CaribSea Super Naturals Crystal River Aquarium Sand - 50 lb Bag for Freshwater & Saltwater Fish Tanks - Natural Substrate for Aquatic Plants & Marine Life - Perfect for Aquascaping & Reef Tanks

I was a little hesitant to purchase this online when I read some of the reviews. It is hard to tell through photos what the actual color and how fine or coarse the sand is.After looking in the local fish stores and having the choice of blue or red sand as in primary colors, I decided regardless of the hue or tone of Crystal River sand. it would certainly be the better option.The order arrived quickly in a cardboard box. The sand was packaged in very thick gauge plastic. I decided to just go ahead and pour the sand straight out the bag into my 29 gallon tank. I wasn't really concerned about cloudiness if it was dusty as I was going to take my time to cycle it anyhow. I filled the tank with water and I was really impressed to see the water was clear aside from the bubbles.After I brought 4 albino corycats home and acclimated them, they went straight to the bottom and were burying their little heads in the sand and routing around for any little morsels they could find. The local store I bought them from uses a gravel substrate so it was no surprise they were really happy in their new home.I used just over half the 50 lb bag of sand that covers a 13" x 30" surface. I didn't want to have the sand too thick as I read about gas pockets forming under thick beds of sand. However, after cleaning the sand a few times, I noticed that tank water permeates very well into the sand as it is not a very fine sand. I have vacuumed the sand numerous times and no sand is getting sucked up so there is no waste.I would not hesitate to order CaribSea Aquatics sand again. :)