Sand, bare bottom, or...? The deliberations continue!

[uniquecorals]

Great thread... My informal tally is that BB is if you want to create more real estate for corals and that is what you really want to focus on, and sand bed (of any kind) for a more realistic reef and the environment it creates for fish, and to allow you to keep the greatest variety of fish. I personally have about a 1-2" sand bed, and love it. I love seeing the sand bad change all the time as my wrasses sleep, and to see various fish (dottyback, and damsel) excavate caves. I have a huge excavation underway now by one of my damsel and I think its just the coolest thing and hey you gotta give the fish something to do in the little boxes we keep them in

A pretty accurate assessment! I think, also, the bare bottom-becomes-a-live-bottom" argument is absolutely valid...and requires time and patience, something which us reefers supposedly have, right? LOL

 

[uniquecorals]

Just getting back in the hobby. Had to add sand.

I love you...really. The honest confession is awesome. Spoken absolutely like a true reefer!

 

[GOSKN5]

I painted the underside if my tank with a white textured paint.. gives a great illusion of sand with the ease of BB... I plan to do the same with my next tank and use a little rubble zone to hide the center brace...

 

[shred5]

I painted the underside if my tank with a white textured paint.. gives a great illusion of sand with the ease of BB... I plan to do the same with my next tank and use a little rubble zone to hide the center brace...

That looks really good... did you paint the outside bottom?
My issue is with coraline. It grows so fast in my aquarium.

Tank looks really nice too.. Love the Gorgonians.

 

[uniquecorals]

I painted the underside if my tank with a white textured paint.. gives a great illusion of sand with the ease of BB... I plan to do the same with my next tank and use a little rubble zone to hide the center brace...

Very nice solution!

 

[rajkovich207]

I've always hated my sand. Blows around to much and ends up becoming a detritus trap. Toyed around with every possible setup for my new tank and have settled on getting black sand.

 

[cb684]

I know it sounds crazy, but when I could not decide I ended up having two display tanks connected to the same sump in my system, one with T5 and sand, and other with LEDs and BB. Which one I like the most? I still cannot answer...

 

[whixley101]

Adding a sand bed to my tank is my number one regret. They are such a pain in the rear. I have been slowly siphoning sand out.

 

[buzzword]

I've always hated my sand. Blows around to much and ends up becoming a detritus trap. Toyed around with every possible setup for my new tank and have settled on getting black sand.[/QUOTE3
I decided almost the same and went with fine white and black mixed and love it.

 

[buzzword]

meant to put this outside the quote.

I decided almost the same and went with fine white and black mixed and love it

 

[MJC]

Very beautiful MJC. What is the tank dimension?

Thank you it is a 140gal 48x30x22

 

[GOSKN5]

That looks really good... did you paint the outside bottom?
My issue is with coraline. It grows so fast in my aquarium.

Tank looks really nice too.. Love the Gorgonians.

Thanks... yes the underside on the outside of the tank... I scrape the bottom just like the sides... keeps it nice and white..

Very nice solution!

Thanks!

 

[Luvs501s]

Maybe I'm late to the party as usual, but have you considered just letting encrusting corals cover the bottom, lord knows there are enough to keep it interesting. My own aesthetic is for a sand bottom. I prefer a natural looking system with all the flora and fauna that comes with it. I grew up in Miami and Sand & Ocean just go together.

 

[CenlaReefer]

What about LPS and other corals attaching to the bottom of the glass floor for a bare bottom tank? I guess they be very difficult to remove if you need to re-arrange. I found a good spot for my favia and for some of my other corals. Does it really matter that much if attaches to the bottom anyway? Still, how do most of you folks remove them. . . say for instance if you want to take such a coral out and frag it?

 

[jedimasterben]

Ahh- I'll put a couple of pics up tomorrow..

LIES FELLMAN! ALL LIES!



























Just messin' with ya

 

[uniquecorals]

LIES FELLMAN! ALL LIES!

LOL, you're right...I totally forgot! I'll put a few of my famously good iPhone shots up this morning after I get in!



























Just messin' with ya

 

[pgravis]

What about a rock bottom? Haven't seen it done, but it could be cool. Something like this, but on the bottom:

. (Picture taken from a google image search). You could still have the crazy flow, but maintain a more natural look. And tons of placement for coral. With a little forethought, it could really accentuate your hardscape and create a ledge feel

 

[JBNY]

I've always liked the look of sand. I have never found maintaining the tank with sand to be a problem at all so the Bare Bottom look for maintenance alone has never been very persuasive to me.

Besides to me a BB tank always ends up looking like a frag tank, not a reef tank.

 

[uniquecorals]

I've always liked the look of sand. I have never found maintaining the tank with sand to be a problem at all so the Bare Bottom look for maintenance alone has never been very persuasive to me.

Besides to me a BB tank always ends up looking like a frag tank, not a reef tank.

A very good point for the "purist" in me. There are many gorgeous BB tanks, but the sand does add a touch of realism that is undeniable...I mean, it's purely subjective, but I love hearing the many points of view on the subject..

 

[hart24601]

I would be hard pressed to ever run a sand bottom reef tank again. To me if you are keeping a true "reef" sand does not look natural at all, the few reefs I have been were all rock bottom around the crest and not sand until you got more into the lagoon area. Just saying "bare bottom" tank really does not do many tanks here justice as people has posted with some amazing tanks! You can have scattered rocks with or without corals across the bottom, corals directly on and growing across the bottom or just LPS like plates sitting on the bottom, mine did great on the glass and I have had many large maximas on the glass that did great as once they hit over 5" they seem to not really attach much. I really like having more flow no sand allows, but really I don't feel there is a "best" answer, I like sand too, and if someone loves having the little critters to watch then great, it's about what makes you happy!