What are your opinions on bare bottoms setups?

[vetteguy53081]

My large tank has about 3/4” of sand and I a few months ago set up a 135g tank bare bottom
What I like is nothing hoarding the waste and detritus as well as light leaking through the tank to the sump

 

[Z-man]

Absolutely nonsense. Show me a bare bottom ocean.

Totally different situation. The biodiversity of the ocean cannot completely be replicated in a tank to attain the same results. Can't argue that the sand might be a healthier option in the tank, but there is no negative impact for going bare bottom depending on the livestock.

 

[Buffalou]

BB for me! No messing with sand and possible side effects, dead zones. No cleaning of sand which is a pain. I have a ton of SPS so water flow is paramount no worries when it comes to blowing sand around. I have a black starboard bottom and the coralline algae has covered it nicely. This is my third BB tank, it takes a bit longer to mature the tank, but I solved it by setting up SB in sump. Once tank matured I removed sand from sump never an issue, never looked back.

 

[brandon429]

Maybe I’m guilty of writing in ways known to inflame sandbedders only for a brief smile, it’s locker room fun that’s all. For sure both ways work I advocate no anarchy

I myself have a dsb in the display, am allowed to critique

but anyone reading this wanting to go barebottom for clear reasons, we have a way to remove the whole bed all at once so you can begin the benefits.


both ways work, sand and no sand agreed.

let the record reflect we will get 3x the private message requests for removing sand vs bare bottom folks wanting safe ways to put it back, that microtrend means something. anytime there’s a massive sustained years long change in overall reef tank design trending towards less surface area (waste catchpoints) and not more, that means something. The big group is onto something, starkly different than they were originally told about how the oceans dilution relates to ours.

 

[FishTruck]

I made the switch and overall I am really glad about it. I would not go back for any tank that I planned to keep for more than 5 years. I like the look of it - but admit that it looks a bit more like a mad scientist project that an attempt at a natural reef.

Pros for me - easy to maintain, no real penalty for getting behind on siphoning (other than looking at a small pile of detritus in the dead zone of the tank), easier to find coral frags that fall of the rocks. More vertical space for fish and coral. So far, no scratches in the tank (no sand to pick up in your magnet).

Cons - less water clarity for me so far (the tank is 10 months old). When all the pumps are going.... there is always sediment in the water and I never see that magical crystal clear water. I am hoping that with more coral this will improve. No luck with wrasses for me in this setup.

 

[SPS2020]

BB for me as well. I've had DSB's in the past and they are a pain. Since then, I've only had BB. My current 100g is SPS dominant with a ton of flow. I never have to vacuum courtesy of two Red Sea 45 gyres on the back wall. They have a reverse flow programmed for about an hour which blows anything sitting on the bottom into the water column and the corals love it. Then back to a random flow for the rest of the time. My Marco Foundation rock sits directly on the glass as well as a few Stax with frags on them.

 

[Zionas]

A bit of a dilemma, I really want the Halichoeres wrasse and the shrimp/ Goby Pair. I could see myself increasing the height of the tank to maybe 20” up from 18-19” and a 1.5-2” sand bed. Would that be enough for Halichoeres?

 

[brandon429]

someone invent a keen way of keeping sand sectioned in bare bottom tanks so people can have wrasses, some cool bowl or holder where the edges are curved or something for better retention of grains/3d print them/weighted base/retire early $

its a wrassebowl. or a fish litter box/fishy litter pun intended ur call

if you 3d print someone the best of both worlds its sold.

 

[Zach B]

I'm so tempted to run a bb with my new 150 but I'm afraid it's gonna look off, still on the fence...

 

[Jimmyneptune]

Go bare bottom in your tank. If you want sand later on add it. I can’t speak for sand sifting gobies but as far as hailcoris wrasse you can add some sand in a small shallow dish, 1 inch, In a corner. It may also work just to put a mound of sand in one corner of the tank. Eventually you may have some sand throughout the tank, but that’s not bad either. You can leave it if you like or siphon it if you don’t.

 

[Roytrolls247]

I Prefer BB because when done right it looks really clean.

 

[Jimmyneptune]

someone invent a keen way of keeping sand sectioned in bare bottom tanks so people can have wrasses, some cool bowl or holder where the edges are curved or something for better retention of grains/3d print them/weighted base/retire early $

its a wrassebowl. or a fish litter box/fishy litter pun intended ur call

if you 3d print someone the best of both worlds its sold.

I have 2 they are called a wrasse den. It’s ceramic and has corals growing on it. Little sand is left in them after 3 years. I have shallow plastic dish From the dollar store with sand. I’ve had numerous sand sleeping wrasse and found that the toughest thing to do is get them use to being in a tank; they need a few days to a week to get use to it. How do you get them used to it? What has worked best for me is to have a mound of sand in a quarter of the tank. These type of wrasse get spooked when introduced into a tank and will wander around on the bottom of the tank until they reach a mound of sand and then bury themselves. After a few days they get used to the tank and you can just have a small dish of sand for them.

 

[tehmadreefer]

Yay another thread of the literal thousands about bb or no.

 

[Tiki Reef Joshua]

Sand. All the way. If you are going to the trouble of reefing just do it. Just vacuum it at water changes and give it a stir every day or two. Should be able to go for many years.

 

[ThePurple12]

I see a lot of people talking about vacuuming the sand. Why?

 

[zalick]

someone invent a keen way of keeping sand sectioned in bare bottom tanks so people can have wrasses, some cool bowl or holder where the edges are curved or something for better retention of grains/3d print them/weighted base/retire early $

its a wrassebowl. or a fish litter box/fishy litter pun intended ur call

if you 3d print someone the best of both worlds its sold.

The way my flow works all the sand is on one half, so I kinda get the best of both worlds. High flow and half sand.

Absolutely nonsense. Show me a bare bottom ocean.

I've dove plenty of amazing reef walls where the sand is 400ft+ below. Of course it's there but this whole "sand is part of the reef" or "sand is needed for the reef" is nonsense.

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.

I've run both and both have pros and cons. I personally like having sand. But a lack of sand isn't what makes a tank look less natural. It's the fact that its a glass box full of pumps in your living room!

I loved being able to put pumps low and have high flow ANYWHERE. That is a huge plus.

My current tank is a 1.5" sand bottom peninsula but the sand has naturally blown to one side due to flow. I don't fight it. I chose sand because I wanted some sand dwelling creatures: fish and snails.

Either way can be done successfully and look amazing: full sand, half sand or BB.

 

[Zionas]

How does half sand work?

 

[Anirban]

In case anyone think success of a bare bottom tank, here is my last one

 

[fade2black]

I see a lot of people talking about vacuuming the sand. Why?

Wondering the same thing. Back 20 years ago this was a huge non-no. Alas, things change, just wondering the reason behind it.

 

[Specific Ocean]

I think on my next build (Red Sea Reefer Deluxe XXL 750), I’m going bare bottom. Always liked the look