No Sand In A Salt water Tank??

**novice** · 02-10-2007, 03:24 PM

can you have a salt water tank with no sand in it or do you need to have sand? its just i've been getting alot of algea in my salt water tank and it mostly effects the sand.
i've tried everything and even changed the sand but now the algea is back again.
does anyone have any suggestions please?

**Drumachine09** · 02-10-2007, 03:28 PM

What are your water parameters?

Welcome to the A.C.!

**cocoa_pleco** · 02-10-2007, 03:53 PM

i used crush coral and sand in my 10g saltwater.

Never thought about gravel. Gravel doesnt suit saltwater for me

**Glasstapper** · 02-10-2007, 05:14 PM

As long as you don't have any species that require sand (like most invertibrates), then you can have a bare bottom tank. Lots of people have bare bottoms in their fish only with live rock tanks.

**cocoa_pleco** · 02-10-2007, 06:38 PM

Yes, most delicate anenomies and stuff like starfish need sand, but fish like yellow tangs and clownfish and damsels dont necessarily need sand

**Fishguy2727** · 02-10-2007, 10:07 PM

What size tank? What fish?

**Fish Whisperer** · 02-13-2007, 12:09 AM

Novice-
Algae blooms in a new tank are part of the growing process. In established tanks, they are the result of poor water parameters (particularly nitrates)
Giving some more info would be beneficial to helping solve your problem.

Bare bottom tanks are common, and has absolutely no bearing on algae growth or lack thereof.

**old dirty picasso** · 02-13-2007, 02:43 PM

i recommend coral substrate rather than sand. and regular water changes.

**Fishguy2727** · 02-13-2007, 09:44 PM

Sand is a bit more natural. It is easier for burrowing animals to keep clean and it is small enough to keep too much stuff from collecting in it.

**luckie8** · 04-08-2007, 05:42 AM

Sorry if its a little off topic but how many lbs of sand do I need to setup a sandbed of 2-3" in a 40lb gal tank?
Should I go with Aragamax sand or Special grade reef sand for a FOWLR?