What's your favorite reef sand and why?

[saltyhog]

Special grade.

suitable for just about every sand sifting creature yet won’t cause sand storms.

Agree, this is the only sand I use (dry version, don't care for the "live" sand). I don't know if it's considered medium or large but the only sand I can find around here that's bigger is not actually sand (crushed coral).

 

[vtecintegra]

Tropic Eden Reef Flakes

 

[design.maddie]

I like small grain, but mixed. I love the look of sand tumbling and moving across the tank. Level the sand out when you siphon. I have sand on my rockwork also that I never remove because of this. I have done my best to create a high energy reef tank, and I like it. pushing about 45x if I recall my figures correctly.

 

[NashobaTek]

Caribsea black Hawaiian here, but the big tank will probably have something different. I love the look of the black Hawaiian and I haven't found it to have any metal issues.
The big tank might have black Hawaiian and a white mixed for a salt and pepper look

 

[Gtinnel]

On my current tank I'm using CaribSea aragonite, which I'm guessing to be a medium grain. I prefer the look of really fine sand, but it is too hard to keep it from blowing around.

 

[Ardeus]

ATI has a fine grain sand that they claim doesn't move as easily as others. I tested it

 

[M Stein]

I prefer small grain sizes purely for cosmetic reasons.
When I think of a reef, what usually comes to mind, is not the small sliver that most of our fish tanks are. I envision a huge coral filled area just like in the pictures. And, although the grain size in the ocean can vary, it is very small proportionately to the coral and rock. So seeing larger grain sizes in a reef just reminds me of my early days in fresh water when I used gravel or crushed coral.

That said, larger grains are probably more practical because they don't blow around as much. And if you're doing high flow SPS (I'll get there one day) your best bet might be bare bottom.

 

[M Stein]

Oh and no pink sand for me. Thankfully it's not really pink, but it looks so unnatural. Who came up with that idea???

 

[Dcal]

Oh and no pink sand for me. Thankfully it's not really pink, but it looks so unnatural. Who came up with that idea???

are you referring to the fiji pink sand?

 

[M Stein]

are you referring to the fiji pink sand?

Yes. It's not very pink, but those little bits are really annoying and make the sand seem unnatural.

 

[Dcal]

Yes. It's not very pink, but those little bits are really annoying and make the sand seem unnatural.

i think i might be on same boat as you lol. im kind of indifferent to/ kinda like it in other ppls tanks but theres so many other styles id pick before fiji pink

 

[kingjames_dc5]

Carib sea pink Fiji for me. Even if it’s not pink haha! I like the size and look have had great results.

 

[M Stein]

Carib sea pink Fiji for me. Even if it’s not pink haha! I like the size and look have had great results.

It's what I use too. The size is great, although I'd prefer even smaller.
It's just those unnatural pink pieces!

 

[Appoloreefer]

Happy Tuesday!

Today let's talk about reef sand and more specifically the brands and consistency of the substrates! Let's go!

1. What brand of sand do you prefer to use as the substrate of your reef tank?

2. Do you prefer a small, medium or large grain size of sand and why?

When I first had a reef tank I used Carib Sea medium sand and I liked it but I find it is more pain to keep the sand clean and there are more issues with having a sandbed with toxins from what I have read. This time I have gone bare bottom and I really like it and think it is going to work much better, time will tell

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Here’s another vote for Tropic Eden Reefflakes. The average size grain of 3.5mm is large enough to prevent blowing around from the powerheads, but still fine enough for my diamond goby and other sand sifting fish to burrow into.

Same here!

 

[Appoloreefer]

By far, the best sand is bare bottom glass. Nutrients don't settle and turn sand into nasty peanut butter nor concrete

I totally agree

 

[Appoloreefer]

Bare bottom. Benefits of bare bottom outweigh the sand benefits for me.

I agree

 

[Hot2na]

I use a coarse pacific aragonite over a jaubert plenum. Tropic eden grand select 4mm for the bottom layer...then topped with a coarse caribbean gravel that looks like dead coral skeletons . I feel that the bristle worms ,spaghetti worms,micro stars, amphipods , etc that I have in the bed really thrive in that grade of substrate..It is crawling with these critters.

 

[Riotjj21]

I have Fiji Pink. I find it very hard to vacuum. Next time I go with a larger grain size like plain ol Aragonite

 

[burton14e7]

I had special grade before I pulled it out and went bare bottom. MOAR FLOW! ;Cat