So far I have added 15 lbs. of Aqua Terra white sand to my 20 gallon long but the bottom still looks a bit bare. I know with gravel I've followed the general 1lb. per gallon rule but I feel like this would leave my tank looking a bit bare on the substrate if I followed it with sand. Any suggestions on good levels of substrate for freshwater sand?

Add decorations. I put my sand in to the rim at the bottom so that it doesn't come above the glass. I don't make it smooth though, i make it wavy, with hills and such, to add some "texture" so it doesn't appear as flat and uninteresting.

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125gal - 10" bala, 10" irridescent, 6 gourami's, 2 blood parrots, 1 common pleco, 1 Blue Lobster, & 1 Morimo Ball - Rena XP3
75gal - 5 balas, 2 firemouths, 2 albino oscars, 1 common pleco, 6" firemouth - Rena XP3

I like to keep the bottom material deep enough that I see about an inch along the front (above the frame) and two to three inches in the back... I find this is a good depth for my fish to do whatever fish do with their heads in the rock or sand (I swear, my danio kindof buries himself occasionally...) and is aesthetically pleasing (the grade gives an optical illusion of the tank being bigger than it really is sometimes). Plants and natural rock, if arranged appropriately, can make a huge impact on the tank's appearance... My personal preference is less plants towards the front, a thicker arrangement of plants farther back, and a nice sandstone rock. Many wood accents, I've found, release juuuust enough tannin for me to get tired of the brownish appearance of the water... hope I helped some, and happy tank-scaping!

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What kind of fish are going in there? If it is African Cichlids, you don't need much. If it is a fully planted tank, you need about 2 inches. As the other poster said, less in front, more in back with more tall plants in the back.

My personal taste is to not have symmetry, like one big thing right in the middle, two smaller things on each side, etc. It just looks fake to me. Nature is random.

I am a show-tank kind of guy in this hobby and the way it looks is very important to me. My tanks are part of the decor of my room, actually, the best part as there are six of them, two of them are pretty big. (still waiting for my 300g ;-)

Color is important too. You said sand, so do you mean white, or off white? I have a white/black mix in my 55g Cichlid tank, sort of a salt and pepper look. The tank has no plants, just rock. In my planted tanks I use black as I think it looks good with the green.

Well, I am thread driffting, so I'll stop. Show us a picture and we can help more. But I think you got it.

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60g tall, all artificial plants, Rainbow tank; 55g for African Cichlids. 20g long for fry; 20g hex, 2 black Angels at my desk; 10g planted, with 50 Molly fry; 10 gal, 2x 13w cfl lightning, planted; 2g hex for "Buddy the Betta"; Wanting a 200g +, MTS getting bad.