- Fiji Pink isn't pink,
a black sand bed will scratch the heck out of your aquarium,
and a bare bottom tank,
meaning no sand bed,
is a terrible idea.
There are three primary functions of a sand bed.
Firstly, a sand bed is a home
for beneficial bacteria.
There is a lot of surface area
on a sand bed,
which can be home for all sorts of back bacterias
which will help keep the nitrogen cycle
moving along in your tank.
The second function of a sand bed,
it provides a home and food source
for a lot of livestock in your tank.
Many different types of fish and inverts
live in and depend upon a sand bed for their survival.
Nassarius snails, sand sifting gobies, pistol shrimp
goby pairs, wrasses, and sand sifting starfish,
just to name a few.
And lastly, a sand bed is aesthetically pleasing.
A vast majority of the time,
a saltwater aquarium with a sand bed
just looks better than a bare bottom tank.
There are only two types of sand beds out there,
a deep sand bed and a shallow sand bed.
A deep sand bed,
or DSB for short,
usually has a depth
of six to eight inches.
Not recommended for beginners
or really anybody for that matter.
A DSB attempts to create
an anaerobic zone
near the bottom of the sand bed
where denitrifying bacteria
can survive and thrive and help convert NO3 or nitrate
back into N2, or atmospheric nitrogen gas.
Deep sand beds take up a large portion of your tank,
can be really difficult to clean,
and if not done correctly,
can create pockets of poisonous gas.
Don't do a deep sand bed.
A shallow sand bed, on the other hand,
is any sand bed less than two inches,
but they're usually around one inch in depth.
Easy to maintain, aesthetically pleasing,
and deep enough to provide habitat
for most of your livestock.
A shallow sand bit also has a ton of surface area
for that beneficial bacteria to colonize
and move the nitrogen cycle along.
There isn't a whole lot to consider
when choosing the right type of sand for your sand bed.
The first consideration is color.
There's white, there's off white, and there's black.
That's pretty much your only three options.
Next step you're gonna have to choose wet or dry sand.
Dry sand is definitely a better value,
but it arrives super dusty
and doesn't contain any beneficial bacteria.
You are going to need to rinse it several times
with RO/DI water before putting it in your tank.
Wet sand, while being a bit more pricey,
comes packed with beneficial bacteria
and should be placed directly into your tank sans rinsing.
Lastly, you'll wanna consider grain size.
These range from sugar fine sand,
which is about 0.25 millimeters in diameter,
all the way up to crushed coral,
which is five to six millimeters in diameter.
Sugar fine sand is absolutely gorgeous.
It won't allow fish food or fish waste to get trapped in it,
but it will blow around your tank
and cover everything with all, but the gentlest of flow.
Special grade sand, one to two millimeters in diameter,
hits that sweet spot between sugar fine sand
and crushed coral.
It's small enough to still look nice
and not trap much detritus,
but it's heavy enough to not be blown around
in moderate flow tanks.
Crushed coral isn't prettiest,
but maybe necessary for super high flow tanks out there.
But fish food and fish waste
will easily get trapped inside of it,
so good maintenance routines are key.
Here at BRS, we carry three different lines
of CaribSea sand.
The Aragonite line is your dry sand.
Definitely the best value, but arrives super dusty
and will require rinsing with RO/DI water
before putting it in your tank.
The Arag-Alive line is wet.
It is sifted, rinsed, and then beneficial bacteria
are added back into it.
So when it comes home to you,
put it directly in your tank and do not rinse it.
And lastly, there is the Oceans Direct line.
This sand is taken directly from the ocean.
It arrives wet
and it comes with all of the different strains
of beneficial bacteria that you would find in the ocean.
And just to make your lives a bit easier,
here is a breakdown of all the CaribSea sands
based on their grain size.
First up, Bahamas Oolite, 0.25 to one millimeter.
Also called sugar fine sand.
Then you got Fiji Pink, 0.5 to 1.5 millimeter.
Decent option for low to moderate flow tanks.
Thirdly is Special Grade, one to two millimeters.
Probably the best overall option for most tanks out there.
Number four, Bimini Pink, 0.5 to five millimeters.
Largely made up of the smaller grain sizes
with some larger crushed coral thrown in.
Number five, Original Grade,
0.25 all the way to 6.5 millimeters.
It's similar to Bimini Pink
with a slightly larger range of grain size.
Number six, Natural Reef, three to five millimeter.
No small pieces here.
Pretty close to Crushed Coral.
Number seven, Florida Crushed Coral,
three to 5.5 millimeters.
The largest grain size offered
only meant for super high flow tanks.
And lastly, you have Hawaiian Black,
0.25 to 3.5 millimeters.
Quite chunky.
It's magnetic pieces will stick to your algae scraper
and scratch your glass if you're not super careful.
You could have just skipped this entire video
and come straight to this point here.
For us, there is just one choice that is super obvious,
the most popular,
and the best all around sand for beginners.
And that is the CaribSea Arag-Alive Special Grade.
It just hits the sweet spot perfectly.
It's not too small to blow around your tank,
but it's not too large to allow fish food
and waste to get trapped.
It's small enough to give you a sense
of those beautiful white sandy beaches
with no large chunks to distract you from its consistency.
And it is packed with beneficial bacteria
which will help cycle your tank quicker
and requires no rinsing.
Personally, I am also a fan of Fiji Pink.
It does have a slightly smaller grain size.
So you can run into trouble
if you crank those wave makers up too high.
I'm gonna recommend a one inch sand bed for beginners.
It is deep enough to provide adequate habitat
for your livestock, as well as cover the glass bottom,
but shallow enough for easy maintenance.
How many pounds of sand you're going to need
will depend on the footprint of your tank,
whether it's wet or dry sand, and the given grain size.
Lucky for all of us, BRS has a handy calculator.
Enter the width and depth of your tank,
either in inches or centimeters,
the depth of the sand bed required, and the sand type.
It's as easy as that.
If not carefully maintained,
your gorgeous new sand bed could become covered
with different shades of green, browns, and purples,
and also become a nutrient trap
constantly leaching out nitrate and phosphates
and leading to some nasty nuisance algae outbreaks.
Keep your sand bed looking the absolute best
by watching this video right here.
And as always everyone, thanks for watching.
Happy reefing, be well.
We'll see you next time.