If you were to rinse the sand, it would appear much less cloudy, but you would destroy all of the beneficial bacteria which is half the point of live sand in the first place! Should I rinse sand? For some sands the answer is yes, but with all of the sand on this this, the answer is a no. Livestock: there are sand burrowing creatures such as Nassarius Snails and Sand Sifting Starfish, and also sand-sifting creatures such as many types of Goby fish, all of which rely on a sandy substrate for their survival.Flow: if you plan on having a super high flow tank, you will probably want to stay away from super fine grain such as CaribSea’s Bahama Oolite sand which is sugar fine.What grain size should I get? This one depends on a few things. The kind of sand you pick up from Lowe’s or Home Depot likely contains all sort of minerals, heavy metals, and other things that could leach out into your aquarium over time. But at the same time, there are certain types of livestock that live in a sandy substrate, so you wouldn’t be able to keep them.Ĭan I use any type of sand? No, that is not recommended. This makes it easier to keep detritus suspended so it can be filtered out. There are many saltwater aquarium hobbyists who choose to have a “bare bottom” tank. But thankfully some greater minds than myself have created this handy Sand Depth Calculator! So Click Here, Enter Your Dimensions And Depth, And Get The Right Amount!

In my 20-gallon office tank I went with a shallow sand bed and used 10 lbs. How much sand should I buy? That will really depend on the footprint of your tank and how deep you want to go.

There are a few things to consider when deciding on the right kind of sand for your tank.

Bahamas oolite