Live Sand

Live Sand for your Aquarium and Saltwater Fish Tank

Live Sand, full of nitrifying bacteria, beneficial live worms, and other marine life.  Great for helping a tank cycle.  Our live sand is sustainably farm-raised on our aquaculture site and at our certified facility.  It is strained twice through a fine wire mesh so any shells or particles over 1/32 of an inch are removed.  What’s left is a great looking substrate with nice fine particles that settle fast and won’t cloud your tank. Don’t buy just any live sand for sale, buy the best live sand for reef tanks and saltwater aquariums.

Why ARC Reef Live Sand is the Best Live Sand for Reef Tanks

Don’t get your live sand from a bag that’s been sitting on a shelf for months.  Buy it fresh from the reef.  Nothing beats fresh live sand. Bacteria cultured and placed in bagged sand lacks 1000’s of naturally evolved bacterial strains found only in the ocean. This diversity of bacteria is a crucial component to why fresh live sand is unmatched to any other.

• Beautiful natural looking off white ivory color.
• Pure aragonite (calcium carbonite) sand.
• Contains no silica. ARC Reef sand is laboratory tested to be 100% silica free.
  
• Grain size: 0.50-1mm (great for low flow, medium flow, and high flow tanks)
• Fine to medium particle size, no crushed shells or foreign objects like bagged sand.
• Populated with millions of beneficial bacteria and organisms.
• Maintains proper tank pH and makes an excellent calcium and magnesium buffer.
• Highest concentration of beneficial nitrifying bacteria which remove harmful nitrogenous waste.
• Aids in the dissolving of organic wastes like ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates.
• Direct from the reef, you can’t possibly get it any fresher than this.
• Establishes a natural organic balance in your aquarium.
• Helps cycle new fish tanks and eliminate new tank syndrome.
• Excellent for deep sand beds, Plenums, and refugiums.
• Provides enhanced buffering capacity to achieve stable water chemistry.
• Provides essential inorganic elements such as strontium, cobalt, zinc and molybdenum.
• Order by the lb. and get the exact amount you need for your tank.

How Much Live Sand do I Need?

Rough Estimate –  0.5 – 2 lbs. per gallon, depending on your desired depth.   1 lb/per gallon is a ratio commonly used.

1 pound of live sand per gallon = 1″-1.5″ deep sand bed

1.5 pounds of live sand per gallon = 1″.5-2″ deep sand bed

2 pounds of live sand per gallon = 2″-2.5″ deep sand bed.

Precise Estimate – The precise calculation of how much live sand you need will depend on the dimensions of your tank and not how many gallons your tank is.  Gallons can’t take into consideration that some tanks are taller than others. A 120 gallon (long) will need more sand than a 120 gallon (high) display tank. There are many live sand calculators available online but each calculator gives a different result and most of these calculations don’t take into account the density and volume of the substrate being used in order to accurately calculate the volume needed. The formula (Tank width) x (Tank length) / 1,728 x 70 x how many inches of sand you wish to have can be used but this still will not account for different densities of the substrate.

Return Your Unused Portion of Live Sand for a Refund

If your head is still spinning over calculating how much live sand you need then you can breathe easy because if you order too much, just return your unused portion.  We will accurately weight your returned portion and issue you a refund back to the credit card that you used when you placed your order.

100% Unconditional Lifetime Warranty

All ARC Reef products come with our 100% unconditional lifetime warranty.  We stand behind all our aquacultured products for their entire life and yours!  If you are unhappy with your live sand in any way, crash your tank, or simply need to start all over again, we will replace your purchased item free of charge for the full lifetime of your ownership.