Special Grade Sand vs Reef Flakes

[DirtDiggler2823]

Reefflakes are famously ‘clean’ and have a wide variety of granule sizes to choose from. I really liked the ‘feel’ of it better when I rinsed it. Didn’t feel like it was just grinding down into fines and clowding up the water as I went.

Reef flakes are aragonite, right?

 

[DirtDiggler2823]

Reefflakes are famously ‘clean’ and have a wide variety of granule sizes to choose from. I really liked the ‘feel’ of it better when I rinsed it. Didn’t feel like it was just grinding down into fines and clowding up the water as I went.

I am getting so many conflicting responses to this question. I asked it in a FB group as well, and I've gotten everything from "fiji pink doesn't move in my tank", to "once the sand is seeded, you'll be ok". I think fiji pink is around the same price point of the reef flakes. The special grade is the cheapest by a bit at about $1 per pound, but the pictures do make it look dusty while it's in the bag. The reef flakes do appear a lot cleaner, and no one has had anything bad to say about it. I guess the reef flakes are the better substrate at this point, but are they worth the cost?

 

[don_chuwish]

...but are they worth the cost?

Can't say for sure, but it's not a significant portion of overall cost. Change it later would be more expensive and disruptive. Obviously lots of people love both products though so, up to you!

 

[DirtDiggler2823]

Can't say for sure, but it's not a significant portion of overall cost. Change it later would be more expensive and disruptive. Obviously lots of people love both products though so, up to you!

Indeed. Looks like there really isn't a wrong choice in the scenario. Both products have pros and cons, and would be just fine in my tank.

 

[pfoxgrover]

I am struggling with the same question. Did you make your purchase?
Currently I am using special grade reef sand (1.0–2.0 mm) and filling in any bare spots created by powerheads with crushed coral.
I am thinking of going with something larger for my new build. The Reef Flakes come in larger sizes than the special grade. I have never seen the Reef Flakes in person. I have heard that it is whiter. Can anyone confirm that? Any experience with the larger sizes?
Reef flakes:
Mesoflakes - 2.7mm
Reefflakes - 3.0mm
Reefflakes Grand Select - 4.5mm

 

[DirtDiggler2823]

I am struggling with the same question. Did you make your purchase?
Currently I am using special grade reef sand (1.0–2.0 mm) and filling in any bare spots created by powerheads with crushed coral.
I am thinking of going with something larger for my new build. The Reef Flakes come in larger sizes than the special grade. I have never seen the Reef Flakes in person. I have heard that it is whiter. Can anyone confirm that? Any experience with the larger sizes?
Reef flakes:
Mesoflakes - 2.7mm
Reefflakes - 3.0mm
Reefflakes Grand Select - 4.5mm

Not yet, but I'm going either mesoflakes or reefflakes

 

[DirtDiggler2823]

I am struggling with the same question. Did you make your purchase?
Currently I am using special grade reef sand (1.0–2.0 mm) and filling in any bare spots created by powerheads with crushed coral.
I am thinking of going with something larger for my new build. The Reef Flakes come in larger sizes than the special grade. I have never seen the Reef Flakes in person. I have heard that it is whiter. Can anyone confirm that? Any experience with the larger sizes?
Reef flakes:
Mesoflakes - 2.7mm
Reefflakes - 3.0mm
Reefflakes Grand Select - 4.5mm

Methinks mesoflakes will be the way i go, or a mix of the two.

 

[pfoxgrover]

I'll be interested to hear how it goes. Please report back. My new tank build won't be finished for a while. I plan to have a crazy amount of flow and just refuse to go bare bottom.

 

[DirtDiggler2823]

I'll be interested to hear how it goes. Please report back. My new tank build won't be finished for a while. I plan to have a crazy amount of flow and just refuse to go bare bottom.

I totally get that. I won't have any info on how it handles flow for quite some time as i haven't even finished the plumbing on my tank, but I'll snap photos on how it looks for you.

 

[rsumner]

I started with Caribsea Original Grade and have been trying to get rid of as much of it as I can with Special Grade. The Special Grade stays put. I run two Neptune WAV's that report a FLO reading of about 5.0 which translates to about 55x turnover in my 108Gal Red Sea Reefer 525.

 

[DirtDiggler2823]

I started with Caribsea Original Grade and have been trying to get rid of as much of it as I can with Special Grade. The Special Grade stays put. I run two Neptune WAV's that report a FLO reading of about 5.0 which translates to about 55x turnover in my 108Gal Red Sea Reefer 525.

