The great bare bottom debate

Slowpoke · May 16, 2017

I've gone bare bottom back in November and don't know why it took me so long. So much easier to keep it clean. Loving my decision.

Murica · May 16, 2017

Donovan Joannes said:
A little sand is good. It is kind of weird having a base rock suspended at several points where it suppose to join flawlessly with bottom glass panel. If i were you, i will leave that small amount of sand as it is.

Yeah I may, the only problem is the fish and inverts push it around everywhere so it constantly gets pushed under the rocks

Donovan Joannes · May 16, 2017

Murica said:
Yeah I may, the only problem is the fish and inverts push it around everywhere so it constantly gets pushed under the rocks

I feel you

. I reduced my sand bed to roughly 1cm thick but now most of it had piled up at one corner. Thanks to the dragon wrasse.

powdertang05 · Sep 4, 2017

What do you use under the rock on the bare bottom? I remember starboard??? Never used it but I believe it was a thing back in 2009 when I last left. Do you put it directly on the glass? I am using epoxy to keep the rocks together.

Little digging and i found this: https://www.cuttingboardcompany.com

Is this what starboard is.. lol a cuttingboard....

Murica · Sep 4, 2017

I just have it on the glass but a lot of people do use the star board

Murica · Sep 11, 2018

Just an update, I've remained bare bottom and still couldn't be happier. I feel like the tank is healthier and easier to clean, when I do have to clean it

cracker · Sep 11, 2018

I went BB on my 75 in April. I see no difference in my levels Jut not a bunch of HA growing on sand. Still have algae issues on the rock. Cleaning is "much" more easier ! Other wise ,I really can't see any difference in stability .
I think a sand bed looks better though . In this case that doesn't matter as this is an experimental tank.
That being said, someday I might add new sand .

Murica · Sep 21, 2018

cracker said:
I went BB on my 75 in April. I see no difference in my levels Jut not a bunch of HA growing on sand. Still have algae issues on the rock. Cleaning is "much" more easier ! Other wise ,I really can't see any difference in stability .
I think a sand bed looks better though . In this case that doesn't matter as this is an experimental tank.
That being said, someday I might add new sand .

How old is your tank? After a couple years I noticed my levels slowly rising. I was afraid after more years, it would eventually crash

cracker · Sep 21, 2018

@Murica This tank is almost 3 years old . Started about 1&1/2 inches of sand. & 1/2 dry & 1/2 live rock 80lbs overall .

mniemann · Sep 21, 2018

revhtree said:
Quoting this from another thread because it's nice!

What a genius idea... too bad my phantom bottom won’t allow me to do that.

squampton · Sep 21, 2018

I started bare bottom then added sand only a small amount for visual appeal.

I was having trouble keeping the bottom clean as a difficult to remove almost coralline like green algae kept growing on the bottom. The only place is grew.

Sand has no algae issues and tank looks brighter with sand.

Psymon · Sep 30, 2018

Great thread.
I am going to slowly syphon out the sand over several weeks.

I am not in a rush, but I have been battling with cyano on the sand bed for months now.

My only concern is toppling rock work. Some of the rock work pieces are planted nicely in the sand.

Murica · Sep 30, 2018

Psymon said:
Great thread.
I am going to slowly syphon out the sand over several weeks.

I am not in a rush, but I have been battling with cyano on the sand bed for months now.

My only concern is toppling rock work. Some of the rock work pieces are planted nicely in the sand.

Yeah I had to be careful with that. I had to take the sand out in layers so all my rocks lowered at the same time

Murica · Jul 2, 2019

cracker said:
I went BB on my 75 in April. I see no difference in my levels Jut not a bunch of HA growing on sand. Still have algae issues on the rock. Cleaning is "much" more easier ! Other wise ,I really can't see any difference in stability .
I think a sand bed looks better though . In this case that doesn't matter as this is an experimental tank.
That being said, someday I might add new sand .

How's the tank status? I'm going to be starting a build next year and I won't be putting a single granule of sand in it. Other than aesthetics, bare bottom is as close to set it and forget it as you can get.

yellow73 · Aug 4, 2019

Anyone who has gone bare bottom with their tanks has any of you put down a sheet of acrylic to protect the glass bottom from falling rocks.

Murica · Aug 4, 2019

yellow73 said:
Anyone who has gone bare bottom with their tanks has any of you put down a sheet of acrylic to protect the glass bottom from falling rocks.

No you just have to be careful and stack your rock so that they won't fall. You definitely could though, some even put off white acrylic (not really acrylic, but I forget the name) to imitate sand

ZoWhat · Aug 4, 2019

BB all the way....

I worked part time for a Coral Shop for 3 yrs. We would breakdown tanks with 2-3in sandbeds that were 5yrs old and the sand was like PEANUTBUTTER. Some sections were like concrete.

Nasty nasty nasty nasty stuff with all kinds of organics that smelled like the worst sewer imaginable.

Anyone setting up a system IMO don't put sand in there.

ZoWhat · Aug 4, 2019

yellow73 said:
Anyone who has gone bare bottom with their tanks has any of you put down a sheet of acrylic to protect the glass bottom from falling rocks.

The only way you're going to crack the bottom of a tank with a falling LR is for it to fall with NO water in it.

I've accidentally dropped LR the size of bowling balls dozens of times in 15yrs... and the fall is cushioned by the surrounding water pressure.

The only way I could imagine it happening is if the LR had a corner shaped like a spike and it hit at just the perfect angle.bbut that's like a 1 in a 1000 chance IMO.

I would love @BRS to do a drop test of a 25lbs LR >IN< saltwater. I betcha it would take them a 1000 drops to get a crack

.

GK3 · Aug 4, 2019

yellow73 said:
Anyone who has gone bare bottom with their tanks has any of you put down a sheet of acrylic to protect the glass bottom from falling rocks.

I just did this. I used black acrylic. Plan is to have zoas grow on it.