Bare bottom tanks

[Wolf89]

Can anyone tell me if the following wrasses require sand?
Mccoskers flasher
Carpenters flasher
Hoevens wrasse
Leopard wrasse
Thanks!

 

[w2inc]

The Leopard was a pretty delicate fish for me and it did like to sleep in the sand. I would tell you that they require it, but they might do fine sleeping in a cave as well. It might be happy in a bowl of sand in the back of the tank some place.

A remote deep sand bed, and or refugium would give you pod habitat and surface area, but you might have plenty as is.

Seems like the biggest sand debate is normally whether it is going to turn into a nutrient sink time bomb or not. If pods are your main concern and you are feeling uneasy about a sand bed in your main display, you might enjoy running a small pod culture next to your tank. If you do have anything breed you will be really glad you have it and know how to run it.

I don't remember the tank size you were talking about in this thread, but be sure the tank is big enough to handle that Hoeven's wrasse. They can get pretty big and are wrasses are kind of hard to catch.

 

[Jacked Reefer]

Both the hoevens wrasse and the leopard wrasse require a sand bed. The stress of having to sleep in areas unnatural to them can be deadly.

In my opinion going bare bottom is one of the best choices you can make for your tank (unless you have fish that need sand). And my microfauna and even stomalia and asterina populations are excessive.

 

[Hermie]

I'm considering removing substrate down to the bottom, but I don't want to disturb the rockwork as it stands. It's it possible to go "bare bottom" without removing all your gravel? So that there's enough for your rocks to maintain their integrity?

 

[Peace River]

I'm considering removing substrate down to the bottom, but I don't want to disturb the rockwork as it stands. It's it possible to go "bare bottom" without removing all your gravel? So that there's enough for your rocks to maintain their integrity?

When you put the aquascaping together did you put the sand in and then place the rocks on top of it or did you add the sand around the rocks? Additionally how thick is the sand that may be under the rocks?

 

[Hermie]

When you put the aquascaping together did you put the sand in and then place the rocks on top of it or did you add the sand around the rocks? Additionally how thick is the sand that may be under the rocks?

I put the sand down first, then the rocks. There is about 1" of sand under them I'd estimate, one of the 3 main rocks could stand on it's own I am sure, the other two, I'm not sure.

 

[Peace River]

I put the sand down first, then the rocks. There is about 1" of sand under them I'd estimate, one of the 3 main rocks could stand on it's own I am sure, the other two, I'm not sure.

Is this on your 23g nano that is in your build thread? The rock work may be small enough that you can move the rocks around to remove the sand and then add some additional supporting base rock if necessary to help your existing rocks stand.

 

[Hermie]

Is this on your 23g nano that is in your build thread? The rock work may be small enough that you can move the rocks around to remove the sand and then add some additional supporting base rock if necessary to help your existing rocks stand.

Yep... I was just moving some rocks around today, flipped one of the rocks that had algae... there are still holdfasts on the bottom that was not exposed to light... so I may end up taking my rocks out one by one and putting them in a dark sump compartment.

 

[brewandreef]

My tank is bare bottom as well. I've seen a lot of things dwell and taper off depending on what's going on in the tank. I didn't really get a good microfauna population until I grabbed some chaeto from the LFS. Now there's amphipods, copepods, various sponges, some weird flatworms (that I'm not sure of what to think of, but seems they mostly eat algae and detritus). Unfortunately I also got digitate hydroids, but their population is dwindling as I am feeding more frozen and less pellets. If you can get good porous rock with lots of nooks and crannies, microfauna is no issue.

Personally, I would not do it again. I had so many issues starting with dry rock only. As long as you are good at doing water changes so your sand doesn't become a phosphate sink, I think sand's benefits outweigh the cons.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I run 1/2" to 3/4" layer. This time I went all sand as I always do Black and white mix

 

[Hyde2406]

Assuming you have at least a moderate amount of live rock then between the microfauna coming from the fuge and what lives in the rock then you should have a fair amount of microscopic life in your tank. Additional you may want to skip filter socks.

Do you live near the piece River area? We love kayaking down it! We are in Sarasota

 

[Peace River]

Do you live near the piece River area? We love kayaking down it! We are in Sarasota

:) Yes, I'm in the Peace River watershed. It is a beautiful area and I wish I was able to spend more time kayaking on the river!

 

[AZMSGT]

Wonder if a thin white acrylic on the bottom would give a white sand look without causing issues.

 

[w2inc]

Wonder if a thin white acrylic on the bottom would give a white sand look without causing issues.

 

[w2inc]

The back wall overflow section is white plexiglass as well. It reflects light and softens some of the hot spots like I wanted. It has been running for a couple months cycling and is just starting to grow coralline algae. It doesn't look like gravel to me, but it really looked nicer than black or glass.

 

[DEWreefing]

Love my bare bottom it gets covered very quickly in coraline algae