I imagine a very lightly sanded tank is similar to BB but with the "softer" look. I changed out my gravel for pool filter sand, but then was worried it was raising the PH (it wasn't) and took it out. I left a light scattering, and you can just swirl it around a little (I have a small 5 gall and use a turkey baster not sure how that goes with big tanks) Also, for esthetic purposes in a BB, probably could just do a fish "back ground" under the glass.