Sand or bare bottom for large tank

[Doctorgori]

I got 3 BB reefs, my take:

1. - BB is Waaaaay easier on a weekly maintenance basis, no gravel cleaning. I point 2 powerheads on the bottom; no/little detritus either
2. but the daily stuff like glass cleaning, et IMO no difference
3. BIGGEST drawback of BB IMO is livestock choices are more limited: no sea cukes, jaw fish, et et et
4. 2nd biggest drawback is aesthetic. I could post pics of my tanks as I’ve mitigated that somewhat using flat pieces of “foundation” rock, but again IMO it has a less natural look

Added: could you “Hybridize” BB and sand?
What if you put sand in anyway and pulled of a minimalist type aquascape with large clear areas of open sand bed for easy cleaning...
If you get bare spots where it blows away, why not cover those turbulent areas of the bottom with the so called “foundation” one side flat dry rock?

 

[Murica]

I got 3 BB reefs, my take:

1. - BB is Waaaaay easier on a weekly maintenance basis, no gravel cleaning. I point 2 powerheads on the bottom; no/little detritus either
2. but the daily stuff like glass cleaning, et IMO no difference
3. BIGGEST drawback of BB IMO is livestock choices are more limited: no sea cukes, jaw fish, et et et
4. 2nd biggest drawback is aesthetic. I could post pics of my tanks as I’ve mitigated that somewhat using flat pieces of “foundation” rock, but again IMO it has a less natural look

Added: could you “Hybridize” BB and sand?
What if you put sand in anyway and pulled of a minimalist type aquascape with large clear areas of open sand bed for easy cleaning...
If you get bare spots where it blows away, why not cover those turbulent areas of the bottom with the so called “foundation” one side flat dry rock?

That’s potentially an idea but the tank is 30” tall and my gyres create practically perfect flow. There’s high flow up to while the bottom is a nice calm flow (enough to keep detritus suspended while not being too direct). Aesthetically sand wins, so it really comes down to whether or not the maintenance is worth it or not.

I’m loving the discussion here. It’s giving me ideas and also having me contemplate the two options. Appreciate it..

 

[Murica]

Here’s the tank at it’s beginning stages without water so it’s easy to see how it and the rock work look

 

[Murica]

Bump

 

[Karliefish]

I have a large tank (450 gallons and 300 sump) and it’s currently bare bottom. The uglies are over and it’s stable..

I miss the look of sand, but was wondering if it’s worth the effort in such a large tank. Do you need to constantly clean sand in a large tank or can you get away without cleaning it if you have enough CUC in the sand bed?

If you do have to clean it, can you do it a few times a year or is it something you need to do every week?

I would prefer a larger grain sand, what would be a good choice?

Most importantly... for those of you with large tanks, do you like having sand or do you regret it?

I have a 365G bare bottom and love the look and low maintenance. I wonder how difficult it would be for you to pour sand into a tank that size already filled. Also wonder how disrupting the sand clouds will be kicked-up on impact on corals and fish?

 

[Karliefish]

I have a 365G bare bottom and love the look and low maintenance. I wonder how difficult it would be for you to pour sand into a tank that size already filled. Also wonder how disrupting the sand clouds will be kicked-up on impact on corals and fish?

Also very curious....what the purpose of the large PVC pipe in middle of tank?

 

[gentlefish]

Bare bottom. Biggest drawback... you guessed...wife wants sand.

 

[Murica]

So i just added 200 pounds of special grade.. too late to look back now ha. So far i love it but we’ll see how much i like it when it’s time to maintenance

 

[Murica]

Also very curious....what the purpose of the large PVC pipe in middle of tank?

Same idea as a durso. Those pics were before i put the cap on

 

[gentlefish]

Bare bottom. Biggest drawback... you guessed...wife wants sand.

Ah...keeping the wife happy! Enjoy reefing!

 

[Reef.]

Ryan from BRS has just changed his own tank from a bare bottom to sand!

I think his reasoning was, it looks better and the work he thought he would save cleaning sand turned into scraping the glass bottom, which he believed still made the tank look untidy.

 

[OldSchool Reefer]

Ryan from BRS has just changed his own tank from a bare bottom to sand!

I think his reasoning was, it looks better and the work he thought he would save cleaning sand turned into scraping the glass bottom, which he believed still made the tank look untidy.

That and his lack of Bio Diversity/balance because he didnt have a load of LR and no LS, his dry rock didnt have enough surface area to support the system with that volume of water!

 

[Reef.]

That and his lack of Bio Diversity becaust he didnt have a load of LR and no LS his dry rock didnt have enough surface areA TO SUPPORT THR VOLUME OF WATER.

that was the issue as well but the reasons I gave have nothing to do with biodiversity, it was a big part in how the tank looked for him.
He even said he got past those issues and still decided sand was the way to go.

 

[OldSchool Reefer]

I've done it both ways, but Sand is the way!