Bare bottom verus sand.

[Paleozoic_reefer]

That tube anemone... im drooling! How's the care/lifespan with them? Theyre not really fish eaters are they?

The only fish I ever lost (1) to any of my tube nems was either; already dead or sick. The fish stay away from them and i think any healthy fish can easily escape, if they got too close. I've had them for about 1-2 years. The pink one on the left is going on about 2 years...and you do need to spot feed them regularly!

 

[EW_Fish]

I run both and prefer both. As he stated my tank with sand has a pistol shrimp and nassarius snails they do a wonderful job moving loads of sand. My other tank is a nano WB20g I do have sand in there both its really just a handfull not even enough to cover the bottom and it blew around the rocks helps keep the natural look

Always sand for me. My pistol shrimp and orange spotted goby prefer it if course. Get some nassarius snails they do wonders and stirring up the sand. And the pistol shrimp it always doing remodeling to his tunnels.

 

[PicassoClown04]

The only fish I ever lost (1) to any of my tube nems was either; already dead or sick. The fish stay away from them and i think any healthy fish can easily escape, if they got too close. I've had them for about 1-2 years. The pink one on the left is going on about 2 years...and you do need to spot feed them regularly!

Are they okay with bubble tips? I know mixing nems usually doesn’t go well

 

[mcshams]

You're not supposed to keep it clean. That defeats part of the purpose, which is beneficial organisms in the sand.

I believe I am correct when I say (and I'll defer to @brandon429 judgement here too) when I say that standard tank maintenance, especially the standard vacuuming of sand bed will NOT remove and/or harm beneficial organisms within the sand. This bacteria is quite hearty and durable and would tolerate nearly any cleaning.* (not chemical cleaning such as bleach, but that's not standard)

In really deep sandbeds, ones that you can facilitate anaerobic bacteria, you could theoretically expose those by stirring up sand and thus reduce bacterial numbers, but short of REMOVING the substrate (and thus the bacteria with it) you are not likely to unbalance the system.

That being said, cleaning up the sand to remove free-floating detritus and diatoms is a good idea for sure.

 

[ThePurple12]

Sorry, I meant pods and worms and whatever else is in there.

Mainly what I meant to say was that it sounded like the OP was cleaning the sand too much.

I believe I am correct when I say (and I'll defer to @brandon429 judgement here too) when I say that standard tank maintenance, especially the standard vacuuming of sand bed will NOT remove and/or harm beneficial organisms within the sand. This bacteria is quite hearty and durable and would tolerate nearly any cleaning.* (not chemical cleaning such as bleach, but that's not standard)

In really deep sandbeds, ones that you can facilitate anaerobic bacteria, you could theoretically expose those by stirring up sand and thus reduce bacterial numbers, but short of REMOVING the substrate (and thus the bacteria with it) you are not likely to unbalance the system.

That being said, cleaning up the sand to remove free-floating detritus and diatoms is a good idea for sure.

 

[G Santana]

My tank ran for 8 yrs before I broke it down, now this was many years ago and we didn't have many of the tools available to reefers today, with that said, I started with 4 inches of substrate and for the first year or so I had all the associated problems many reefers have, cyno, dyno hair algae and sludge.
Now I started with live rock and bio balls.
As I learned more and towards the end of the first year I removed the bio balls, siphoned the bed and went bare bottom.

That was a turning point for my tank and it was pristine till the end. BUT what I can't say with any degree of certainty was if it was the maturing of the tank or going bare bottom.

All I can say is that tank was a joy to run as a bare bottom.

Now I am close to starting up again and I am faced with the same problem, bare bottom or sand.

So much learning and I'm right back at to where I started. Lol

 

[mikee002]

link to the product you’re referring to? Thanks.

Mine will be a aragonite tile bottom. Still haven't added coral/fish but it is cycled. From a distance you can't tell its not sand and will likely be easier to maintain. I do love my sand in my evo and BB does limit the fish/inverts you can have.

 

[Pistol Peet]

The only fish I ever lost (1) to any of my tube nems was either; already dead or sick. The fish stay away from them and i think any healthy fish can easily escape, if they got too close. I've had them for about 1-2 years. The pink one on the left is going on about 2 years...and you do need to spot feed them regularly!

Thanks for the update

 

[stephen wyard]

I have had both sand and bb.My opion on sand is that it is great to look at and the kind of tank the owner is trying to build.If you are makeing a sps tank then you need lots of flow and unless you use courser sand to stop it from blowing around it can be a problem.The other thing is the depth of sand in the old days deep sand beds were reccommended which becomes a toilet and is had to clean. This can cause alge blooms to no end.My thinking is if you love sand and have the time to maintain it it looks great but my time is limited to work on my tank so I went with bb .It is harder in the begining and takes a long time to mature but I have found my cleaning is easyier and takes less time. It really get down to what you like,the type of tank and how much time you have.

 

[seahorsemaster]

Wich decision did you make and why. Is it better to have sand or a bare bottom. I'm sure this maybe unique to each individual tank. However has been weighing on my mind . Would love to hear the community's thoughts and input. What 1 u choose and why. Let's see some of your best tank shots showing how different it makes a tank look with and without. I know all you refers love an opportunity to show off what you got. I chose sand an now wondering if it was the right way to go so hard to keep clean all the time.

Deep sand for me. Like the look, wanted a place for live food to grow in order to maintain mandarin goby, and 210 g tank was too deep for my short arms.

 

[Rjmul]

I am resetting my tank this weekend and going bare bottom. I want to add more flow and do not want the sand to go everywhere.

Careful.

 

[j.falk]

I had dinos in my tank so I took out all of the sand...the dinos disappeared. I added new sand to my tank a month ago and dinos are coming back...definitely thinking about going back to barebottom. Easier to keep clean and no dinos.

 

[Daveph68]

I like Caribsea special grade it is larger grade and does not blow around with my dual MP10's on opposite sides of the tank. Sand also adds a more natural look, the oceans are not bare bottom.

 

[SDK]

I went with a best of both worlds approach and so far it has been working really well. Bare bottom display and remote sand bed in the refugium.

I started the refugium with live gulf rock and sand from TBS. There is a myriad of undisturbed life flourishing in it, and I can get in there to clean and maintain it if needed with less effort and without disturbing the display tank.

 

[anthonygf]

I went half sand in front of rocks and bare behind rocks with a small power head close to the bottom to keep detritus from collecting. Had this set up for four years in a 46g bowfront, can hardly see the back anyway. Now I am upgrading to 75g and may do differently, not sure yet.

 

[Pistol Peet]

I want to thank everybody who participated in this thread and gave there knowledge, opinions, and time this will definitely help me know where I'm heading for my Sand or not.. you are all amazing happy reefing.

 

[Saltyreef]

I had dinos in my tank so I took out all of the sand...the dinos disappeared. I added new sand to my tank a month ago and dinos are coming back...definitely thinking about going back to barebottom. Easier to keep clean and no dinos.

I had a bad dino issue in my BB about 8 months to a year after removing sand. Was around for a good 4 months and they went away on their own.

 

[Michael Curtis]

Personally I prefer the sand look.

plus my goby loves to dig, I think it comes down to personal peferance more than anything else and the fact that it gets rearranged every day means to me it’s always changing and something new to look at as he gos about his day.

 

[92Miata]

I'm always surprised when people say sand looks more natural in an acropora dominated tank. Acros grow on rock - typically in areas with high water movement. Generally the closes sand is atleast a couple feet away.


Barebottom tanks are less 'stable' but easier to correct because of the lack of a giant Phosphate battery.

 

[Hallowhead]

I went BB in my frag tank and I regret it tbh