Bare Bottom Tanks

[DSC reef]

Fantastic!!! Thanks for sharing and the inspiration!

Thanks for the compliment!

 

[DSC reef]

@alten78, I like the white bottom. I'm gonna paint the bottom underside of the tank on the next move. Next tank is getting starboard.

 

[lbacha]

when i went bare bottom i used starboard and all dry rock i would make sure you use some good old seasoned live rock that has been in a system for years. it took my tank a year before i was able to keep sps coral.Also i put a bunch of rock in my sump because i didn't have a lot of rock in the display. 2 mp60 about 200 snails I'm now loving the tank the maintenance is so easy no gfo just give it time.

I added seasoned live rock in the main tank and added marine pure slabs to the sump to make up for the lack of biological filtration in the sand. I still have an option to add sand to my refugium but for now I'm going to stick with the marine pure

 

[Adamc13o3]

I've been running bare bottom for a year now. Like others have mentioned it's much easier to keep clean and you can crank up the flow. I would put starboard on the bottom of the tank though. First off it's white so it does give you the sand color at least and it's texture is a little anti slip which helps corals not fly all over the place. I would never go back! I have tons of wrasses too. I got a few wraps dens from fragtastic reefs and the wrasses found them right away and all go there to sleep overnight. It's pretty cool.

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

I do not like sand in a reef tank, it's gave me headache with water flow, too much sand will flow everywhere, too low flow you getting waste build up and algae problem, I remove 99% sand in my clam tank and pretty much the algae problem went away, coincidence? Maybe! But as long algae not trying to make a come back then I'm happy.
Oh, I forgot that my tank bottom was silicone glue with pieces of small rocks together so no point for me to have sand in there, it's just more problematic with sand.

 

[64Ivy]

Bare bottomed for nearly 30 years. You want a coral covered bottom? Set down a Cyphastrea or two then leave the room. Viola!

 

[reefwiser]

I never have to worry about the bottom with zoa's and coralline algae growing all over the bottom of the tank.:) I switch do to fish picking up sand and blowing it on corals and killing them.:(.
I also like being able to increase the water flow so that the SPS are happy. If you watch video of the reefs in nature closely you will see how much flow is in the ocean we will never be able to have that much flow but we can get closer. Also Sand which is the broken down pieces of dead coral from death and being eaten by Parrot fish and coming out as waste. Is washed to the shore away from the corals. Corals are not exposed to sand as close as they are in our aquariums. Corals grow up on the reef sides and top away from the sand.

 

[irwin_fletch]

Bare bottom, easy and clean look.

 

[lbacha]

Bare bottom, easy and clean look.

Great looking tank

 

[luisgo]

My tank is BB but you will not notice unless you get close because my rock and corals almost cover all the bottom. 3/4's of the bottom, rocks are over an eggcrate and two koralias are blowing water under it. That way my bottom is always clean.

 

[John Ostler]

I’m currently running my first bare bottom. An 8 gallon nano for the past 2-3 years. It’s great because I can put a vortech mp10 on a pretty easy speed and all the silt gathers in just one corner for easy siphoning. This really is the number one thing. In a tank this small you don’t really need to crank the flow. Just to note good flow doesn’t always mean crazy flow, just enough to move nutrients and keep oxygen exchange up.

The downside probably isn’t so much the amount of nitrifying bacteria as it is the possible calcium buffering cababilities of sand. #realnature. But both are likely negligible vs dosing and mechanical media.

Brilliant idea about the montis! I cannot believe I did think of that! I’m going to have to try that. Thanks for this post and posting pics!

 

[Bruce Burnett]

I thought growing monti on the bottom was a great idea until theystart growing all over everything. Mine grow like weeds and will be coming out.

 

[John Ostler]

I thought growing monti on the bottom was a great idea until theystart growing all over everything. Mine grow like weeds and will be coming out.

#bestreeferproblems

 

[twf0369]

Beautiful tank. I wish I had the courage to put those angels in my tank.

 

[Frontosa]

I went bare bottom for the first time early this year after 12 years of sand and I doubt that I will go back. I didn't think i would like the aesthetics of it but I got tired of my clowns and other critters creating sandstorms but I painted the bottom of the tank white and I think it makes the look really clean. I've had fellow reefers come over that weren't fans of BB and think differently.

The downside as others have mentioned is that you can't keep animals that need a sand bed, although, i thought about putting sand in a container for a wrasse. Detritus does make its way to low flow areas which is convenient to siphon but so does chunks of coralline which isn't easy for me to siphon. I have to pull out the vacuum every other week before it starts driving me crazy which is just a pain for my setup.

After seeing yours a few time I think about getting rid if all my sand little at a time

 

[Frontosa]

Astrea snails are the ones I keep. Love those guys. Next time I will cover the glass in white starboard though. Here's a few pics of just bare bottom glass. You can see the growth in a 2 month span.

Thats pretty sweet

 

[DSC reef]

Thats pretty sweet

Thank you!

 

[DSC reef]

Here's a few pics of mine, I only have a few monti's (JF Blue Summit, Sandollar) and a Sunblaster Lepto

Did you paint the bottom of the tank or is the white something you put underneath It? Looks amazing

 

[alten78]

Did you paint the bottom of the tank or is the white something you put underneath It? Looks amazing

Thanks! I painted underneath the tank. The downside is that you can see the bottom center brace through the glass but with rocks and everything else to draw the eye to it really isnt noticeable.

 

[lbacha]

I have a ADA style rimless tank and it is sitting on a black foam rubber leveling mat. I like it so far as it as the black adds good contrast to the live rock