Sand bottom vs bare bottom

nport19 · May 29, 2015

Im thinking of posabley switching my sand bottom for bare bottom due to the amount of care it takes just to keep it looking clean. I just wanted to know your guyses option on this topic.

eric3316 · May 30, 2015

I started out with sand then went BB. I don't think I will ever be able to own a tank with sand again.

kevinsmixed90 · May 30, 2015

what marine life do you keep in your tank?

eric3316 · May 30, 2015

In my tank right now:
Clown fish, McCosker Flasher Wrasse, Kole Tang, Coral Beauty Angel, Midas Blenny.

Bubble tip anemone, Green Star Polyps, Duncan, Lobo, Torch, Pipe Organ

Cleaner shrimp, hermits and a few other types of snails.

kevinsmixed90 · May 30, 2015

I can't believe I'm admitting this but, I have been an advocate for dsb tanks. as you pointed out, job to keep clean. wanted to know what inverts/fish you had and if they would be o.k. with bare bottom. i'll watch this post to see what happens if you go b.b. good luck

WetWhistle · May 30, 2015

I am a substrate believer. Substrate provides a few major benefits over no substrate. The first is the substrate provides protection against Ph swings because it acts as a buffer. It also adds to the food web and helps process organics and waste. It is one of the most productive aspects of your system for the production of live invert foods and it processes a lot of nutrients with nitrification.

It looks more natural with a bottom and gives a proper contrast between the aquascape and bottom.

All you need to maintain the substrate is a proper cleanup crew and a thin layer to keep it looking clean and super productive.

No substrate still requires you to do maintenance for upkeep and keep it looking clean. Think of how fast algae can grow on your front glass. Why would a glass bottom be any different? It doesn’t add anything like food web or directly processing of waste. Your manually removing it is no more or less productive then if you did the same thing with substrate.

Some people do like no substrate though. It all breaks down to personal preference really.

jdpeters · May 30, 2015

bare bottom all the way. i like seeing coraline algae growth on it as well. on maintenance day i just use a turkey baster to blow up detritus and have my canister catch it all. i love the super clean look of no sand.

kevinsmixed90 · May 30, 2015

I should clarify my thread. I have always had a deep sand bed because I like sand sifting gobies and starfish and crabs and snails. I feel they are a active part of my captive reef. I also like the buffering as my ph hardly drops at all overnite. however I do find most of my cleaning time is spent on the substrate. always seeing methane bubbles and have never had nitrates below 50ppm. corals do great but I wonder if they would do even better with lower nitrates

SCMatt · May 30, 2015

Started out with sand, and honestly never want it again. I like being able to crank my flow for my sticks as well! Can always keep some in a fuge/sump....I just say no to it in display tanks!

eric3316 · May 30, 2015

WetWhistle said:
It looks more natural with a bottom and gives a proper contrast between the aquascape and bottom.

I don't know, I think my tank looks pretty natural and have enough contrast between my scape and bottom. Also it is great to see coralline algae growing on the bottom glass where you wouldn't have to scrub it like the rest of the glass.

WetWhistle · May 30, 2015

To be honest in the end all that really matters is what the person who owns the tank thinks of it. For me I just don't like it in my tank. Not saying people that choose to not use it their tanks don't look good. When I look at it to me it feels like something is missing.

eric3316 · May 30, 2015

WetWhistle said:
When I look at it to me it feels like something is missing.

Detritus? LOL

hart24601 · May 30, 2015

If someone likes having a sandbed with all the critters than they should have one! Can have great tanks either way.

Personally I much prefer no sand. Looks more natural to me - the big acro reefs are mostly rock/coral bottom not sand. The biggest issue was that when I kept sand when I tore down the tanks it was so nasty. Had plenty of cuc, the sand was just filthy where I couldn't clean the sand under coral colonies. I would really be hard pressed to have sand again unless I was going for a specific environment.

nport19 · May 30, 2015

Here's a list of all the fish and inverts I have in my setup: yellow tangs, 2 clowns fish, sunrise dottyback, cardneal fish, 5 snails, 3 hermits and one cleaner shrimp. I'm pretty sure all these guys would be ok if I went to bare bottom.

nport19 · May 30, 2015

As for corals I have: mushrooms, torch coral, candy coral, pulsing hand coral, Brain corals, and 2 other corals that I don't know the names of.

WetWhistle · May 30, 2015

eric3316 said:
Detritus? LOL

Haha

loumaggs · May 31, 2015

Sandy bottom all the way for me

ecfort57 · Jun 1, 2015

I like sand just looks better to me. It is your preference

pickupman66 · Jun 1, 2015

I have had sanded bottom tanks since I started reefing. When I sold my 180, and downsized to my 66, I decided to try a barebottom for the first time. it has taken a while to get used to looking at it but now that I am, I LOVE IT. Best of all for me, I love the maintenance aspect if it. I simply vacuum up the detritus at a specific spot in the display and its clean. WOO HOO!!! as my tank is filling in, it looks better and better.

nport19 · Jun 1, 2015

I like the look of the bare bottom tanks but I don't think I will like seeing alge grow all over the bottom of my aquarium glass. I have also heard the sand bottom tanks are better for smaller setups due to the fact that it takes away a lot of the problem that are water related. Still undecided as of now on what I'm going to do with my new setup.