Sand, Sand, Bare... Why we should care?!?!

[BighohoReef]

Hey all, Having a debate with a good friend who is a multi tank reefer and swears by bare bottom tanks. A majority of them are SPS dominant with a few mixed. I on the other hand I run 3 tanks each with white sand and working on a black sand nem tank. I prefer the diversity

So the great debate is what do you have in your tank? Do you go black, white, or bare? Why the choice, post a pic of your beautiful tank and let the debate begin.

 

[homer1475]

Bare bottom is more of a choice then any need. Although with a SPS dominant tank you can crank up the flow with bare bottom.

I prefer sand, bare bottom just doesn't look right to me. And black sand is known to be magnetic and get stuck to a magnetic cleaner which causes scratches in the glass/acrylic.

 

[hoju74]

Sand isn’t in the tank yet, but I went white Tropic Eden. I like the aesthetic of white sand. I also plan to have jawfish and/or a pistol/goby pair, so sand is a must.

 

[BighohoReef]

Bare bottom is more of a choice then any need. Although with a SPS dominant tank you can crank up the flow with bare bottom.

I prefer sand, bare bottom just doesn't look right to me. And black sand is known to be magnetic and get stuck to a magnetic cleaner which causes scratches in the glass/acrylic.

True true... I've seen a few bare bottoms on here that look amazing, but the more I look I agree something seems off without the sand.

 

[BighohoReef]

Sand isn’t in the tank yet, but I went white Tropic Eden. I like the aesthetic of white sand. I also plan to have jawfish and/or a pistol/goby pair, so sand is a must.

I didn't even get to fish part yet. That's a great point, we have a leopard wrasse can't imagine what the poor things would do without the sand.

Here she is tending her garden.

 

[dummyknuckles]

I have a ~1.5-2" white sand bed. Did it for looks/bacterial filtration - and I like the look. Thought it was good as a "deep sand bed" for bacterial filtration - but have since learned that "deep" is like at least 8 inches. I've kept it for the look. I also had some guys at a nice LFS/Coral shop telling me that I should be careful placing my live rock on it because eventually the rock would settle and could sorta slip into the side and possibly crack the glass... which I always found to be an extreme take. And hasn't happened in ~8 years for me.

But - I've had SO many issues with nitrates and recently I'm thinking that this bed of sand is likely harboring those nitrates. What do you guys think?

 

[footgal]

I swear by bare bottom, three reef tanks now all BB. Sand was such a headache for me to clean manually and when I tried to be lazy and get a fish to do it, all my frags and rocks got sand stormed. I’m now working on a zoa garden bottom for my favorite tank, kept at bay with strategically placed euphyllia.

 

[andrewkw]

Bare bottom for me. Even though my tank is softy dominated I still prefer higher flow and easy access to detritus removal. No worries about long term issues both major or even minor. I have a thin layer of sand in my 10g nano and every once in a while when I clean the sand I have to do a ton of water changes to clean it out. I did it for the looks there, but I don't even think in my main display its that noticeable that its bare bottom.

When I get to the dream tank I think I will do a lot of encrusting LPS on the glass directly. The blue lepto in the far left has encrusted over some of the glass and I usually stop it before it grows up the front, but if it had more room to grow I could have a plate sized colony under a rock structure.

I have several 5 gallon buckets full of sugar size sand should I ever change my mind but I can't see that ever happening unless I get something that requires a deep sand bed ie garden eels, or a hadoni anemone ect.

 

[BighohoReef]

I have a ~1.5-2" white sand bed. Did it for looks/bacterial filtration - and I like the look. Thought it was good as a "deep sand bed" for bacterial filtration - but have since learned that "deep" is like at least 8 inches. I've kept it for the look. I also had some guys at a nice LFS/Coral shop telling me that I should be careful placing my live rock on it because eventually the rock would settle and could sorta slip into the side and possibly crack the glass... which I always found to be an extreme take. And hasn't happened in ~8 years for me.

But - I've had SO many issues with nitrates and recently I'm thinking that this bed of sand is likely harboring those nitrates. What do you guys think?

It's a good possibility. Do you have a sifting sand cleaning crew? We try and vacuum the sand every water change. I haven't had any issues with nitrates yet. What are you feeding on the regular?

