I received a box of rocks today.

[Victoria M]

ALSO the idea of a bobbit worm has some merit. Shiver! You need to set up a camera with night vision. Soon. That worm is gonna get hungry again. Can you set up a cute 10 gallon QT? Remove your last fish before she is dinner too?

 

[Raege]

Im a sand guy but I can still appreciate the benefit a bare bottom and lets face it when we look at a tank its the fish rock structure and corals we check out. Never seen a post thst said Nice sand like what you did with it.

 

[Janci]

Thank you! I am curious, do you all notice the lack of sand? I do not at all, but I am curious, how does it look to other reefers and to muggles (non-reefers)?

Tell me and be honest (brutally I am sure).

I love tanks with a sandy bottom, but as long as I keep SPS with high flow, it will not be possible.
The day that I have a little more time, I will invent a sand carpet to put in the tank, which can be cut to size and is only about 3mm thick, can be fixed with some silicone, has the looks of a real white bach bottom, but is easy to clean or remove.
Probably I am late to the party and something already exists.

Amazing how clean you can keep your starboard bottom.

 

[WallyB]

I love tanks with a sandy bottom, but as long as I keep SPS with high flow, it will not be possible.
The day that I have a little more time, I will invent a sand carpet to put in the tank, which can be cut to size and is only about 3mm thick, can be fixed with some silicone, has the looks of a real white bach bottom, but is easy to clean or remove.
Probably I am late to the party and something already exists.

Amazing how clean you can keep your starboard bottom.

Cut to Size...Sand Carpet. That's a great Idea.
Kind of like lawn turf that looks just as good, but no hassles and maintenance.
I'll be your first customer if you invent some.

 

[WallyB]

Tank has had its ups and downs lately and I have not been posting a lot of pictures. It is what it is so here is an FTS

@NY_Caveman ....I have to admit your FTS photo's keep getting better and better.
I'm behind on your Thread, but you found your fish. Great!! Will rewind and find out how.

 

[norfolkgarden]

Lol, Didn't really notice the bottom until you mentioned it.
I was too busy enjoying the beautiful purple rocks and the corals.

Nice work!

 

[norfolkgarden]

This kinda freaked me out when I first saw this GIF !!

 

[mta_morrow]

This kinda freaked me out when I first saw this GIF !!

 

[SKYHIGGh]

Hard to believe that could be in a tank you not see it lol [emoji23]

 

[Fudsey]

@NY_Caveman doesn't have a bobbit or at least not that I am aware of... The picture that he posted is a bristle

 

[Brew12]

Hard to believe that could be in a tank you not see it lol [emoji23]

Have you seen this story?
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/10...ehind-mystery-of-vanishing-aquarium-fish.html

 

[RichtheReefer21]

The bare bottom fits the look perfect bud... it keeps the focus on the beautiful rockscape u have created. All the purple is easy on the eyes and the blenny looks great with the contrast swimming across the tank.

Keep your head up with the losses... we all go through it.

 

[najer]

Thank you! I am curious, do you all notice the lack of sand? I do not at all, but I am curious, how does it look to other reefers and to muggles (non-reefers)?

Tell me and be honest (brutally I am sure).

I noticed it, great fts, ... except the lack of sand.
I know I run my mixed reef differently and my sps would like more flow, if I did an sps only tank I would glue sand to the base some how!

 

[Crabby48]

I really like the look of sand bottoms but they seem to add a lot of work and could cause problems.
Bare bottoms are growing on me and your setup is definitely proving that bare bottoms can look good.

 

[RichtheReefer21]

Bare booties are growing on me and your setup is definitely proving that bare bottoms can look good.

I am a big fan of big bare booties myself

 

[Crabby48]

I am a big fan of big bare booties myself

Lol didn’t catch that. If I could type spell check wouldn’t be a problem [emoji23]

 

[TheWB]

I like the look of your tank but personally I prefer sand. I experimented with using a different substrate idea but ultimately I’m going with sand. I do wonder if somehow a thin layer of sand could be affixed to starboard to get the look without having to sacrifice flow. Might be an interesting project to try out someday.

 

[Crabby48]

While on the discussion of what type of Bottoms we prefer would it be out of line to talk about starboard.
@NY_Caveman did you silicone the board down? I ask because I wonder how long that will last. I use starboard a lot on boats and find most sealants don’t bond well to starboard over time. It’s very slick almost oily.
If it’s not sealed could that be a problem?

 

[NY_Caveman]

Well that looks great!

Is there a lack of sand in the tank?? Lol

Seriously, I didn’t notice until you posted this.

I think it’s because we are seeing more and more bare bottoms and getting used to the look.

And yours looks good by the way!

I didn't notice that there is no sand until you said so, Sand is PITA, unless you want sand sifting goby or some kind of wrasses like Macropharyngodon's and Halichoeres's or other sand loving creatures.

I was actually thinking about this while contemplating and admiring your FTS. I prefer sand. But I enjoy your bare bottom. . lol. The only thing is that on the BBB (black bare bottom) the white round frag disc stands out. I love how you mount all the frags normally. I am sure there is a reason for the one where it is, and I figure it is temporary.
I am going to measure the lighting PAR and map it out so that I can glue corals right where they need to be without experimenting.

Im a sand guy but I can still appreciate the benefit a bare bottom and lets face it when we look at a tank its the fish rock structure and corals we check out. Never seen a post thst said Nice sand like what you did with it.

I love tanks with a sandy bottom, but as long as I keep SPS with high flow, it will not be possible.
The day that I have a little more time, I will invent a sand carpet to put in the tank, which can be cut to size and is only about 3mm thick, can be fixed with some silicone, has the looks of a real white bach bottom, but is easy to clean or remove.
Probably I am late to the party and something already exists.

Amazing how clean you can keep your starboard bottom.

@NY_Caveman ....I have to admit your FTS photo's keep getting better and better.
I'm behind on your Thread, but you found your fish. Great!! Will rewind and find out how.

Lol, Didn't really notice the bottom until you mentioned it.
I was too busy enjoying the beautiful purple rocks and the corals.

Nice work!

The bare bottom fits the look perfect bud... it keeps the focus on the beautiful rockscape u have created. All the purple is easy on the eyes and the blenny looks great with the contrast swimming across the tank.

Keep your head up with the losses... we all go through it.

I noticed it, great fts, ... except the lack of sand.
I know I run my mixed reef differently and my sps would like more flow, if I did an sps only tank I would glue sand to the base some how!

I really like the look of sand bottoms but they seem to add a lot of work and could cause problems.
Bare bottoms are growing on me and your setup is definitely proving that bare bottoms can look good.

I like the look of your tank but personally I prefer sand. I experimented with using a different substrate idea but ultimately I’m going with sand. I do wonder if somehow a thin layer of sand could be affixed to starboard to get the look without having to sacrifice flow. Might be an interesting project to try out someday.

Thanks for all of the responses! Sounds like most people do not really even notice. I agree that no one looks at a tank and says “great sand!” I would never use sand. Just gets dirty and seems to have little benefit unless you want to keep sand dwellers. If I had a new build with all white dry rock, it may seem more out of place to me.

The frag disk in there is one of the Montiporas that bleached the worst. It is probably lost, but I left it in case it showed any signs life. The other Montipora frags have all shown some recovery.

 

[Katrina71]

I noticed it, great fts, ... except the lack of sand.
I know I run my mixed reef differently and my sps would like more flow, if I did an sps only tank I would glue sand to the base some how!

I thought about that too. Lol