Coral Reef Forum

When selecting aquarium sand it is important to know what tank you want to make. For a fish only system you dont need to spend the money on live sand. For reef setups you want to get live sand as this sand host benefical bacteria as well as a bunch of organisms such as copepods, artropodes, as well as some macro algaes. Thus making the aquarium itself a living organism.

The general rule for sand is 1 pound per gallon. So if you have a 150 gallon aquarium you generally want around 150-170 pounds of live sand or crushed coral. The ideal level is to have a sand bed that is around 2-3 inches.

Sand size is another important topic. When housing soft belly fishes like rays and sharks, ultra fine sand grains are a must. Larger sizes will causes rashes on the belly which will get infected. For jawfishes which like to bury, they also need fine grain size.