ATI Aquaristik has recently released their new Fiji White Sand onto the European market, and it’s not the typical calcium carbonate substrate found filling most saltwater aquaria in the hobby these days. Instead, this high purity sand is composed of 99.6% pure calcium and magnesium, and is said to be one of the cleanest substrates on the market today. In addition to being clean, the sand’s bright white coloration is also very reflective, bouncing diffuse light back up into the water column and providing more illumination to your corals. The reflected light will not be intense by any means, but it will undoubtedly provide more light energy to the undersides of corals, which often lose coloration as the branches above become more densely packed. The third major selling point to the Fiji White Sand is the density of each grain. While coming in at the small grain size of 0.3 to 1.2 mm, ATI touts that the sand is heavy and won’t get blown around in high current water flow. Larger grain aragonite is not a great choice for aquariums since they tend to trap detritus, so it’s nice to see a fine grain with a little weight behind it that won’t turn into a sandstorm when we fire up the powerheads.

Like we mentioned above, this sand is only available in Europe, though we do expect a US debut eventually. The retail price is set at 18.00 € per bag, which is just a shade under $25. For more information, please see Advanced Aquarist or keep reading below for a translated product description from ATI.

Translated from ATI Aquaristik:

The Fiji White sand is characterized by many positive features:

First Highest purity:
Our sand is 99.6% pure calcium and magnesium compounds, making it one sen cleanest materials that you get on the market today.

Second White and very high reflectance properties:
Due to the high purity of the sand is particularly white. This is for the total brightness of the aquarium is very advantageous. Corals get so similar in nature, a higher proportion of reflections off the floor, which is very beneficial for corals. The Fiji White sand is ideal for light-hungry corals with Aqaurien because these stations will also receive a higher proportion of diffuse radiation from below.

Third no extreme drifts more:
Because of its higher density than comparable Aragonitsand of Fiji White sand is much harder and better around it remains current.
Application:
We recommend a layer of approximately 2cm. DSB at least 8-10cm.
Due to the small grain size of sand is good for an accumulation of fluid in the substrate Detrius avoided.

The sand should be washed before use in the aquarium several times well. The existing dust content, which is always produced by friction during transportation etc. should be washed out as far as possible. To do this, rinse the sand as long as no more until the water milky / white and is mostly clear.

About two weeks ago, I wrote the Sandbeds in Aquariums. In it I commented on barebottom aquariums, and this is the follow-up to that mention.

For years, sand has played a major role in saltwater aquariums. Sand is beneficial in so many ways, especially aragonite-based sand. In a nutshell, sand provides calcium, alkalinity, and pH buffering, as well as a home and food source for all sorts of fish and invertebrates. But most importantly of all, sand provided the surface area for a majority of the nitrifying bacteria that processes the waste material given off by our livestock. A last benefit is a purely asthetic one. Many aquarists simply like the look of a sandbed.

But if sand is so important for the saltwater aquarium, why are barebottom (sandless) aquariums becoming a popular trend? To answer this, we must look at who the primary users of a barebottom aquarium are…and this is mostly the hard coral enthusiasts. These hard corals, focusing mainly on SPS corals in the Acropora and Montipora genus, require quite a bit of flow and need a low nutrient environment in order to thrive. As you can imagine, sand poses somewhat of a problem for high flow setups, especially if it is of a finer grain size. The water movement can create sand storms and bury low lying corals, which will kill them eventually. If you have no sand in the aquarium, then you can have pretty much any amount of gallons per hour flowing through your aquarium.

An immediate benefit to higher flow is that it will help keep detritus, or waste, suspsended in the water column for removal via aquarium filters and protein skimmers. Sand is really good at trapping this detritus, thereby causing a constant supply of detrimental nutrients and less than perfect water quality. In a barebottom setup, you can easily see all the detritus so that it can easily be removed via siphoning. Additionally, more flow can deliver more of the required elements (calcium for example) to the corals at a faster rate, while at the same time removing metabolic waste from the coral. This leads to increased growth rates and overall healthier livestock.

Barebottom setups, to some, don’t look as good to some people, and are certainly not as natural looking. But some barebottom users place a “Starboard” material on the bottom of the aquarium, which protects the glass and somewhat looks like a faux sandbed. To further sell the look, some have glued sand grains to the material itself. Or if you want to be creative, you can grow corals directly onto the Starboard. One great example is green star polyps, or zoanthids, which grow in mattes onto virtually any surface.

