Barebottom Reefers vs Sand Bed Reefers: Which one are you?

Are you a sand bottom or a bare bottom reefer?

  • Sand

    Votes: 757 79.6%
  • Barebottom

    Votes: 158 16.6%
  • Other (please explain)

    Votes: 36 3.8%

  • Total voters
    951

Treefer32

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Sand bed all the way for me. I am dosing 240 ml of alk solution per day and 240 ml of calcium chloride per day and that keeps my alk around 8.5 and calcium around 520. As others have said, I don't know if all that alk is going into the sand bed or not, but the fun my fish have playing in the sand... After all what else is there to do? I have a Dragon wrasse that would die without a sand bed. The micro fauna and things that take refuge in the sand. Plus, I've buried fish that died in sand to foster bacteria growth and presence. It has worked because my sand bed is pristine clean most of the time. I've never vacuumed it or anything. It's 4 years old.

I'd never go without sand in my opinion. I don't know if it consumes half my alk or not, it's fun to see the fish play in the sand.
 

James_O

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Garf

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Started bare bottom, then went sand, then deep sand (when that was a thing), back to bare now, and that’s how it’s stayin’. Just gotta get over the initial uglies on the glass, then it’s plain sailin’.
 

Fourstars

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My boot is bare. More space for encrusters to spread out. But my refugium is full of sand. image.jpg image.jpg
 

GARRIGA

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In the process of setting up my build but prefer to go old school and hide the dirt. Let mother nature do it's thing based on having effective filtration. Done bare bottom enough with fish only and not going through that ordeal ever again. Still have nightmares of trying to trap detritus with brine shrimp nets. Granted proper flow and rock aquascape can eliminate that nuance but I'm too old and too busy with life to not just sit back and enjoy living art.
 

shakacuz

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i prefer a DSB. not only for my yellow coris wrasse, but for my in the future jawfish. aesthetically, i find it more pleasing to go bare bottom- but in terms of biodiversity i’ll always go sand bed.
 

ChaosAquaculture

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Today let's talk about the substrate or the non-substrate of your reef tank! Some reefers like the look of a sand bed and others like the maintenance of a barebottom reef. What about you? Let's talk about it today.

1. Are you a sand bottom or a bare bottom reefer?

2. Why do you choose one over the other?


image via @dr.dator
_MG_9740.jpg
Sand all the way! - kali
 

Soren

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1. Are you a sand bottom or a bare bottom reefer?
Though I understand the cleaning aspect of bare-bottom, I totally prefer a shallow sand bed!

2. Why do you choose one over the other?
Sand looks much nicer and more natural to me while also allowing for certain animals that have interesting interactions and need the sand.
 

captainbeardly

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Today let's talk about the substrate or the non-substrate of your reef tank! Some reefers like the look of a sand bed and others like the maintenance of a barebottom reef. What about you? Let's talk about it today.

1. Are you a sand bottom or a bare bottom reefer?

2. Why do you choose one over the other?


image via @dr.dator
_MG_9740.jpg
Definitely sand for surface area and to me looks more natural. I like using the special grade sand so I can still run a little higher flow without the sand storm effect.
 

Motown100

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SAND all the way!!!!
I do admire the BB tanks, but I have wrasses and a shrimp gobie. And I love hoe it looks.. It does take time to clean but man it is worth it!
SAND all the way!!!!
 
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