Bare bottom or not to bare bottom??

[120reefkeeper]

Well if you look at the voting it’s almost a dead tie at this point.... interesting. [emoji848]

Bare bottom has 50.5%

If you combine the stick with sand , go with a thin layer of sand . Then you have 50.6%

Add in the 2 votes for 4+ inches of sand you have. 52.8% total say to use some kind of sand.

This really is a debate isn’t it! [emoji33]

 

[skiergd011013]

I’m surprised with a bare bottom tank that you’d have much detritus to vacuum up. With no sand I figured that it would end up getting flushed into the filtration system. I thought this was one of the positive aspects of running bare bottom.

I guess when you run sand maybe it just accumulates more than with a bare bottom??

I see quite a bit of detritus in my bb 30. Even with lots of flow. The good thing is, with no sand, you can easily see where it gathers, and suck it up. It looks just like sand as well. So i guess if you have a sand bed, it blends right in, and adds to all the problems being discussed in this thread.

 

[Erwan E]

I like the look of sand but don’t like all the inconvenience so I gave the look of sand with no sand, the look of rocks with no rocks AND no nitrate ever.
Here is a photo of the bare tank

 

[Ocean Lotion]

Erwan, what is on the bottom of your tank?

 

[skiergd011013]

Erwan, what is on the bottom of your tank?

It looks like crushed coral to me??

 

[Paleozoic_reefer]

Alten78 can you show a pic of your painted bottom? I recently saw a pic of a BB tank with paint work under the glass and was impressed how cool it looked! Would love to see what yours looks like!

I went bare bottom a year and a half ago after 10+ years of sand and will never look back but I was also surprised at how much detritus accumulates in lower flow areas. My tank is SPS dominant with lots of flow and it still accumulates in a few spots, a quick siphon once a week or so takes care of it.

The only reason i initially tried BB was because my two clowns constantly kicked up sand which drove me crazy. I will have to say I was anti-barebottom for many years because of the "unnatural" look, I painted the bottom white and have some encrusting montis growing which to me looks crisp and clean...of course that is still subjective but fellow reefers have been over and left with a different view of BB.

I always thought i did a good job of vacuuming my sand but the few times over the years where i had to move and/or upgrade tanks, the sand was nasty as could be. Maybe (probably) I didn't do a good enough job of keeping up with it even though it looked good but now my OCD forces me to keep it clear of detritus

You can setup it up as BB and always add sand later if you hate it.

 

[x2uranium]

+1 to bb
But like others have said if your not sps dominant and like your wrasses and such then sand isn't a bad option. I tried keeping wrasses with out sand. They don't like it at all in my tank.

 

[alten78]

+1 to bb
But like others have said if your not sps dominant and like your wrasses and such then sand isn't a bad option. I tried keeping wrasses with out sand. They don't like it at all in my tank.

This is definitely a disappointment and wrasse's are pretty limited, I believe fairy's do OK without sand? I've also seen people do remote containers of sand just for them but im not sure how well that actually works.

 

[alten78]

Alten78 can you show a pic of your painted bottom? I recently saw a pic of a BB tank with paint work under the glass and was impressed how cool it looked! Would love to see what yours looks like!

Ask and you shall receive

My coralline tends to flake off for some reason so the white paint is usually seen. Planning on adding a few more monti's as well.

 

[JohnnyC17]

Which wrasses burrow in the sand?

 

[x2uranium]

Dude the white bottom is a good idea. I like it!

 

[rayn]

I think in smaller tanks, sand is a huge benefit. In larger tanks it may be harder to get to and could develop dead zones or areas that are prone to algae development.

With this statement, what are thoughts on he cutoff between smaller tanks and larger tanks?

 

[Reef Jeff]

Good feedback on this thread. I run a thin layer of sand (1/2") in my 112 gallon reef. The argonite sand is in front of the wall of live rock. It is bare bottom behind the rock. I run two hydors in the back bottom sides facing each other to push detritus out to the front and keep the back clear. Then I just siphon the sand bed at every water change. Sand is more maintenance but I like the look. Been up and running this way for 20 years.

 

[Paleozoic_reefer]

Ask and you shall receive

My coralline tends to flake off for some reason so the white paint is usually seen. Planning on adding a few more monti's as well.

Alten87 I think that looks so great! It’s almost the best of both worlds. I think I might pilfer your look my next upgrade!

 

[GoVols]

Went BB about three years ago and absolutely love it

 

[120reefkeeper]

Wow this is a very close poll! I didn’t really expect it to be this divided!!

53.3% for some level of sand.

49.2% for Bare Bottom!

Great discussion so far.

Can we post up some more pictures of Bare Bottom tanks??

 

[DSC reef]

 

[120reefkeeper]

Nice!!! [emoji7]

 

[DSC reef]

Thank you!

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

I'm one of those people who feels really strongly about this, I am totally against the look of barebottom (and to each his own, I'm not saying don't do it or anything crazy), when I see it on those reefs which are just amazing, my rating for it goes from a 10 to a 6. It doesn't look natural at all, and to me it seems a bit to choosy, you can't try to recreate nature and leave out such a huge part.