Methods
Sand bed or bare bottom reef tank: pros and cons
Sand looks natural and houses fish and bacteria; bare glass is easy to keep clean and suits strong flow. Both work. The choice depends on the animals you want.
Last checked . How we check
- Cost
- Low either way
- Effort
- Low either way
- Sand suits
- Most tanks, wrasses, gobies, beginners
- Bare suits
- High-flow SPS tanks
What are the pros and cons of each?
| Item | Sand bed | Bare bottom |
|---|---|---|
| Life | Bacteria, pods, burrowing crew | Less; matures more slowly |
| Fish | Needed by sand-sleeping wrasses and burrowing gobies | Cannot house them |
| Detritus | Traps it if not stirred or siphoned | Easy to see and remove |
| Flow | Can blow around in strong flow | Suits very strong flow |
| Look | Natural | Clean, sometimes coralline-covered |
BRS calls sand more forgiving for beginners and gives no depths. A shallow bed of about 2.5 to 5 cm is the common choice; a deep sand bed is usually 10 cm or more of fine sand (typical). New aragonite can take up calcium and alkalinity early on (Red Sea).
How do I get started?
- Check the fish you want: wrasses and gobies need sand.
- Pick a depth: about 2.5 to 5 cm for most tanks.
- Rinse the sand and lay it after the rock.
- Stir or siphon a section at each water change.
What are the common mistakes?
- A deep bed that is never disturbed in a tank with strong flow in some places and none in others.
- Bare bottom with a sand-sleeping wrasse.
- Fine sand under a strong wavemaker.
Where do sources disagree?
| Topic | What sources say | Our reading |
|---|---|---|
| Deep sand beds |
| For a first tank, a shallow bed, kept clean. |
Sources
Figures from sources read as a search summary only are shown as typical figures: check them before you rely on them. Found a mistake? Tell us how to fix it.