Pros and Cons of going Bare bottom

[Alexreefer]

I have been battling an algae for quite some time. I am debating whether or not I should go bare bottom.

Those with experience please list the pros and cons of going bare bottom.

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

I miss the look of sand, but love that I can crank my gyre's up and not have to worry about it blowing everywhere. Removing sand won't fix your algae problem though.

 

[andrewkw]

Pros :
Easier to take care of.
No flow limitations.
No ticking time bomb.
Cleaning bottom is much easier than cleaning sand bed, which means nutrient export is easier. Detritus has lost it's best hiding spot.

Cons :
Doesn't look as natural - over time you can cover the bottom in corals though.
Can't keep annoying sand sifting gobies so you can't have a mess of sand around the tank. For something like a wrasse that needs sand to sleep you can easily hide a container of sand in any tank that is of appropriate size for such a creature.

I do agree that removing your sand won't fix your algae issue, in fact disturbing it could initially make it worse. That is not to say medium term your tank will not be better if you convert to bare bottom. I did not include microfauna in the sand bed on the pro or the con. While you might not get some worms that live in the sand, not having a sand bed doesn't really effect the population of pods and other little creatures even if many of them live in the sand. They can and will live in the rock and other places as well.

 

[Alexreefer]

Ok thanks for your opinions. How would I protect the glass from rocks scratching it? As for the algae problem if your willing to look at some pictures to give me an id or a solution I would gladly send a pm to both of you guys.

 

[Pete_the_Puma]

My current tank is my first barebottom and I think it would take a lot to convince me to go back to oldschool.

If anything my nutrients are too low, I am battling Dinos not algea but it is a fairly new tank and I am sure in time I will have it dialed in.

If you are battling Algea and have high levels of N and P, especially if you have an old and deep sand bed I think removing the sand is a reasonable approach. The issues are going to be how to remove the sand without spiking your N and P concentrations from stirring up all the old crap in the sand and also how to deal with the sudden loss of whatever percentage of your "beneficial" bacteria lived in that sand you removed...

I'm not sure it will be easy to accomplish, let us know how it turns out.

 

[Rufus’ goofs]

I like the search function. I find most things have been asked and answered before on forums of this size and popularity.

https://www.reef2reef.com/search/5542737/?q=Sand+vs+bare+bottom&o=relevance&c[title_only]=1

 

[Westside Guy]

This is my first saltwater tank and in my opinion it wouldn't look as good if it was bare bottom. The sand creates an esthetic that completes the story!

 

[hatfielj]

I've been back and forth on this before as well. For a nice living room quality type display, sand is a must in my opinion. Bare bottom tanks are best for grow out systems. Rarely do people actually cover the bottom with corals successfully. Bare bottom tanks usually look pretty bad and tend to be littered with dead snail shells, detritus, and maybe a frag or two over time.
I love not worrying about sand blowing around with high flow, but I also just hate how the bare bottom tank ends up looking. If done right, you can have sand and SPS successfully. Check out this guys tank!

watch

 

[andrewkw]

Ok thanks for your opinions. How would I protect the glass from rocks scratching it? As for the algae problem if your willing to look at some pictures to give me an id or a solution I would gladly send a pm to both of you guys.

Why are you concerned with the bottom being scratched? Realistically there will never be any scenario short of you disassembling the tank and using the bottom for a new back that this would matter. Some people use starboard which is cutting board material, pvc and a few other things. Personally I have always put my rocks directly on the glass.

As for your algae issues, it's your thread. Might as well post them here and then you can get comments on both the algae and the bare bottom / sand debate.

 

[Alexreefer]

Thanks for all the responses. When I get back home I will post some pics. My sandbed is about half an inch now as i have been taking some out slowly during water changes.

 

[Westside Guy]

In my case I didn't want too thick a bed so my sand is approximately 1.5 - 2 inches high.

 

[Alexreefer]

Why are you concerned with the bottom being scratched? Realistically there will never be any scenario short of you disassembling the tank and using the bottom for a new back that this would matter. Some people use starboard which is cutting board material, pvc and a few other things. Personally I have always put my rocks directly on the glass.

As for your algae issues, it's your thread. Might as well post them here and then you can get comments on both the algae and the bare bottom / sand debate.

Ok thanks.

 

[Alexreefer]

Off to work now. Sigh

 

[Bouncingsoul39]

Once the sand is gone, depending on how much water flow you have and where its directed, you may still get brown/gray detritus piling up in the corners or in certain dead spots that will look ugly. As a neat freak running bare bottom, I had to siphon my detritus piles out weekly and that resulted in doing a weekly water change, which is quite a bit of work. So I'd say, a barebottom can be deceptively high maintenance compared to a sand bed.

 

[brandon429]

we think the sandbeds are storing that up through, stratifying it, to be disturbed later at a very inopportune moment wrecking things or just fueling a big invasion. the sand rinse thread is out to 23 pages bc sandbeds don't self regulate, at all really.

they just store up until the bell curve starts to aim down, then they release. sometimes they release much quicker if a rock falls, or a pump falls down, any kind of accident

the export work you are doing to make BB look pristine is the required amount of work if the mechanics of the tank aren't removing it for you. By keeping it clean, you can pack in much more feed each day than a sandbedded system could manage, then clean it out. Your corals can be fed much better when you can access all the waste

this isn't to say that 2% of designed dsb's don't do their job, they do.

 

[Tamberav]

I have sand in some of my tanks and BB in others.

The BB is low maintenance for me, I have flow so high that almost nothing settles and it quickly got covered in pastel colored coralline algae. What small amount may settle blends right in with the coralline... eventually the whole bottom will appear light pink/white from the coralline.

The sand is... well... nice for wrasses and shrimp gobies but I work to maintain it and keep it clean.

For me, either works, It's just how much maintenance do I want to do.

This is how mine looks and it should eventually be all coralline, I do nothing special to maintain it. The look doesn't bother me but it was more unnatural and weird looking before the coralline took off.

2019-06-03_05-31-25 by Tana Jahangier, on Flickr

 

[ReeferReefer]

So do most people put their rocks directly on the glass then? I want to do bare bottom am worried about a rock fall cracking the tank.

 

[Anthony Kochevar]

My last build I painted the bottom outside of the tank with this:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rust-Ol...PIPHorizontal2_rr-_-100543967-_-100674049-_-N

Made it so if I decide, I can go sandless and still have the look.

 

[Turtlesteve]

Pros:
Avoids the problem of certain corals being constantly irritated by sand getting on them
Can get more water flow near the bottom of the tank
Snails don't get stuck upside down

Cons:
It looks horrible

I gave up and took my sand out when fighting dinoflagellates. They went away within about a week and have not come back. I doubt I will ever add sand back but I may test out a coarser substrate (crushed coral or similar).

 

[Jon Fishman]

So do most people put their rocks directly on the glass then? I want to do bare bottom am worried about a rock fall cracking the tank.

I am putting a textured, pebble black plastic sheet, cut to size on the bottom to get both the look of the black bottom until corals cover it, as well as a little protection for the bottom.