To Bare or Not to Bare, That is the Question

[Salty1962]

I'm setting up my first Frag specific tank. I have a Nuvo 20, Tunze 9002 skimmer, one side tray with coarse filter media and mixed carbon/phosphate media. The other side is a 200 micron sock with Chemi-Pure Blue in it.. Circulation is 210gph return pump and a Jabao WP-10. Lighting is a Radion XR30w G.2. Controller is a DA ReefKeeper Lite.

My question is, is it better to go bare bottom or with a sand bed? I know in DTs, a sand bed it good for nutrient control. With a frag tank you won't have a large bio-load, so will a sand bed be beneficial?
Thx for your feedback.

 

[reef lover]

I like bb in my frag tanks. Its much less maintenance. I pack the fuge/ sump with lots of LR and a small layer of fuge mud.

 

[Swip]

Why would a sand bed be better for nutrient control than bare bottom?
With bare bottom all the detritus will pile up at the bottom where you can vacuum it out. It's much easier to maintain low phosphates and nitrates that way.

All our frag tanks are bare bottom. We feed our corals and fish in there heavily and still have low nutrients. Bare bottom is just much easier to maintain in my opinion.

 

[Salty1962]

Why would a sand bed be better for nutrient control than bare bottom?
With bare bottom all the detritus will pile up at the bottom where you can vacuum it out. It's much easier to maintain low phosphates and nitrates that way.

All our frag tanks are bare bottom. We feed our corals and fish in there heavily and still have low nutrients. Bare bottom is just much easier to maintain in my opinion.

I mean PH, Ca, and Alk. With some sand those parameters are easier to control. JMO

 

[naptalene]

Fwiw those are generally referred to as "parameters" not "nutrient control"
Nutrient control would be your No3, po4 etc. so I think that was the confusion :)