Ideas

[Lloyd Williams]

So I'm trying plan my next tank. It will officially be my second tank. As of now 32 gallon Biocube LED is where I'm at. So I'm thinking 93 gallon frameless cube. I want black sand and tons of euphyllia. I want as many different colors as possible. But I've also heard bare bottom is a great way to go. What do you guys think?

 

[BlueCursor]

Look at tanks in person (LFS, etc) and decide what you like best. Don't just look photos of BBTs. Seeing a tank in person is different than seeing a photo.

I personally don't like the look of BBTs, but it is 100% a personal preference. I also like critters that require substrate. I went with 2" crushes coral substrate. I hated the diatoms and algae growing on the substrate so I got a diamond back goby. Problem solved. I love my sand sifting star. I seeing snails pop out of the substrate when I feed the tank. I can't have these things with BBT.

Each approach has its pros and cons. You just have to pick your priorities.

 

[Steven D]

Honestly I would go with the black sand and have a cool looking reef tank! I always prefer sand but I'm sure other people have awesome looking bare bottoms, good luck btw new tanks are always fun!! [emoji16]

 

[Lloyd Williams]

Look at tanks in person (LFS, etc) and decide what you like best. Don't just look photos of BBTs. Seeing a tank in person is different than seeing a photo.

I personally don't like the look of BBTs, but it is 100% a personal preference. I also like critters that require substrate. I went with 2" crushes coral substrate. I hated the diatoms and algae growing on the substrate so I got a diamond back goby. Problem solved. I love my sand sifting star. I seeing snails pop out of the substrate when I feed the tank. I can't have these things with BBT.

Each approach has its pros and cons. You just have to pick your priorities.

I feel the same way. I've had two smaller tanks before this and I always had a dsb. But lately I've seen some beautiful bbts with a black bottom and a bunch of mini stars. Got me curious

 

[DracoKat]

I have BB in my pico tank (chose to go that route for easier cleanup and less sand blowing around). it looks terrible.. I can see all the debris clumping and I am constantly turkey basting them out.

 

[Lloyd Williams]

Honestly I would go with the black sand and have a cool looking reef tank! I always prefer sand but I'm sure other people have awesome looking bare bottoms, good luck btw new tanks are always fun!! [emoji16]

I thank you. I was really toying with the idea of black sand and putting in a sandfall of white sand. Everything from sand to rocks would be dead so lots of rinsing to insure a little cloudiness as possible.

 

[Lloyd Williams]

I have BB in my pico tank (chose to go that route for easier cleanup and less sand blowing around). it looks terrible.. I can see all the debris clumping and I am constantly turkey basting them out.

And you sir have just made up my mind!! lol I want less work not more lol

 

[redfishbluefish]

Note that I haven't seen a black sand that didn't have a ferrous component. If you use a magnetic glass cleaner, if you get close to the sand, it will pick up this morsels and potentially scratch your glass. I like the look, but don't want to take the chance of scratching the glass.

 

[Lloyd Williams]

Note that I haven't seen a black sand that didn't have a ferrous component. If you use a magnetic glass cleaner, if you get close to the sand, it will pick up this morsels and potentially scratch your glass. I like the look, but don't want to take the chance of scratching the glass.

I don't have issue with getting my hands wet or dirty, thanks Iraq, so not having a magnetic is cool. I just want it to look good. I'm trying to figure out how to hide pvc on the bottom without 37 inches of sand. I wanna kinda build a cave system with rock and pvc to connect the sandfall to "euphyllia mountain "

 

[DracoKat]

And you sir have just made up my mind!! lol I want less work not more lol

*cough*ma'am*cough* ;)

I'd do black sand anyway, it's awesome!

 

[Lloyd Williams]

*cough*ma'am*cough* ;)

I'd do black sand anyway, it's awesome!

My bad! No disrespect intended

 

[DracoKat]

lol, it's OK. It's a male dominated hobby and I am used to it ;)

 

[Greybeard]

lol, it's OK. It's a male dominated hobby and I am used to it ;)

Wish it _wasn't_ a male dominated hobby... reef club meetings would be much more fun :)

I planned my new tank to be bare bottom... 5' long peninsula tank, didn't want pumps on the visible end, couldn't imagine generating enough flow without creating a sand storm, so... BB sounded good. Until I started working on rockscape, looking at the tank in place, and decided that a wave pump on the visible end would be less unattractive to me than the bare bottom would be. Ordered 80lbs of special grade reef sand, and never looked back.

I was a bit worried about bio filter, as well... a sand bed, even a shallow one, adds lots of available surface area for bio-filter use.

 

[Grey Guy]

A deep sand bed is just one more thing to have to keep alive and balanced. They are awesome when al the critters are doing well. I opted for DSB because I did not want to vacuum the sand all the time, but now I'm not so sure. I've done a few BB tanks and just decided not to do them any more, because of reasons already discussed. I would go with a 1 to 1.5 inch sand bed, with as much access to vacuuming as I could allow from the rock work. Even 1" sand will create hydrogen sulfide pockets, if it's not stirred.

Your design sounds very creative and interesting. I would love to see it after it's set up.