For more information, please read our disclaimer. Best Food & Diet Guide, Best Betta Fish Water Conditioners Compared & Reviewed 2020. The best kind of substrate to choose is one that is naturally high in calcium content that originates from the ocean. My personal favorite is the CaribSea Aragonite brand, and I’m not alone. This brand is without question the most popular option among reef tank aquarists. There are a couple rules of thumb to follow when mixing your own sand, though. However, it works extremely well for cichlid tanks. The ultra-fine grain size also helps with the buffering capacity of this sand mixture, which is made entirely from aragonite. The types of creatures in your aquarium can also affect how much maintenance you need to do. We go to great lengths to help users better understand their aquatic friends. Spread the new sand across the bottom, refill the tank’s water and use a dechlorinating agent to condition the tank. Ran a tank with play sand for ~5-7 years. While that might push you towards a higher grain size, there are also drawbacks as the grain size increases. Our suggestion for the best live sand for a natural reef aquarium. How Much Sand Do You Need for a Reef Tank? The medium grain substrate doesn't have the benefits of coarse crushed coral (can withstand a ton of flow) or sugar grain sand (keeps detritus from settling in) but doesn't have the negatives of either. Location: Mauldin, SC. For the same reason, this sand can be quite difficult to clean and is ideal for tanks with deep sand beds that do not need much maintenance. The right substrate will help soften or harden water, depending on how you use it. Little Fishy . What Is The Best Red Eared Slider Food? You may also want to consider how the substrate will look once it becomes dirty. Now that you know more about how to choose and set up a bed in your reef tank, let’s take a look at the six best substrate options for saltwater reef tanks. This live sand mix from CaribSea is designed to get your reef tank up and running quickly thanks to its pre-established colonies of helpful bacteria. In addition, the large pore spaces can actually allow detritus to build up in any areas where the water flow is not as strong. The best reef sand ultimately comes down to your specific aquarium and the needs of your fish. Aquarists sometimes wonder what they should put on the bottom of their aquariums. However, media with small grain sizes – like sands – don’t handle high water flow rates very well. On the other hand, larger grain size media will be easier to clean without causing as much of a disturbance simply because most of the debris you will be cleaning is located in large pore spaces and is easier to access. In this article we break down the best substrates available in 2020 and analyze their cost, positives and negatives. Your tank’s substrate can be critical in providing a healthy and natural environment for your fish live in. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, #1 Carib Sea Arag-Alive 20-Pound Fiji Pink Sand (Best Overall), #2 Pure Water Pebbles Bio-Activ White Live Sand (Best White Sand), #3 Nature’s Ocean Aquarium Sand BIO-ACTIV Live (Best Quality), #4 Carib Sea Aragonite Aquarium Sand (Best Budget), #5 Carib Sea Arag-Alive Substrate (Best Black Sand), #6 Carib Sea Ocean Direct Substrates (Best Fine), Top 6 Best Substrate For Reef Tank Review 2020. Once that’s done, transfer your fish to a secondary tank and remove the water and whatever substrate you currently have in your tank. Even when you’ve satisfied the needs of all the creatures in your aquarium, you’ll still be left with choices for colors and styles of bed that will affect the overall look of your aquarium. The Reef Tank > Reef Club Forums > Palmetto Marine Aquarium Club: Best kind of substrate User Name: Remember Me? Live rock can be a great substrate to use in the bottom of your refugium. This sand is only available in a single style and has a very light tan coloration. There are a lot of things to think about when choosing a substrate. How to Work Out How Much Sand Per Gallon; Shallow Vs. Sand beds can either be a huge amount of maintenance work or almost none at all depending on what type of bed you have and how you want to manage your tank. Adding sand to your aquarium is a big job, but thankfully you only have to do it once in a while. CaribSea ACS00150 Crushed Coral; 3. These critters will prefer fine-grained substrate, since it offers more area to hide than large-grained substrate with gaping pore spaces. Live sand is already cycled so that it is colonized by helpful bacteria, and is shipped wet so that those bacteria remain functional when they get to your aquarium. This specialized dry sand is designed specifically for deep sand beds where both nitrate reduction and denitrification are being mediated by the bacteria in the bed. The blend is specifically intended for tanks with high flow through the bed, such as tanks with under gravel filtration systems or reverse flow beds. The most common and ideal substrate for reef tanks is sand. That increases the surface area for catching detritus for the fish to snack on, while also ensuring that their skin won’t get cut up and potentially infected as it might with coarse-grained media like coral skeleton. This live sand mixture from CaribSea is designed to jump-start your aquarium’s cycling and prevent ammonia levels from spiking by delivering a highly concentrated mixture of beneficial bacteria. Another advantage to this media is that it can be used standalone for cichlid and similar tanks, but can also be combined with a finer sand substrate to provide extra construction materials for burrowing creatures. The substrate itself is extremely