Inverts / Bare bottom

[callen.haines]

Alright so i’m about a week away from getting my 265Gal aquarium, i’m planning on making it a sps high flow tank, and with this came the recommendation of a bare bottom leading to more success with sps. This got me thinking, and because inverts are possibly my favourite component of a reef tank, im curious how various inverts do in a bare bottom, thanks guys.

 

[Spare time]

They do fine as long as they are not sand sifters. Make sure to have lots of biomedia in the sump as a bare-bottom tank is a nightmare for microbial stability.

 

[HuduVudu]

My nassarius would be very unhappy if there was a bare bottom.
My signal goby would be right there with him protesting the lack of sand.

Many wrasse species won't take kindly to that bare bottom either.

I am not sure why the bare bottom fad, but I have had sand bottoms for a very long time with no problem. To be sure they are not maintenance free but is a bare bottom worth the restriction of things that you can have in your tank? And the aesthetic is IMO is less than desirable. Indeed it is every tank owners question to be answered. For me ... bring in the sand.

 

[Spare time]

However if the flow is too high then hermits may roll

 

[callen.haines]

However if the flow is too high then hermits may roll

What do you think about a thin layer of sand? crank the flow near the top half of the tank and leave it a little gentler near the bottom for my inverts

 

[callen.haines]

However if the flow is too high then hermits may roll

I think i’m going to go with sand, regardless of the size i’m going for, i still love small fish like gobies so how deep do you think i should go for the sand sifting gobies?

 

[BullyBee]

Bare bottom all the way. **** sand. Unless it’s important to the fish.

black abs plastic. I’ve seen countless sps tanks with high flow and sand just blowing around. With bare bottom you can even put a smaller powerhead to really get the detritus up.

otherwise enjoy cleaning it all the time.


That’s the black abs plastic bottom. Can’t even tell it’s two pieces....

Edit: I don’t meant to sound like a dick but I am on a warpath with sand in my other tanks right now.

 

[callen.haines]

Bare bottom all the way. **** sand. Unless it’s important to the fish.

black abs plastic. I’ve seen countless sps tanks with high flow and sand just blowing around. With bare bottom you can even put a smaller powerhead to really get the detritus up.

otherwise enjoy cleaning it all the time.


That’s the black abs plastic bottom. Can’t even tell it’s two pieces....

Edit: I don’t meant to sound like a dick but I am on a warpath with sand in my other tanks right now.

I see I see, I hear bare bottom is much more difficult in the first year, if I do go bare bottom any tips for me? thanks B

 

[BullyBee]

I see I see, I hear bare bottom is much more difficult in the first year, if I do go bare bottom any tips for me? thanks B

well I’m doing a FOWLR so the only tip I can give you is to listen to those who are doing what you wanna do. I’d imagine it would be hard to have inverts without sand

 

[footgal]

I have a bare bottom with a fire shrimp, 10ish assorted snails, sexy shrimp, and 10 ish hermits. They all do just fine. Hermits do push around my frags on the bottom a little and I keep my powerhead on a very low setting because the tank is so small and I got an oversized powerhead by accident

 

[BullyBee]

Just make sure to get something for the bottom of the tank like abs plastic. It just looks great and if you ever decide to get sand you can put it on top no problem.

 

[callen.haines]

Just make sure to get something for the bottom of the tank like abs plastic. It just looks great and if you ever decide to get sand you can put it on top no problem.

sounds good thank you

 

[ecamden]

What do you think about a thin layer of sand? crank the flow near the top half of the tank and leave it a little gentler near the bottom for my inverts

It will blow away in some areas, but be okay in most. I have a few bare patches up front, but mostly have 1inch average sand bed with sps only tank. I'm using 2 gyres on the ends and 2 cheap Amazon powerheads on the back wall. I have plenty of flow and corals are growing nicely

 

[Spare time]

I think i’m going to go with sand, regardless of the size i’m going for, i still love small fish like gobies so how deep do you think i should go for the sand sifting gobies?

I think that it won't matter too much because of the size of the tank. Maybe 1.5 inch (Honeslty I am not sure of an ideal depth for that)? I have a 2-3 inch one because I had extra sand and I like the landscape effect.

 

[Spare time]

Honestly I think that sps don't need hurricane flow, just persistant flow in varying directions. I think that it is a common myth that SPS need these extremes of light and flow. I would think that their selection pressure towards their very strong structures and ability to tolerate high light are a result of necessity. These environments are quite stressful for many organisms because being whipped around by the current and torched by the sun is not ideal. Selection acts on what is necessary. I am not someone who has studied the evolution of reefs but this is my opinion on the matter.
The flow they do need is flow that allows the water flow that to be persistent in import and export of products across the entire colony's surface. The sand won't be blown around if it is large enough (though not too large for a diamond goby since you said you like those), and the corals are placed above the sandbed. I have seen many SPS tanks with sand and I think that it is perfectly possible to have sps flow and a sandbed.

 

[TriggerFinger]

If you decide on bare bottom, I have a couple hermits, brittle stars, one huge turbo snail and one huge trochus snail in a BB 29g and they have been fine for almost two years. I have a much bigger variety of snails in my 90g with sand and I would like sand sleeping wrasses and a sand sifting goby in there.

 

[TheDallasCollector]

Love the question as Im ready to add more inverts to my BB. I have a bunch of Turbos, Tronchs, Astreas, Bubble Bee snails, a few cleaner shrimp and a few peppermint shrimp. Want to get an urchin, cowries, and a ceramic crab ✌