substrate or not ?

[Stuart Willis]

so does anyone run bare bottom tanks ? if so are there any advantages to having no substrate?
I really like the look of bare bottom tanks but ended up with sand because of girlfriend

any info would be great

 

[Jc0187]

so does anyone run bare bottom tanks ? if so are there any advantages to having no substrate?
I really like the look of bare bottom tanks but ended up with sand because of girlfriend

any info would be great

I would be fairly afraid of not having substrate. I couldn't imagine live rock toppling over and landing softly on the glass. In fact back about 5 or 6 years ago I was running a 125 gallon aquarium. I didn't have too much sand in my aquarium. I was rearranging my live rock and one of my rocks landed fairly hard on the bottom. I didn't think much of it until I later drained the tank to move it. It was then that I noticed the cracks spidering from that side. I got very lucky it didn't give while I was at work. 125 gallon spillage is no trivial matter.

 

[Stuart Willis]

true but I do cut my rocks so there flat on the bottom so toppling over would be very hard to do

 

[littlebigreef]

I might be mistaken but I am of the opinion that substrate helps stabilize the ph/alk. In my experience, through fellow reefers, bottom aquariums can be more susceptible to swings in the alk/ph. Of course this is less of an issue if your aquarium is established and 'dialed in'.

That said I have about 1 1/2" to 2" of substrate throughout my aquarium and very 3-4 months I have to go through and turnover the substrate with a siphon to prevent nitrites and the phosphate from creeping up. Its disruptive and a pain in the butt but its also a necessary evil for me.

 

[Vahanyos]

I've done both.... with bare bottoms i found myself often times wishing i had substrate, just for the look... and also because i wanted a wrasse, diamond goby, etc...

my next one, i am going to do just a little bit of sand, maybe like half an inch if that. I know it'll get blown around and eventually just be patches of sand but i'm okay with that...

Only advantage with bare bottom really was the fact that all the fish poop and detritus collected up in certain areas that i can just suck out with my baster... but with sand the "uncollected" detritus never really caused any issues so it's really nothing to "worry" about....

 

[Rick cowen]

My vote is sand imho, the benefits outweigh the cons, however, I've seen some beautiful bare bottom tanks, in the end, it's up to the individual preference.

 

[Stuart Willis]

I was thinking of all corals as the bottom of the tank which I think would look cool

 

[Vahanyos]

I like that idea. I was thinking of spreading zoa's around all the bottom and just have them grow and encrust all over the glass bottom.. imagine a bed of zoa's ... mmmm .... one can dream lol

 

[Stuart Willis]

it would look cool

 

[PatW]

Sand or even coarse rubble is used by various tank inhabitants for cover: gobies, jawfish, various snails, conchs, and so on.

Bare bottom tanks make it easier to clean up the tank.

 

[reefwiser]

Just switched my tank to BB. Had aptasia get into the sand bed. I like that I can keep the waste removed easily.

 

[TylerMoralez]

I would be fairly afraid of not having substrate. I couldn't imagine live rock toppling over and landing softly on the glass. In fact back about 5 or 6 years ago I was running a 125 gallon aquarium. I didn't have too much sand in my aquarium. I was rearranging my live rock and one of my rocks landed fairly hard on the bottom. I didn't think much of it until I later drained the tank to move it. It was then that I noticed the cracks spidering from that side. I got very lucky it didn't give while I was at work. 125 gallon spillage is no trivial matter.

As for the rock toppling over, I've heard of people siliconing (?) their rockwork to the bottom. Not sure how effective that is, but I assume if you do it right it can look both amazing and safe.

 

[Stuart Willis]

i will probably change to BB soon enough