get blown around

[mmorrison55]

Ive moved a few wavemakers to the back glass (24” from to back) and the sand on the front glass is being blown around too much and exposing the bottom.

Curious what sand would be best to stay in place. If the caribesea special grade would work or need to go natural reef size. Or even add some reborn along the front glass to act as a barrier.

I am even contemplating creating a “barrier reef” structure directly opposite of the power head placements made from broken up Marco rocks and then I can have more space for different corals.

Anyway, I can’t be the 1st person to have this problem, so looking for idea of how you have tackled this situation.

 

[Idech]

This is what I have been using for years and what a lot of reefers recommend :

CaribSea Arag-Alive Special Grade Reef sand​

I will get displaced if you aim a powerhead directly at it though. Any sand will. But as long as your power heads are correctly placed it won’t move and won’t blow around.

 

[Reefltx]

I’m running a shallow sand bed under 2” and the CaribSea Special Grade kept getting pushed around, especially in the front. With 2 MP40s and 2 Gyre powerheads, the flow really moved it. I had the same issue with the front section shifting, so I replaced that area with Tropic Eden Reef Flakes. They’re slightly larger than Special Grade and now the sand stays put without moving.

 

[exnisstech]

I run special grade in a couple of tanks that have sand but I prefer bare bottom so I can crank the flow up.

 

[NanoSteam]

Haven't had any issues with Special Grade in multiple tanks. Anything else gets pushed around. I suppose you can manage to push around special grade as well in a very high flow situation in an SPS tank.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I used Arag-Alive Sand and never had issues with it blowing around!

 

[mmorrison55]

I’m running a shallow sand bed under 2” and the CaribSea Special Grade kept getting pushed around, especially in the front. With 2 MP40s and 2 Gyre powerheads, the flow really moved it. I had the same issue with the front section shifting, so I replaced that area with Tropic Eden Reef Flakes. They’re slightly larger than Special Grade and now the sand stays put without moving.

Never heard of reef flakes. Will have to check it out and see if any LFS carry it.