Everything You Need to Know About Reef Tank Sand! EP: 14

In Week 14 of this Beginner's Guide series, Matthew (of My First Fish Tank) covers everything you'll need to know about Reef Sand. Everything from sizes to varieties to how much you'll need. Join us to learn how to add sand to your new aquarium as well as how to care for this important part of your saltwater aquarium's biological filtration!
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*Legal Stuff*
The purpose and content of this video is to provide general information regarding the products and their applications as presented in the video. Aquatic sales solutions, Inc. And its officers, directors, employees and agents disclaim all express or implied warranties, in any way, related to the products and their application as presented in this video, make no representation or warranty regarding the products and the application as presented in this video and shall not be liable for any direct or indirect losses or damages of any type, including but not limited to punitive damages, or from personal injury or death resulting from or in any manner related to the video, and the products in and contents of the video. The viewer expressly agrees that aquatic sales solutions, inc. And its officers, directors, employees and agents shall not be liable for any damages or losses related to the products in and content of the video and hereby agrees to hold the foregoing harmless from any such losses or damages.

00:00 - Intro
01:07 - What is reef sand?
01:41 - What is live reef sand?
02:05 - 3 Functions of a sand bed
02:37 - Do I need a sand bed?
04:15 - Deep vs Shallow sand beds
06:03 - 3 Sand colors
06:18 - Grain sizes
09:16 - How much sand do you need?
10:22 - Can I use any old sand?
11:45 - CaribSea reef sand options
14:22 - 7 Sands up close
20:25 - How to install a sand bed
22:06 - How to care for your sandbed

[thunderfox]

Interesting video, I usually buy the whatever reef sand my local aquarium shop had but never once considered the pros and cons of different types. Something I am going to consider next time

[tommykurka]

First, I just want to say how entertaining and informative these videos have been for me. It’s so much easier to understand. I was (and probably will continue to watch) watching 52 weeks of reefing on BRS TV until I happened upon this series of beginner videos.
That being said, you said to keep the sea water air tight to prevent evaporation. Then you said to keep the power head and heater plugged up to air rate and maintain temperature. It will no longer be air tight with two electrical cords coming out of the trash can. Am I missing something or will the small gap from the power cords not be a big problem in evaporation?

[kingfisher]

Big help. I like the sugar sand myself.

[pamelajohnson]

Beginner here, setting up a new tank. I really want a goby and pistol shrimp pair of pals in my tank. Do I need to put a small amount of crushed coral grade in there for the shrimp, or will it be happy with just the Fiji pink?

[akoblake]

First-time reefer here from the Caribbean. I collected some sand from the beach and stored it in a bucket, but the middle turned black over time. I spread it out on a drying bed, and the color returned to normal. Since reef sand isn’t sold out here—trust me, people give me the strangest looks when I even mention reefing—I’m working with what I’ve got. Is this sand safe to use in my tank, and if so, what’s the best way to clean and prepare it? Any advice would be a lifesaver!

[willisfernandes]

Can I use crushed coral for my fresh water aquarium??

[usmc]

Is it safe to use Seiryu rocks in my saltwater tank?

[PepeCoinMania]

beach sand is great but you gonna need some buffer as crushed coral

[lisathewhitewolf]

You probably could use freshwater sand, but you'd get no buffering capacity from it. It also tends to be a bit fine-grained for reef flow.

[Spagnolo]

in minute 23:20, what kind of sand is it?

[cheryldahl]

Holding the sand in your hand would give me a better idea of the grain size, but this was helpful :)

[hurricaneaquatics]

I have a pair of mated Diamond gobies in a 40 cube with a deep sand bed of Fiji Pink. When I bought them online, I paid no attention to their size. Mistake, they are full size and safe to say, nothing is residing on the sandbed. They keep it tore up and digging under the rocks. However, my sand is 100% clean throughout the tank. So it isn't all bad. A Diamond Goby will take care of your sand if you're worried about it.

[joshcmartinez]

why don't go with the coralline option?

[jamesbarker]

Tom Arnold is way smarter than I gave him credit for. And whatever diet regimen he's been on has done him wonders.
Great video! I learned a lot

[NotSleepinq]

Me as a beginner I got sugar fine not knowking it'll be blown so easily. Now I'm about 4 months into my saltwater tank I've gotten my first coral few weeks ago and put my powerhead where it doesn't blow any sand and it sweeps all that waste that reaches the bottom

[jonathanreich]

I have the sugar fine sand. Which I started to use out as a seahorse tank. After about a year and a half all the seahorses died and now I am converting the tank to a reef tank. The tank has been set up for roughly 2 years. But I am starting to have a diatom issue. Does this fine sand have a history of leaching silicates? Could that be part of the problem of why I am having the diatom issue? The tank is a 125 gallon tank.

[michaelwescott]

There is silica / quartz based sand too, not all sand is aregonite.

[jackatkin]

I HAVE A NEW MARINE AQUARIUM THAT I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO CYCLE GOING ON 4 WEEKS. MY AMMONIA IS UP TO 8.0 PPM AND NITRATES UP TO 10PPM, NITRATES AT0 PPM
WHAT AM I DOING WRONG AND WHAT CAN I DO TO CYCLE
I ALSO HAVE BROWN ALGAE ON THE SAND. SHOULD I TAJE OUT THECARBON SOCK FROM THE FILTER?

[brandonmms]

Not meaning to sound like a negative nelly here, but anaerobic zones are not the scary death trap people make them out to be. With good surface agitation it will gas off and your tank will be fine.

[raywells]

Great video as always. The Oolite and Sugar Fine aint no joke when it comes to creating sand dunes in your tank if you have much flow at all. Thats best left to a sea horse tank or something along that line. Most definitely do rinse it till your silly or your tank will look like you put milk in it instead of water for about 24 hours.

Unless your hell bent on a Hawaiian Biotope and there is no stopping you, do not use a magnet glass cleaner, I dont care how careful you are with it. While it looks nice and makes for a striking display you will scratch the heck out of your tank, especially if its acrylic. It is also horrible in that Detritus will accumulate in a heartbeat and seriously detract from the tanks looks.

Been in the hobby for over 20 years and this is one of the best explanations on sand and sand beds I have seen. Lots of good advice here!!!