Bare bottom or substrate

[Justin Williams]

Hi to all
I am new to the saltwater aquarium hobby I am going with a 40 gallon breeder and currently making decisions on what I whant as far as equipment.
My question is should I start with a substrate or bare bottom.
Is one easier to keep stable over time then the other or dose it just take longer for the bare bottom to be stable then both are equal in ease of stability.

 

[jlts21]

BRS did a video on running a ULM tank. One of the points being running a bare bottom tank
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/vide...maintenance-reef-tanks-ulm-tank-trials-ep-24/

 

[ndrwater]

Either will work, but that said, when, I do another tank, I will definitely go bare bottom. I keep mostly SPS and issues with the necessary flow causes issue with substrate.

 

[LIreefguy]

With this being your first tank I would go bare bottom. It is much easier to see the detritus that settles in tank and just siphon it out every water change. Although I think sand looks a lot better. Most new people to Reefing will have trouble with nutrients. So going bare will help

also make sure your rocks are placed so that plenty of flow can get In them. Good role if thumb Isuzu should be able to see the back wall. Not the whole thing but some.

 

[mbmax]

It all depends of what you want to keep.
I have both ,150 gls bare bottom for mostly SPS and a 65gls with sand for lps and fish that love sand.

 

[Marco S]

I have had both in the past and just prefer the look of sand over bare bottom. While it is a bit easier to maintain a bare bottom because you will eventually have to vacuum the sand, I still prefer sand. It's really just a personal preference since the lower maintenance was not that much of a deal breaker IMO.

If you are thinking of higher flows though, it may be better to go bare bottom if you hate having bare spots in the tank. I have my Gyres rotating between 40% to 80% and when the sand first went in it was a problem, but after time and me raking the sand back into the bare spots for the first few months it all seemed to settle down and stay in place.

 

[James77]

I have always thought bare bottom looks awful and not natural.

I have for many years gone with a shallow sand bed of coarser sand. It allow vacuuming and stirring without a sand storm happening. Worst case, you can suck it out with a siphon and replace. I use caribsea special grade seafloor.

 

[ahiggins]

Personally I can’t stand the look of a bare bottom until I grows coralline and I’m too impatient for that.
That being said I have a frag tank that’s bare bottom with live rock. Detritus pools in one corner so super easy to clean. Easiest of all the tanks lol

 

[Waters]

Personally I can’t stand the look of a bare bottom until I grows coralline and I’m too impatient for that.
That being said I have a frag tank that’s bare bottom with live rock. Detritus pools in one corner so super easy to clean. Easiest of all the tanks lol

Funny how different people's opinions are lol....I just posted a thread saying I can't keep the coralline off of my BB because I hate the look of it. Anyways, I like the look of substrate better, but I like the ease of maintenance and high flow of the BB...which is why I removed all of my substrate.