Substrate Yes or NO

[areefer01]

It is of my opinion that this is not a question about yes, or no, to substrate but rather what the hobbyist wants. The design. You can't just pick what Paul or I or Biff does because that may not work for you or your system is not designed for it. We have gone down this rabbit hole many years ago when we heatedly debated DSB's in the early 2000's.

I would be more skeptical of the LFS telling you that it is common for tanks to start developing issues after 4 years.

 

[whalewhalewhale]

Yes, but thin for me. Best of both worlds I think. You don' t have to deal with the nutrient/detritus issues that come from thicker sandbeds since it's easy to manually overturn occasionally.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

special grade is a great choice for higher flow

 

[Freenow54]

I would Like to Thank Everyone who commented . It was Truly Educational . I have to say after having crushed Coral with no problems and liking my Diamond Goby it makes for a hard decision but I am leaning towards a Bare bottom in my new tank since I don't want to experience all the things that I have read regarding dynos ect

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

I would Like to Thank Everyone who commented . It was Truly Educational . I have to say after having crushed Coral with no problems and liking my Diamond Goby it makes for a hard decision but I am leaning towards a Bare bottom in my new tank since I don't want to experience all the things that I have read regarding dynos ect

a bare bottom won’t stop those things though you can crank the flow really nicely

 

[Freenow54]

a bare bottom won’t stop those things though you can crank the flow really nicely

Well I do like the look of having a nice crushed coral bed but I can always change a bare bottom to that . A little harder to go the other way. I have to figure out how to grow Coral . My failure at that is irritating

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

we all fail in this hobby. You’ll be fine

 

[JBNY]

I like having a sand bed.

My last tank had regular play sand in it and it ran that way for 16 years without any issues. When I finally took the tank down, the sand was easy to scoop out and honestly didn’t smell bad at all. The rock smelled worse, which was a nice little parting gift from the tank.

During the whole run I never had nutrient problems from the sand bed and it didn’t cause algae issues. I just like the way sand looks. To me, a reef looks better with it, so the new tank has sand too.

Bare bottom works great. I get why people do it, especially if they want crazy flow and easy detritus control. I just don’t like the look of it.

So for me, sand wins. Not because bare bottom doesn’t work, but because I have to look at the thing every day.

 

[TylerHaworth]

I run 1-2" Special Grade sandbeds (lots of bare spots because of flow) just for the look, big fan of running conchs and heavy amounts of Nassarius snails to turn it over ever so slowly.

If I ever wanted to run a true frag tank or dedicated grow out system I would go bare bottom, as it would fit with the more industrial style.

 

[Alexraptor]

I tried bare bottom, but didn't like it at all, too maintenance heavy for my taste.

Fine grain sand (0.1-0.5mm) with a lot of microfauna has always worked great for me, and been very hands-off. Though establishing a healthy and balanced sand bed requires time and patience.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Fairly recently I have talked to two well educated people face to face about my Aiptasia issue in a tank that is over 30 years old. They are going to help me with straightening it out as well as my second tank. During the conversation he thought I said my tank was about 4 years old . He said that it is common for tanks to start developing issues after 4 years. When I corrected him , that is when he got really interested . As I am typing this I realized that its because how often would he get the chance to see or work on one this old. He even was to the point of locking in a home visit.
That being said my second Tank after 6 years is nothing but problems as far as growing Coral . Without actually asking him which I intend to do today after giving him all the information he may need Photos , Par Readings , and all the tests that I have available to me is wether a bare bottom Tank is better as far as raising everything regardless of how it looks. I don't like the thought of doing this as It to me just looks strange, however I would like some serious opinions about it , as I am putting together a third Tank and need to decide. You dont have to be a scientist but Randy/Lasse types please chime in . For the rest of you opinion is great any observations you have made as well . I need the help


Thanks : Wally

I think what they are referring to is what I call "entropy" - very often, reef tanks start to show issues at around 5+ years. A partial or complete "reset" will often rectify that. I managed three large reef public aquariums systems that avoided that - not sure why. All of these flourished even after 10+ years. I know of a 20,000 gallon system that needed a partial reset after 20 years (as I recall).

I prefer to hold off-exhibit corals in bare bottom systems, but I use coral sand as a substrate for public exhibits, for the "look". Doing a partial reset on the bare systems is super easy (pull the animals, change all the water, clean up everything) but the substrate systems don't work that way.

 

[Science/G]

I have been bare bottom for decades. I will never put substrate in a reef aquarium again. Substrate is a magnet for uglies. Dinoflagellates, cyanobacteria and algae will thrive in those lower flow areas. For those wanting a more natural look, a piece of beige acrylic will do the trick. Here are a few early pics of my latest bare bottom mixed reef. Nowadays the bottom is mostly covered with Ricordia Anemones.

 

[Double monti 61]

Yea to substrate maybe like the forest where trees survive in dirt that have bacteria and microorganisms that survive and are essential for the growth of the trees is it possible that the same may happen in the substrate?

 

[Paul B]

I think what they are referring to is what I call "entropy" - very often, reef tanks start to show issues at around 5+ years. A partial or complete "reset" will often rectify that. I managed three large reef public aquariums systems that avoided that - not sure why. All of these flourished even after 10+ years. I know of a 20,000 gallon system that needed a partial reset after 20 years (as I recall).

My tank has not experienced that yet but I hear in 5 years when my reef will be 60, problems will creep in.

I hope not.



I do believe that a natural system as I run could be immortal. My reef has the full compliment of parasites, viruses, bacteria and all sorts of pods, microscope creatures, algae, diatoms and cyano from the sea. All those things compliment and I assume fight with each other just as they do in the sea and so far, no one has re-set the sea since Noah.