SSB or BB that is the question!

lolgranny · Jul 20, 2012

Yoyo what's up everyone?
So I'm on the border on what I want to do about my display, add 1/2" sand or leave it BB. The rock is all in place and I have the sand, just need to rinse it . I've always had a BB tank so I enjoy it but the look of sand is more natural IMO. At the same time, high flow and sand don't mix well. On the same note bare bottom and a lot of wrasses done mix well. Slough I can put small containers with sand behind the rock for them and that will be fine. Another reason is I put acrylic on the bottom so I can't see through, I should have painted it but I initially planned on sand and i always put some acrylic on the bottom just in case I wanted to remove it, I think bad call now but oh we'll the acrylic has a small gap I between the 2 pieces right in the center that looks like crap until it will be covered by coraline/ corals. On a bad note I'm worried about cleaning it and having no3 po4 issues. Just wanted to see what you guys thought because it's been on my mind for the past few days lol

Thanks all

Dave

Saltwatertaylor · Jul 20, 2012

I would go with sand on the bottom. I personally think it looks better than BB. Cleaning sand isnt difficult at all. All you need to do is get a turkey baster. That way it blows all the stuff thats on the sand and it gets filtered out. No3 and Po4 wont be an issue with sand if you have good filtration and do water changes.

SeahorseKeeper · Jul 20, 2012

I prefer the look of sand in a reef tank.

lolgranny · Jul 20, 2012

Saltwatertaylor said:
I would go with sand on the bottom. I personally think it looks better than BB. Cleaning sand isnt difficult at all. All you need to do is get a turkey baster. That way it blows all the stuff thats on the sand and it gets filtered out. No3 and Po4 wont be an issue with sand if you have good filtration and do water changes.

That's what I was thinking, or stirring it up when I do changes. I do 10% every 5 days on a 300 g system. Have a oversized skimmer, a fuge and a dsb. Don't think I'll have a issue but I'm unsure haha. The debate of the year ahh

Chameleon · Jul 20, 2012

This is dejavu...thought I already posted on this. I would go with shallow sand bed. it looks better imo. BB is great for high flow which is fun but sand still looks better imo

lolgranny · Jul 22, 2012

Seems as its the question of the year

-Logzor · Jul 22, 2012

I enjoyed having my BB tank. It was fairly easy to maintain. Vacuuming it out was quick and easy.

Now I have a SSB. It's an absolute pain. Especially now that the sand has decided to calcify. It's gotten to be quite the mess. If you can place powerheads strategically enough to keep detritus off the sand then a SSB can be very nice.

Some people actually replace the top 1/4 of their sand every 6 months or so to keep it nice looking.

AJreefs · Jul 22, 2012

I going to opt for other and vote for a DSB! I have tried the big three, SSB, BB and now DSB; the DSB is zero maintnance and provides you more biological benefit with the aesthetics of sand.

kuyatwo · Jul 23, 2012

if i had to do it over again on my 150 gallon hard coral tank i would go Bare bottom over shallow sand bed even though i used tropic eden reef flakes and carib seaflor special sand. I think benefit is i can turn up the flow and vacum detritus in the tank easier.