Bare bottom verus sand.

[Saltyreef]

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

I did the same on my first frag tank....
Then again it was an all in one with nothing but egg crate and a damsel. Im over here thinking it was going to be a sucess. I was a somewhat new reefer too lol.
My next go around with a frag tank and there will be brightwell bricks galore in the sump
Also it will be plumbed into my display for better stability.

 

[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.

Decided to go full sand, looks nice so far.

 

[Clownfish_Boy]

Aragonite or crushed coral acts as a natural pH buffer and looks more natural IMO.

That is what I have in my tank....

 

[flampton]

Here's my thoughts, I go with large particle sand (2.7 mm I think) because I want that ecological niche and want decent flow. You will have a different pico and microfauna there then on the live rock. Now for rock and sand to become even close to true reef niches you'll need to add a bit of ocean substrates, aka live rock and true live sand, (not the bagged variety). You do not need all live rock, and all live sand would be way too expensive.

Now as far as aesthetics, if I was to do a bare bottom I would run black starboard and would place/glue sugar/medium/large sand particles and rubble down so that it looks like the larger rocks are appearing from a hard scape. If properly designed and glued there would be no detritus traps and you'll have an aquarium where non reefers don't wonder why there's no sand

Oh plus when coralline grows it won't look like a sheet of purple on reflective glass

 

[Jon Fishman]

I run 2 Koralia (sp?) Powerheads directly at a couple corners, and I run 6 MP40’s

All that flow, I’m glad I don’t have sand...... Lack of sand hasn’t kept me from getting anything I’ve wanted except a Sea Star that is probably best left in the ocean anyways.

 

[DC Reefer]

I have two BB tanks and one with sand. One BB is SPS with lots of flow and once I got the flow right I have no waste left in the display. The other BB is a mixed reef with a lot less flow and I need to vacuum the waste out a couple of times a month. The third is a mixed reef with sand and it is a bit more maintenance and have to be careful with flow but it allows me to have some inhabitants I wouldn’t want in a BB. I think both types can be very successful if done right and Both have some downsides. I didn’t have any issues with stabilization on my BB tanks but started with 100% live rock in each of them. Live rock will really help with BB stabilization.

 

[X-37B]

BB from day one.
Comming up on 16 months.
My frag/lagoon has sand though.
I have always had sand and wanted to try and paint the bottom with corals.
Next large upgrade will be BB too.

 

[TomSerious]

My first tank has Sand.
My new (~2 weeks old) tank is BB, I went with BB because I don't clean sand and for less maintenance overall.
I got a grey (non colored) PVC sheet on the bottom and for Biofiltration I threw about 20 liters of Sera Siporax (which I had lying around) into the sump.

I hope it works out well


Picture from ~2 weeks ago, as I first filled it up:

 

[Briguy350]

sand for me. just looks more natural.

 

[PokeFish]

IF its bare bottom you could put any substrate corals and i like substrate corals. (or maybe they dont need sand??? Not sure)

 

[esquare]

My first tank has Sand.
My new (~2 weeks old) tank is BB, I went with BB because I don't clean sand and for less maintenance overall.
I got a grey (non colored) PVC sheet on the bottom and for Biofiltration I threw about 20 liters of Sera Siporax (which I had lying around) into the sump.

I hope it works out well


Picture from ~2 weeks ago, as I first filled it up:

Where did you get the PVC sheet? Also, did you attach it to the bottom with Silicone or fill in around the edges with Silicone?

I love the rock work, did you make it yourself or buy it that way?

Thanks for sharing!

 

[austibella]

 

[austibella]

I prefer crushed coral.. i can get a better flow without sand blowing

 

[offtropic]

Well maintained sand allows for more biodiversity, greater stability and, visually, just makes everything else stand out more. It is sort of like a tv with a great black level or music with a deep bass...everything else just *pops* to a far greater degree. I personally don't like the look of coralline on the bottom (or glass sides) of a tank.

 

[Arif]

Barebottom all the way, I can use as much flow as I want without worrying about leveling the sand all the time. Plus I believe the cons outweigh the pros. To fully benefit from a sand bed it should be approximately 6 inches. Sandbeds can be a disaster with all that detritus it covers.

 

[mattgsa]

In the past I always did sand, and never vacumed whiched caused a lot of problems. I know myself and I know I will not vacum this new tank. So its BB all the way, even though I love the look of sand.

 

[TomSerious]

Where did you get the PVC sheet? Also, did you attach it to the bottom with Silicone or fill in around the edges with Silicone?

I love the rock work, did you make it yourself or buy it that way?

Thanks for sharing!

I bought it from a local "plastics specialist" company and only attached it to the bottom with silicone, not around the edges if I ever have to remove it.

Thanks! I bought the rocks/pillars that way and only added some "branches" of this type of rock to connect the 4 pillars I got.
The company is called "AquaCeramic" and my LFS carries some of their products, they are from Poland though and I don't know if they export to the US or even outside of the EU.

 

[FishTruck]

After 15 years of sandbeds... I finally switched to BB on my new build (6 months old now). I love it. It is SO much easier to take care of - especially for a really big tank. I like the look of coralline on the bottom and like others have said. I should have gone bare bottom years ago.

 

[esquare]

I bought it from a local "plastics specialist" company and only attached it to the bottom with silicone, not around the edges if I ever have to remove it.

Thanks! I bought the rocks/pillars that way and only added some "branches" of this type of rock to connect the 4 pillars I got.
The company is called "AquaCeramic" and my LFS carries some of their products, they are from Poland though and I don't know if they export to the US or even outside of the EU.

Thanks for the information!

 

[Strangewaterchange]

Sand because unrivaled biological filtration. If you're willing to maintain it by regularly siphoning out detritus.