Talk Me into Bare Bottom

[Emoney]

Im getting ready to move in June and gonna have the task of Breaking down and moving my system.

Ive been in the hooby for a little over 4 years and have always has a sand bed (mostly shallow 2-3")

1st sand bed crush coral (hated it)
2nd sand bed i tried something differnt Ollite (sp?) and all the sand is now coverd coraline now and looks like a rocky purple bottom..


I know many reefers that have sucess running bare bottom tanks, I dont mind the look im just a lil scared to switch what has worked for me so well over the years...

Looking for some Pros and COns of running a bare bottom system, and youe experiance

 

[skinz78]

Why change if it has worked for you? I personally think a reef tank is not complete looking without sand.

 

[btkrausen]

I agree with Chris. Personally, I'd never run a tank without sand....to me it just doesn't look right.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

No WAY I will not!!

 

[Reefer831]

you mean...talk you out of bare bottom...never liked that look in a display tank, it makes it look like a frag tank....also the sand gives the coral a nice contrast...the best sand IMO is Tropic Eden.

 

[Mr E Wrasse]

I love my barebottom tanks.... no more algae blooms... no more cleaning the sand or worrying about dead spots. I don't plan on ever going back to sand

 

[FishSticks05]

+1^^^^

 

[Emoney]

ERRRRRR

Anthony Calflo was a speaker at our last club meeting last year...He was talking about how much junk the sand holds and what long term problems could happen....I grow coraline algea like no one i know, im sure bottom would be coverd in under 3 months

Im still up in the air as to what i want to do..i have alot of flow in my tank as well, ...was hoping this would do some good, but looks like a battle...


Maybe REV can post a poll asking what people use bare, sand, Dsb>?

 

[SteezySPS]

barebottom is ugly imo. sorry that i couldnt talk you in to it. shallow sand bed with nassarius snails BAM! ure set.

 

[paulduong]

I'm going bare bottom with my new build . I had the bottom and back painted black

 

[dedubya]

I have been running barebottom for the past 2 years, and I can tell you that you would not believe how much debri actually settles on the bottom. With no sand all I do is find the spot it's collecting and siphon it out, SOOOOO much cleaner,and after coraline covers it you dont even notice.

 

[REEFKEEPER10]

Forget it. It just don't look right to me. Lol

 

[skinz78]

Maybe REV can post a poll asking what people use bare, sand, Dsb>?

I'll start one right now.

 

[mcarroll]

I grow coraline algea like no one i know, im sure bottom would be coverd in under 3 months

Im still up in the air as to what i want to do..

Here's what I did, and I'd recommend you do as well because you don't get locked into something and it fits the "nothing good happens fast" mantra.

Set the tank up as a bare-bottom and live with it at least a little while. As you said, the bottom will be covered with coraline shortly (I can confirm that) and I think many of the anti-bare crowd would be surprised how naturalistic it looks after a while. Certainly doesn't appear anything like bare glass.

I started my second tank as a bare-bottom just because I didn't have any sand at the moment...no plans for bare-bottom, in fact I planned to get some sand the next day the LFS was open. I got lazy and the look got better and better....now I love it. The benefits, including easy cleanup (powerhead or siphon...5 minutes or less....100% clean) and just that much more surface to plant corals :xd:, were just happy side-effects for me.

For you, the best part of trying my strategy is that if love or laziness don't take over, it's never really too late to add a sand bed. (It's never too soon to suck out an old one if you suspect it as a cause of problems either! Sand is cheap.) Just make sure the material is really well rinsed, turn all pumps off and add slowly, maybe pouring down a PVC pipe if you want....no big deal for anyone, should be minimal mess...no more than a few days worth of cloudiness if your not so fastidious about the process. You could even pre-culture it in 5 gallon buckets and old water-change water (no chunks!) for a while before adding if you felt it was worth while. (I prolly wouldn't.)

Good luck!

-Matt

 

[florida reef]

All the cool kids are doing it!

 

[johnanddawn]

i've had all three types and will never put sand in my main display tank again, the upside to bb are numerous and the downside minimal
- the one thing you may want to think about though is fish - if you want a sand loving fish then you have no choice, but otherwise bb is the way to go

 

[mcarroll]

i've had all three types and will never put sand in my main display tank again, the upside to bb are numerous and the downside minimal
- the one thing you may want to think about though is fish - if you want a sand loving fish then you have no choice, but otherwise bb is the way to go

Not stricktly true...

Saw a dude with a giant tank that was bare bottom and he kept a leopard wrasse. He filled a 2" 90º PVC fitting with sand and situated it upright on the bottom - the wrasse would dive right in at night.

-Matt

 

[orlando809]

On my 180g i have 2"-3" but on 120g im going bb for sure just not sure if i should put acrylic or starboard to protect the glass

Since this is related to bb ill ask what are you guys using to protect the glass and keep the rock stable

Thanks, feel free to pm me

 

[mcarroll]

On my 180g i have 2"-3" but on 120g im going bb for sure just not sure if i should put acrylic or starboard to protect the glass

Since this is related to bb ill ask what are you guys using to protect the glass and keep the rock stable?

Nothing.

Stack your rock carefully, don't stock thing like urchins and large Turbo snails and you should have no issues.

-Matt

 

[Steelerfan747]

I could never go bare bottom as I agree with most that it just does not look natural. besides if your worried about the sand just get a few sand sifters and 1 or 2 diamond gobies and the rest is history