I personally have mixed feelings about the barebottom setup. I, like most, have used sandbeds for years, but since my setup mostly consists of hard corals, I am very attracted to removing all of my sand. I have started the process of sand removal, but I must warn those who want to make the switch…your rockwork will shift and you should not remove more than a few pounds of sand per week so that you do not alter the bacteria/nutrient equilibrium which may result in algae blooms or even livestock loss.

Mixed Reef Aquarium

Ever since people started bringing the ocean into their living rooms, sand has played a major part of the aquarium setup. In the early days of aquarium keeping, the substrate of choice was gravel, crushed shells/coral, and playground sand. These types persisted for several years, but eventually gave way to more realistic sand types. Obviously we want our tanks to mimic nature, so it was inevitable that more natural-looking sand would find its way into our aquariums. But aesthetics aren’t the only benefit. Natural sand is typically finer than previously utilized sands, opening up a doorway to sand sifting organisms like gobies, sea stars, and cucumbers which would all starve in tanks with larger grain sand. Additionally, aragonite-based sand has tremendous benefits in that is has the ability to buffer tank pH and aids in calcium/alkalinity stability. Despite which sand you choose, every option plays a huge role in biological filtration.

Aragonite Sandbed in Home Aquarium

In order to fully explain the role sand plays in filtration, I must first discuss the nitrogen cycle. Whenever you first start an aquarium, you typically begin with some form of sand and live rock. The sand is usually dead (dried out) and the rock is uncured. And by uncured, I’m referring to the fact that there is a lot of dead or dying organisms on the rocks. After you place the sand and rock into the tank, ammonia will skyrocket. Bacteria present in the aquarium will begin to consume ammonia and convert it to nitrite. Nitrite then spikes, allowing a different population of bacteria will grow and process nitrite into nitrate…which is harmless. Nitrates themselves can be further processed and converted into nitrogen gas. But what is sand’s role in all this? For one, sand provides a huge surface area on which the bacteria live. The bacteria live on the sand and live rock within the tank and are continually breaking down excess nutrients into harmless forms. Smaller grain sand provides a greater amount of surface area than larger sizes, so it is the most useful in a filtration sense. But it goes further than that.

Aragonite Sandbed in Mixed Reef Aquarium

In deep sand beds, there exists an anoxic, or oxygen poor, area. This layer can easily be seen from the front and sides of the aquarium where the sand meets the glass (or acrylic), and is home to anaerobic bacteria that convert nitrates into nitrogen gas. The gas can bubble out of the aquarium, thereby keeping your nitrates low and making deep sand beds very attractive as a form of filtration. But they have their drawbacks.

Obviously deep sand beds are just that, deep. They will dramatically decrease the vertical room you have in the aquarium and will displace a lot of water thereby reducing your overall gallons of water drastically. Secondly, powerheads can blow sand all over the place. If you have a lot of flow, sand will relocate and occasionally bury corals and rocks. An often overlooked drawback is cost. Most sand can run $1-$3 per pound, so you could imagine a sand bed 5 or 6″ deep in a large tank could easily run several hundred dollars. Lastly, and most importantly, deep sand beds have been known to crash, killing everything in the tank. The main reason for this

Tiger Tail Sea Cucumber

occurring is due to the accumulation of harmful nutrients deep within the sand bed. Hydrogen sulfide is among them, and if released can wreak havoc on an aquarium. To get around this, many suggest replacing the sand bed periodically.

If you don’t want a deep sand bed, you have other options. Some people run shallow sand bed aquariums and other run no sand at all. The last of which pretty much warrants its own article. But shallow sand beds work similarly to deep sand beds in that they provide some surface area for bacteria. Obviously though, they do not provide much of an anoxic area for nitrate processing.

Bare Bottom SPS Dominated Aquarium courtesy of Chris (aka crvz)

All-in-all, sand beds provide tremendous benefits to the average aquarist. They serve as a huge source of filtration, provide feeding grounds for many fish and invertebrates, buffer tank pH, and they make the setup look more natural.

Permissions and Sources:
Chris (aka crvz)…personal information withheld per request
Other images provided by the author