fine – finer than the sand found at most beaches – so it can take several days for the tank to clear up after adding this media. The substrate is made entirely from aragonite, which has the added benefit of buffering the pH in your tank to keep it stable. Note that because of the potency of this mixture, it is recommended to introduce this substrate in small quantities to an already existing tank. Bahama Aragonite Sand,.. Live reef sands like the CaribSea Ocean Direct, Nature’s Ocean Bio-Active sand, and the CaribSea Arag-Alive sand are ideal for setting up a tank quickly or having an emergency intervention to reduce increasing ammonia levels in an existing tank. Shallow sand beds remain oxygenated throughout, so in order to avoid nitrogen build-up that could alter your tank’s water chemistry you’ll need to clean the bed roughly once per month with a siphon. A lot of people love substrates because of the appealing look it adds to a tank. Having this initial colony of bacteria can dramatically speed up the process of regulating the water chemistry in your tank, but live sand is also very expensive compared to dry sand. How To Keep Your Substrate Clean In Reef Tank? The small size is ideal for burrowing critters or for fish sifting through the sand for a quick snack on detritus. For this reason, some people use lighter colored substrate to make the aquarium feel more open and bright. Finally, if you have a tank hosting cichlids or other fish that need a coarse substrate with high flow rates, consider sand like the CaribSea ACS00050 Aragonite Reef Sand that offers large grain sizes. I've owned successful aquariums for the past 23 years. Best kind of substrate. CaribSea Ocean Direct; 6. If you want to set up a tank with a deep sand bed, consider a substrate like the CaribSea Dry Aragonite Special Grade sand that is specifically designed to promote nitrate reduction and denitrification. To start, you need to rinse out your new sand to get any impurities and silt out. If, in fact, you can bring the live sand back and put it into your reef tank within a few hours much of the flora will remain alive. When there’s no oxygen, bacteria are able to convert nitrate to nitrogen gas so that it is lost from the water and can’t be used by algae to grow. Because there are crushed oyster shells and crushed corals in the substrate, it is not suitable for tanks with burrowing or sand-sifting creatures – sifting fish in particular are susceptible to being cut up by this media. How do we analyze quality and what soil nutrients are the best for aquatic plants? Aquarists sometimes wonder what they should put on the bottom of their aquariums. All three of these sands are also very fine-grained, which is best for tanks with burrowing or sand-sifting creatures. This is important because most reef tanks like to sit at a Ph of around 8.0 – 8.2. Some people like Dr Randy Holmes-Farley actually dose silicates which are needed for sponges and the like. On the other hand, deep beds do not have oxygen at the bottom of the bed, allowing bacteria to facilitate denitrification so that the nitrogen balance in the tank auto-corrects itself. For example, if you have types of fish that pick at the substrate for a quick snack, you’ll want a fine-grained, soft substrate. Top 6 Best Filter For Red Eared Slider Tank [Review 2020]. Reef substrate can also form a soft substrate that burrowing and sand-sifting critters living in your aquarium can get themselves into. While the grain size of this sand is advertised as between 1 and 2.5 mm, note that much of the substrate is actually 1 mm in diameter or less. Posts: 326 Reviews: 3. Actually the main downer is probably the color compaired to the ultra white of aquarium products. The small grain sizes also reduce flow through the tank, so there is less chance of deep layers within the bed being accidentally oxygenated once the bed is established. Rest assured that everything in it is ideal for your reef tank since it is harvested from ocean water. Live rock in the refugium gives additional space for helpful bacteria to populate and serves as a main nutrient exporter in the reef aquarium. African cichlids present hobbyists with both opportunities as well as with challenges. Peacock Cichlid Care: Complete Guide For Aquarists. I have slowly removed most all of it but dont like the look of the tank without somthing on the floor of the tank. Password: Register: 10-19-2010, 09:32 AM #1: Tiger Reefer. A sand bed also provides a food source for corals and other organisms in reef tanks. Let’s take a look at the most important roles it plays. There are different colors and styles to go … How Much Sand Do You Need for a Reef Tank? If you’re going to enjoy a planted betta aquarium, substrate is pretty much a must. Live Reef Sand, Clam Hammock, Hawaiian Black Arag-Alive! There are also a variety of other styles available from CaribSea to achieve a unique look for your aquarium tank. Reef substrates are available in a variety of colors and grain sizes, which can either be a visually attractive part of your aquarium or can hide at the bottom of the tank and blend into the overall aesthetic. The types of creatures that are living in your aquarium should have a big impact on what type of substrate you need. In general, it’s best to let the ph of your water guide you on what substrate to use. If you are using live sand, your new tank will be ready to house your fish again – otherwise, you will need to wait a few weeks for the tank to cycle and the sand to establish bacteria. There is a large volume of silt that comes with the sand, which can be helpful in tanks where an especially fine-grained substrate is needed. 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