Bare bottom or not?
- Thread starter RedReefer
- Start date
- Tagged users None
ramon1181
Active Member
I had sand in my first tank i hated it upgraded to a bigger system with mostly sps runing it bare bottom and love it no detritus build up and iam able to run my 2 wp40 full blast. Ultimately it is up to u. there r a lot of beautifull tanks with sand beds also
Dustin1300
Reefaholic
Problem I have with BB is lack of contrast. Get the right sand and critters and you don't have to worry too much about the sand bed IMO. Really a matter of opinion in the end and comes down to aesthetics.
StevenBell
Well-Known Member
I think I like the asthetic look of substrate more than anything.Plus I love my jawfish!!!
Clearwater
Active Member
Going bare on my next build. Check out starboard.
Ross
Active Member
BB all the way. You have complete control of how much detritus you want in the tank and it is so much easier to remove therefore easier to keep nitrates low. You can blast the flow to keep your sps happy. You can also put encrusting montis or chalices on the bottom and it looks very nice.
Hampton
Active Member
I had a problem with algae in my 90, so, I slowly started removing sand to make it bare bottom. Every time I removed sand, the tank began to look better and better (other than the lack of sand). Once I got to bare bottom, the tank and corals looked great until that change settled in, then I had algae growth go wild all over my rocks. I think the reason it worked at first was that I was collecting detritus and removing it. Once there was no where to collect it, it settled in cracks in the rocks and started to grow plants there. More circulation probably would have helped, but I already had a Snapper on a closed loop.
Anyway, I now have a shallow bed with tons of flow in my new tank. Corals have been doing very well. I ocassionally stir the sand bed up to make sure there isn't anything gathering in there. After about 6 months, the sand seems clean.
Anyway, I now have a shallow bed with tons of flow in my new tank. Corals have been doing very well. I ocassionally stir the sand bed up to make sure there isn't anything gathering in there. After about 6 months, the sand seems clean.
Kimberlee
Active Member
I have both, but my tank is sectioned off and 2 levels not counting the sump. And it coming down to aesthetics ( my .2 only), is half right. I had a 40B set up and had a deep sand bed, towards the end of it's 4yrs the algae was uncontrollable. Threw everything at it, and never could get it back. I think it was the sand bed. Now on the first row of my system I have a shallow sand bed to stir up and use to feed corals from time to time, but that level is softies and some LPS. Med flow sections....In the other levels of tank I have BB and high flow 100% sps, and I've never seen my sps look better. The BB allows for extremely high flow, which from what I've seen is a very limiting factor in sps systems. Best of both worlds for me, but point being is I would think it depends on the over all goal you have in mind. Knowing that would help make the final call I'm sure, and I love the bb for sps systems for that and many other reasons, that being the functional reason.
Hampton
Active Member
I have to agree about the DSB (deep sand bed). I think they will help support algae growth. I haven't figured out how to clean them without releasing all of the waste into the water column, at least without making some huge production about it, and even then, there will be release. In the mean time, there is always going to be some release on a daily basis.
Part of my problem was that I had a 90 gallon high with a 30 gallon sump crammed into one unit with little room for extra stuff. I did not run Phos-ban then, but I do now. Also, the skimmer I used then for my 90 I now use for my 25 with the same 30 gallon sump, except the skimmer is now external (more sump access, less heat, less electricity leakage, more sump volume, more sump flow). I was using 2 250 HQI MH lights with T-5's then (tons of dirty light potential and heat issues) and now I have a Kessil A360W on a controller.
I think it's critical to have a lot more support volume than display volume. It takes a community to raise a child, and it takes a lot of ocean to support a reef. That's why I downsized to a 25 Gallon Display.
This is right now:
Part of my problem was that I had a 90 gallon high with a 30 gallon sump crammed into one unit with little room for extra stuff. I did not run Phos-ban then, but I do now. Also, the skimmer I used then for my 90 I now use for my 25 with the same 30 gallon sump, except the skimmer is now external (more sump access, less heat, less electricity leakage, more sump volume, more sump flow). I was using 2 250 HQI MH lights with T-5's then (tons of dirty light potential and heat issues) and now I have a Kessil A360W on a controller.
I think it's critical to have a lot more support volume than display volume. It takes a community to raise a child, and it takes a lot of ocean to support a reef. That's why I downsized to a 25 Gallon Display.
This is right now:
Hampton
Active Member
Thanks!
philr
Active Member
I find this to be a great topic. My first salt water tank was a 30g. I had a deep sand base in that tank. To give you an idea of how many years ago this was I was useing an undergravel filter!!? Yes that was about 25 years ago. When I moved onto my next saltwater tank it was a 150g. At this time perhaps 18-20 years ago the rage in filtration was the wet/dry trickle filter. I was convinced by the lfs to use a bare bottom with this tank. Basically the tank was fish only with some live rock. I had that tank set up for about 10 years, and finally had to give it up as work and kids demanded too much of my time. About 5 years ago I picked up the hobby again, and I set up my tank as a bare bottom reef. It is interesting to see that the hobby has gone nearly full circle, as deep sand base tanks seem to be making a comeback. Well at least the undergravel filter isnt coming back! I believe that both style tanks have their merits. A properly manitained deep sand base will establish a great beneficial nitrifying bacterial bed. The bare bottom will depend on these bacteria to come from other sources ie live rock or a refugium. Good luck whatever you choose.
