What are your opinions on bare bottoms setups?

[Zionas]

As a major fan of sand, I have started to consider BB for saving weight in an apartment. Once my tank’s set up, what are the pros and cons of going BB? Is maintenance really a lot easier than with a sand bed? What about corals? And how do I manage a clean up crew with a BB setup? Would the tank’s bottom glass be more prone to cracking if I go BB and the live rock touches the glass without any substrate as a “buffer”?

As for livestock I’d still love to keep at least 1 Halichoeres Wrasse and a shrimp/ Goby Pair, so maybe there’s a compromise solution?

Because my tank height will be 18-19” I worry that the minimum 2” sand bed needed for wrasses and the Shrimp / Goby Pair would take up too much of the water column and reduce swimming space for more laterally compressed fish.

Thanks. Would appreciate insights.

 

[ThePurple12]

Well, you asked for opinion, so here's mine:

Bare bottom tanks are ugly!

edit: let me rephrase that. I don't like the look of bare bottom tanks.

They also take away from the biodiversity of the tank. By removing the sand, you're removing space for bacteria, worms, pods, and whatever else lives there. Siphoning the sand does the same thing. As for your fish, they won't mind 2" less vertical space. It's the horizontal space that really matters anyway.

Not to mention you wouldn’t be able to keep certain animals, such as the pistol shrimp, gobies and wrasse you were thinking about.

 

[MONTANTK]

I don’t like the look of bare bottom tanks. Yeah it makes maintenance easier but unless you’re willing to constantly scrub the bottom you will probably grow algae on it until the coralline takes over. Having 2 inches of sand won’t really take that much away from your fish, after all it really is only an extra inch, maybe less if you’re currently running sand. They also won’t mind a little less either. If you want to keep a bare bottom tank then you probably can’t get the shrimp and you will have to keep a container with sand in the tank for the wrasse

 

[Zionas]

I see! Approximately how much sand do you think would be good for wrasses that need it, and the Shrimp and Goby Pair?

 

[FMF0331]

I just up a BB tank , i hate the look of it . I have always been a fan of having sand. Trying out the new build to see the benefits of BB ( will be a 99 % SPS dominate tank ) might keep one zoanthid

 

[ThePurple12]

I see! Approximately how much sand do you think would be good for wrasses that need it, and the Shrimp and Goby Pair?

Should be fine with 1.5-2", though the more the better

edit: not sure about the wrasses

 

[Anirban]

Lol. ..looks like I am alone to represent bare bottoms for now. My tanks are generally bare bottom as it helps with maintenance and I love the look. Lets start..

First you should not directly put rock scape over the glass. You need to put starboard between them for protection. You can not keep keep fishes which need sand. Some will suggest keeping sand in a bowl but it really looks stupid. For cleanup crew again you dont need those which goes deep inside sand to clean it. If you like to keep more SPS dominated tanks then you can turn up the flow really high with out sand. Also cleaning debris is easy. You can put bottom covering corals on starboard.

On the con side they take more time to establish because sand provide more surface area for the bacteria. But you can use sand in the refugium and siporax or biobrick fr that.

 

[brandon429]

my absolute favorite part of sandbedding is this: the sheer determination all keepers begin with at the start to be hands off, and never intervene and let it run itself. This is what masterful tanks show to be the reality of course we can see in pics and video


the sand rinse thread is approaching fifty pages of fixing the realities of what keeping a bed in a huge display up under fish causes for res publica, which is polar opposite outcomes to what the masters show but can’t communicate enough to put the thread out of use.

see u in the sand rinse thread in 2023 Z


*where* the sand is located is key. Under rocks in a display it’s a diaper, ten inches deep in a sump as a pre filtered undisturbed remote DSB is a nitrate puller since it’s not in the diaper position.

in a manageable subsection of the main tank for wrasses, ideal.

none of these rules apply to nano reef keepers, just large tanks. Easy access to rip cleans means nano reefers abide by a totally different options set than a reef that weighs over a ton full.

 

[Zionas]

I would love to have a sand bed as long as I can go deep enough to make the wrasses and the Goby happy. That’s my preference by far. How much does a sand bed add to the weight of the setup assuming 1.5-2” of sand?

 

[Pwnm30rdi3]

I setup a BB tank, ran it for 2 months, and hated the look. I kept thinking, "maybe it will grow on me?"... It never got any better and I bought enough sand to cover about 1".

 

[ThePurple12]

I found this calculator: https://www.marinedepot.com/md_educationcenter_calculators_sand_bed_calculator.html

Looks like you type in your future tank's dimensions, then it'll tell you how many pounds you'll need. Sand is bought by the pound, so it works out!

 

[X-37B]

Sand in my frag because I have a diamond goby.
Always have had sand.
Bare bottom in my 120.
I like the look. Bottom is covered in corals.
Its simple to maintain but so is a sand bed if you know what your doing, lol.
It does take awhile to grow in though. My 1.5 year old 120.

 

[CoolRad]

As I'm facing a new tank soon I'm thinking about this sand vs bare too.
In my small cube I have like 2cm of sand full of life.. Never ever touched it, vacuumed or stirred. Sure it's not super white but still...
Bare bottom tank also stops you from adding sand dwelling life.
However as many people said it's way easier to maintain the tank without any sand. I've seen absolutely stunning 300L tank full of sps and lps running without sump and without the sand. This guy had sand initially but siphoned it out.

Now personally a tank with bare bottom looks ugly and unnatural for me, however knowing my job and fact that I can only fully attend my tank for 3 weeks and then I'm 3 weeks off I'm really thinking going bare bottom.

 

[ThePurple12]

Sand in my frag because I have a diamond goby.
Always have had sand.
Bare bottom in my 120.
I like the look. Bottom is covered in corals.
Its simple to maintain but so is a sand bed if you know what your doing, lol.
It does take awhile to grow in though. My 1.5 year old 120.

Now I feel bad for saying bare bottom tanks look ugly, yours definitely doesn't!

 

[burningmime]

I'm going to be weird and say I actually don't like the look of sand. It feels to "aquarium-y" for me, and just too flat. To me, a flat sandbed doesn't look much more natural than a bare bottom that's been cleverly aquascaped, or where the actual bottom of the tank is covered with a bit of the stand (like some in-wall installations) so that it looks like you're just seeing a slice of the ocean at some mid depth.

If I had a freshwater tank, I'd be all over having a substrate. But for a reef tank, I honestly think sand takes away from the feel.

 

[MichaelReefer]

I think its a preference. I don't generally like bare bottom, but if you do, I guess go for it? Really the only benefit is you can turn your powerheads as high as you want and don't have to worry about your sand getting messed up.

 

[Clownfish_Boy]

I just gotta have something covering up that glass bottom ! A thin layer of substrate looks good without being that much of a maintenance chore.

 

[Zionas]

Ahhh ok but do you keep any sand dwelling fish?

 

[Z-man]

I have 2 bare bottom tanks and set up a third for my sister-in-law. You can get black or white starboard to help with the look. I prefer the black because it looks more like a black sand bottom. Adding a couple of Monti or chalice to the bottom and it will look very natural in a short period of time. However, with your choice of livestock, it seems a sand bed is the only option for you.

Pros to the BB tank is the water circulation can get under the rock work to have less dead zones. You see where the dead zones are and can adjust the flow. Siphoning out the debris from the dead zones is easy. Less possible build up of nitrates and phosphates.

Biggest con is the restriction of livestock. I personally love having jawfish in the tank, but felt the ease of maintenance is more important than having that fish in the tank.

 

[Frogspon]

Absolutely nonsense. Show me a bare bottom ocean.