bb to sand yes or no

[flathead31coupe]

i have had bb for a few years now, wanting to get into coarls and other things,iam thinking that i may not be getting all of the things needed for a good reef, without the sand bed,i need pros and cons to help me decide

 

[_Alex_]

oh this is gonna start a huge debate lol

but me personally i like sand in my tank, and not a fan of barebottom..... the ocean isn't barebottom so why should the tank?


sorry i dont have the experience of BB to give any pros but i like my sand bed and it stays clean with my dragon goby, doves snails and sand sifting stars and has caused me no problems, but mine is only 3 in deep

 

[bmac16]

only experience with BB i have is in my frag tanks with lots of flow to keep detritus from settling. im building a 120 display and am going BB in it. main reason i am going BB is to keep the tank cleaner, and easier to clean. i did paint the bottom white

 

[flathead31coupe]

thanks...i didnt want to start anything, just asking....:smile:

 

[johnanddawn]

BB all the way
the only reason to have sand is if you want to have certain sand needing fishes. some wrasses/gobies ect need to have sand
otherwise:
better flow - not only more, BETTER! with sand you are restricted in the direction of your flow as to avoid sand storms - without sand you can aim them where is best for the coral and under the rock to keep out the build up
less detritus - keep it moving till is can get to the sump and eventially skimmer - not settle out in the sand
can feed more - no worries about detritus, means no worries about feeding, if it doesn't get eaten by the fish or coral the skimmer removes it
no brainer really IMO, but of course sand can be done and many like it

 

[Dylan]

I like the look of sand better. I have a vortech, and the undertow keeps the sand nice and clean.. with Fiji pink special grade (not the normal fiji pink) I have no problems with it blowing sand around.

 

[johnanddawn]

dylan
have you ever syphoned that sand?
i have had both (a 125 with a DSB that i maintained for about 15 years) and many BB tanks along the way, my current DT is BB
all you have to do is syphone your sand 1 time to realize how much gunk it collects

don't get me wrong YES you can have a happy healthy tank with sand - i just prefer the ease of BB and a skimmer

 

[flathead31coupe]

i was under the impression that without the sand you need to dose your system more to get stuff that is needed, that the sand bead provides...its cost more to be bb

 

[Troylee]

They both have there ups and downs but I like the look of sand personally..

 

[johnanddawn]

not true
sand is a biologic filter but so is rock and rock is better, and a skimmer is your best weapon against nutrients
dosing is just to maintain ALK and Ca and both systems require that
I also dose two part, Kalk, and iodine
i also have cheato and am experimenting with vodka - but those are just extras that some use and some don't
sand is more about visual appeal then anything - so if you like the look it may be for you, if not BB is easier

 

[subielover]

After removing all my sand and going bb for a few months, I wanted sand again. So another bag of sand went in and I couldn't be happier.

 

[Paul_N]

Another myth is that detritus will settle with a sand bed. If you go dsb you'll have so many critters that nothing will settle on the sand. uneaten food and fish poo never sit on my sand more than 10 seconds. All the spaghetti worms pull it down immediately. I don't have a sand sifting fish either. I haven's siphoned my sand ever in over 5 years.

I just love the look most of all.

 

[flathead31coupe]

so their is no real advantage or disadvantage to eaither way other the looks..

 

[Dylan]

You can turn up the flow more. If I had SPS in ever single spot in my tank, I might go BB. But it's so easy to change, you just siphon it out.

 

[luke33]

Sand is evil imo. I will never run sand in any system i ever keep. If you do want sand i would just cover the tank bottom. Ofcourse this is all imo : () Just remember its really easy to add sand but really hard to pull out if there is ever a prob.

 

[Tank102a]

I went bb in my tank after 5 years of sand. Could not be happier. I installed a DSB reservoir in my sump and had all the flow I needed in my display.

 

[flathead31coupe]

if i didnt have this green algae in some spots,it would be easy to take care of the bb

 

[JimmyK]

For me a BB has worked best. It is really nice to dial up the flow. I have had a DSB in the past and I personally was not as succesful with a DSB. I do like the looks of a clean sand bed thugh. I was not able to keep my phospajtes down until I got rid of my DSB. That being said I do have a spot in the back corner of my tank that has about 4" of sand, crushedc coral. I siphon each week. I have it for a goby and a pistol that live in that area. I have seen many posts of people using a remote DSB as mentioned above. It really comes down to what works best for each...

 

[BHAMR6]

I just went BB about 3 wks ago after having a shallow sand bed for 3 yrs. I like how easy it is to clean the BB and how my flow dont blow sand around.. The only thing i dont like is the bottom glass has turned green, I'm ready for some coraline....