How dusty was it going in?

 

[Tamberav]

I have used both..

Reef flakes is uniform and clouds less

However I actually like special grade better. I did wash it good with tap and did still cloud a bit.

I just like that it isn't totally uniform...I seem to get more microfauna growing in it in greater numbers and macro grows better in it.

Reeflakes still moved in my sps nano with a gyre so it's BB now and special grade is in my lps tank.

 

[408Dartfish]

My Fiji pink blows around eyerywhere. I’d go special grade or reef flakes on my next tank build. Dustin

 

[rsumner]

My Fiji pink blows around eyerywhere. I’d go special grade or reef flakes on my next tank build. Dustin

I know I'm probably preaching to the choir, but you know you could replace it like I've done. I've noticed that that fine grain stuff is easily sucked up with my python, so you could just take a little out every time you clean your sand. It'll look a little funky while you're running both, but would be a heck of a lot better than having to wait for a whole rebuild. I'm almost done finally pulling all of my Original Grade out and I'm **much** happier with the Special Grade. Most of the recommendations I've read online suggest taking no more than 10% out at a time to prevent any mini cycles.

 

[rsumner]

How dusty was it going in?

To be honest, both were pretty messy and took at least 24 hours to clear up. Each bag of sand from CaribSea includes a coagulation solution called Bio-Magnet that you can drop in to help speed-up the process as long as you have good mechanical filtration. Looks like this:



I suggest you have a fresh set of socks in your sump and change them out after a day with your return pumps running at full speed to increase the turn over. I waited about 2 hours before turning on my powerheads to reduce the amount of sand particles that I was pulling into the pumps to prevent any damage to the impellers and their magnets. Lastly, use an algae scraper or cloth to wipe down the inside of the glass and a turkey baster to blow off the rock after letting everything settle in. After that, everything should be crystal clear.

 

[Lostreefin]

I went with the Bimini Pink Special Grade and still have a few issues in the front and a few other places in my RSR 450. If you really want to have a ton of flow, I recommend going bare bottom. I wasn't willing to go without sand for the aesthetic, and it's a bit of a headache.

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

I use special grade and love it. I have very high flow as it's an SPS tank, and it stays put.

 

[mta_morrow]

I am getting so many conflicting responses to this question. I asked it in a FB group as well, and I've gotten everything from "fiji pink doesn't move in my tank", to "once the sand is seeded, you'll be ok". I think fiji pink is around the same price point of the reef flakes. The special grade is the cheapest by a bit at about $1 per pound, but the pictures do make it look dusty while it's in the bag. The reef flakes do appear a lot cleaner, and no one has had anything bad to say about it. I guess the reef flakes are the better substrate at this point, but are they worth the cost?

Gotta love all the cut and clear answers in this hobby!

Not sure what you mean by looks dusty in the bag, but remember that these bags of sand have all been handled numerous times so don't let that alone come into decision making.

FWIW, I have used Carib sea special grade in both of my tanks.

First tank, I rinsed it all before putting it in the tank. a little cloudy even though I rinsed it all.

2nd tank, I didn't...…..wish I would have. Very cloudy.

But you run filter socks and blow it all around while you're cycling and its all cleared up anyway.

But that's not unique to any particular sand, they will all have dust, debris, or fine particles.

All you have to do is look at everyone's build threads and see how cloudy every tank is at first.

Best of luck making your decision.

 

[DirtDiggler2823]

Gotta love all the cut and clear answers in this hobby!

Not sure what you mean by looks dusty in the bag, but remember that these bags of sand have all been handled numerous times so don't let that alone come into decision making.

FWIW, I have used Carib sea special grade in both of my tanks.

First tank, I rinsed it all before putting it in the tank. a little cloudy even though I rinsed it all.

2nd tank, I didn't...…..wish I would have. Very cloudy.

But you run filter socks and blow it all around while you're cycling and its all cleared up anyway.

But that's not unique to any particular sand, they will all have dust, debris, or fine particles.

All you have to do is look at everyone's build threads and see how cloudy every tank is at first.

Best of luck making your decision.

Honestly, I'm probably just gonna buy a bag of each at this point. It seems like there is no wrong answer depending on what you like to took at.

 

[mta_morrow]

Honestly, I'm probably just gonna buy a bag of each at this point. It seems like there is no wrong answer depending on what you like to took at.

Sounds like a plan!