The great bare bottom debate

[Ashish Patel]

Alot of the BB tanks are amazing.. especially the ones just show that used the space to perfection... I mean I have only 20LB of sand in my 120gallons - I know the benefits of running a BB its very easy to keep nutrients low to the point your algae will just disappear instantly. And yes after few years it will cause problems but with the cost of this hobby spending $60 every few years to replenish the sand is important. I feel it depends on your system and what you plan on keeping and how much time you want to dedicate to your maintence schedule. If your not going to stir your sandbed and vacumm periodically than go BB. If your going with a minimalist approach then go with sand for esthetics. Never follow recommendation on sand coverage - when in doubt stay in the middle like me.. I am adding 40lb of live reeflakes to give me .5" coverage... Let the debate continue

 

[Jorge Linares]

Anybody have a mandarin goby or a pistol shrimp in a bb?

 

[Murica]

Made up my mind, gonna convert to a bb. I'll send before and after photos when I do it

 

[Lowstorm]

The other day I pulled all my sand out, rinsed it good and replaced it. 1 year in a 125 gallon. It was gross, but I like my sand bed. I don't want to do it again for a long long while.

Both ways are viable. I have flow blowing sand issues but I don't mind too much.

 

[zchauvin]

Anybody have a mandarin goby or a pistol shrimp in a bb?

Never had a pistol but a mandarin eats pods, which you don't need sand to sustain.

 

[Murica]

Well.. Starting the process of taking out the sand. Think I shed a tear when I moved my rock work that had been set up perfectly with the water flow.

 

[Murica]

before

 

[zchauvin]

Where's the after?!? And yeah man... sand is grossss lol

 

[Murica]

Where's the after?!? And yeah man... sand is grossss lol

No after yet, stupid work cutting into my reefing time ha... Also realized I have like no salt to replace lost water, good thing I planned ahead [emoji849]

 

[cracker]

Very good reasons for either way. I've had dsb & bare bottom . Now I'm using 1 to 2 inches depending where in the tank it is. I have fairly good flow across the bottom if it piles the sand in a few places? No worries.

 

[Murica]

Wow.. Still worth it but this is miserable. Idk what's worse getting aquarium water in my mouth from starting the siphon or the countless shells plugging up the hose. This hobby is great! [emoji106] lol

 

[zchauvin]

Wow.. Still worth it but this is miserable. Idk what's worse getting aquarium water in my mouth from starting the siphon or the countless shells plugging up the hose. This hobby is great! [emoji106] lol

Lol oh come on now. It's not that bad. A little salt to clean the mouth ha

 

[Murica]

Done... Finally done. Still a coating of sand on the bottom but I'll just take that out in time. waters still clearing but overall a success

 

[Murica]

And now my smaller ocellaris clown is attacking the bigger one... Weird cause the smaller one does his little shake for the big one all the time. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[zchauvin]

And now my smaller ocellaris clown is attacking the bigger one... Weird cause the smaller one does his little shake for the big one all the time. Anyone have any ideas?

Showing some aggression. Couples fight you know lol

 

[Murica]

Showing some aggression. Couples fight you know lol

Haha ain't that the truth... Hopefully not too much or the fishy police will get called [emoji600]

 

[zchauvin]

lol I'm sure they will be fine. You moved a lot of stuff around, fish don't like that.

 

[Murica]

Already loving bare bottom. Fish don't seem to mind and the water is now crystal clear since sand isn't constantly being kicked up. I'm sure I'll love it even more when I check my parameters down the road

Latest tank shots. Still have residual sand in there which I'll take out in time.

 

[Murica]

Just an update here. Parameters are AWESOME. Only thing I noticed is detritus is a lot more noticeable. Absolutely zero algae issues and my fish don't seem phased at all. Very glad I did this

 

[Donovan Joannes]

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.