 

[BighohoReef]

I swear by bare bottom, three reef tanks now all BB. Sand was such a headache for me to clean manually and when I tried to be lazy and get a fish to do it, all my frags and rocks got sand stormed. I’m now working on a zoa garden bottom for my favorite tank, kept at bay with strategically placed euphyllia.

I hope nothing ever falls in your tank That's pretty awesome I've heard of GSP cover bottoms but never a zoa covered. Do you have a build thread for that tank? I'd love to see if that bottom fills out. Thank you for sharing your thoughts... Definitely dig your tank look!

 

[X-37B]

BB 120. 1" sand in my frag/lagoon system.
Diamond goby, sand sifting star keeps it clean.

 

[BighohoReef]

Bare bottom for me. Even though my tank is softy dominated I still prefer higher flow and easy access to detritus removal. No worries about long term issues both major or even minor. I have a thin layer of sand in my 10g nano and every once in a while when I clean the sand I have to do a ton of water changes to clean it out. I did it for the looks there, but I don't even think in my main display its that noticeable that its bare bottom.

When I get to the dream tank I think I will do a lot of encrusting LPS on the glass directly. The blue lepto in the far left has encrusted over some of the glass and I usually stop it before it grows up the front, but if it had more room to grow I could have a plate sized colony under a rock structure.

I have several 5 gallon buckets full of sugar size sand should I ever change my mind but I can't see that ever happening unless I get something that requires a deep sand bed ie garden eels, or a hadoni anemone ect.

Beautiful tank! I'm thinking my next one is going to be a peninsula, bare bottom with some type of coral propagation on the bottom... I love that idea. With the flow in your tanks do you guys see alot of ditritus build up in areas? I would imagine it's pretty easy to clean on a BB.

 

[footgal]

I hope nothing ever falls in your tank That's pretty awesome I've heard of GSP cover bottoms but never a zoa covered. Do you have a build thread for that tank? I'd love to see if that bottom fills out. Thank you for sharing your thoughts... Definitely dig your tank look!

I do! Click on my little build contributer banner!

 

[footgal]

Beautiful tank! I'm thinking my next one is going to be a peninsula, bare bottom with some type of coral propagation on the bottom... I love that idea. With the flow in your tanks do you guys see alot of ditritus build up in areas? I would imagine it's pretty easy to clean on a BB.

10/10 would buy another bb peninsula tank, it’s great!! All the detritus collects in one corner which is really great for water changes. Zoas on the bottom is the best decision I’ve every made making a good bit of money fragging off the unruly ones too

 

[dummyknuckles]

I swear by bare bottom, three reef tanks now all BB. Sand was such a headache for me to clean manually and when I tried to be lazy and get a fish to do it, all my frags and rocks got sand stormed. I’m now working on a zoa garden bottom for my favorite tank, kept at bay with strategically placed euphyllia.

Yeah, dang. I've seen so many tanks like this and they still look amazing.. sand is not contributing to the beauty of a tank at all honestly

 

[dummyknuckles]

BB 120. 1" sand in my frag/lagoon system.
Diamond goby, sand sifting star keeps it clean.

This is the thing for me - LOVE my Diamond Blue Spot Goby! Beautiful and cleans up so dang fast it's incredible!

 

[dummyknuckles]

making a good bit of money fragging

Nice!

 

[BighohoReef]

Yeah, dang. I've seen so many tanks like this and they still look amazing.. sand is not contributing to the beauty of a tank at all honestly

I guess my other question is what is the benefit of sand if not only for fish and shrimp keepers. It's making me rethink my next tank design. If I hate BB though getting sand in post setup/cycle would be a huge pain. lol #reeferproblems

 

[BighohoReef]

10/10 would buy another bb peninsula tank, it’s great!! All the detritus collects in one corner which is really great for water changes. Zoas on the bottom is the best decision I’ve every made making a good bit of money fragging off the unruly ones too

I've been getting gift frags for helping folks with reefing maintenance... easy to keep and easy to trade up for other things

 

[footgal]

I've been getting gift frags for helping folks with reefing maintenance... easy to keep and easy to trade up for other things

I got a red dragon acro from a buddy of mine a while back. His tank accidentally fragged it when there was a rock fall so he gave me the fragments. I stuck them in epoxy putty and now they look so much better. All the pieces were the sameish size originally so you can measure the live ones next to the dead ones to see growth. Chalice was also a gift from the same guy for helping him fix the rock fall