To go bare bottom or not

dedragon · Apr 22, 2022

About to transfer tanks and wanted to see what peoples opinions were now on bare bottom vs sand. Seems its been awhile since i have seen a thread. People with years of great bare bottom success let me know!
My other option i was considering is using live rock rubble either tlf calcium reactor media (old stuff if i can find) or crushing up extra pukani rock i have to create a very coarse substrate, any thoughts?

dedragon · Apr 22, 2022

tank will be an innovative marine ext 50 lagoon, on the way now

CoralB · Apr 22, 2022

I personally believe in sand bottom as it helps keep the parameters stabilized and neat looking and I like the CUC and sand sifting gobies

dedragon · Apr 22, 2022

I never know if it actually helps that much as i have a lot of pukani live rock (very porous) and marinepure blocks in the sump

Jeffcb · Apr 22, 2022

I like the way sand looks. Sand give a lot of life a place to hide. Snails, stars , worms ect.

With the right flow across the bottom you could defiantly keep it clean.
Once coralline grows on the bottom it looks good.

What do you like best? is what's going to happen.

dedragon · Apr 23, 2022

anyone do a coarse rubble bottom instead of sand?

polyppal · Apr 23, 2022

In my current tank I compromised with having a thin coarse sand bed, only about an inch or so. And it’s larger argonite, not the tiny sand. Seems to be working well, along with the nassarius snails it’s not contributing much to nutrients

Spare time · Apr 23, 2022

All you need is just a tiny layer of sand. You won't get any issues with a thin sand bed.

Falc! · Apr 23, 2022

DO BOTH! I was on same boat for a while and i wanted to keep certain wrasse....so i did my roxk work and filled with sand, then i put 2 big gyres on back wall om full blast....now front halve is bare and back halve is sand....looks awesome especially since bare area is starting to get coraline. Very unique and the caves/dunes u get in mid section are amazing. The transition between bare with rock amd sand looks "natural" plus u can turn up flow in front for sps and the encrusters on front look great too

Miami Reef · Apr 23, 2022

I don’t think I’ll have another tank with sand again.

If you like super high flow: go bare bottom.

thatmanMIKEson · Apr 23, 2022

dedragon said:
About to transfer tanks and wanted to see what peoples opinions were now on bare bottom vs sand. Seems its been awhile since i have seen a thread. People with years of great bare bottom success let me know!
My other option i was considering is using live rock rubble either tlf calcium reactor media (old stuff if i can find) or crushing up extra pukani rock i have to create a very coarse substrate, any thoughts?

Im all for bare bottom! If you normally have high p04no3 it helps keep them low going bare bottom, I love seeing under every rock and the easy cleaning.

monkeyCmonkeyDo · Apr 23, 2022

I had a large 299g tank and it had half sand and half bb lol.
I'm a bb or die person though. Lol.
Sand does buffer the water for clarity imo and cc was used very frequently with the reverse under gravel filters of the past.
D

monkeyCmonkeyDo · Apr 23, 2022

Really it depends on the creatures u want to keep. If u can live without the creatures that need sand its a no Brainer
D

polyppal · Apr 23, 2022

Miami Reef said:
I don’t think I’ll have another tank with sand again.

If you like super high flow: go bare bottom.

That’s a good point, if this is an SPS system the sand prob ain’t worth it

gbroadbridge · Apr 23, 2022

dedragon said:
About to transfer tanks and wanted to see what peoples opinions were now on bare bottom vs sand. Seems its been awhile since i have seen a thread. People with years of great bare bottom success let me know!
My other option i was considering is using live rock rubble either tlf calcium reactor media (old stuff if i can find) or crushing up extra pukani rock i have to create a very coarse substrate, any thoughts?

It's really matter of personal opinion, but if unsure, do BB as it is much easier to add washed substrate later, than to take it out and lose half your biofilter while stirring up heaps of dirt.

dedragon · Apr 23, 2022

think im leaning towards barebottom for now as i really dont keep anything that needs the sandbed and makes placing frags easier with tiles, thank you everybody for the opinions!

thatmanMIKEson · Apr 24, 2022

dedragon said:
think im leaning towards barebottom for now as i really dont keep anything that needs the sandbed and makes placing frags easier with tiles, thank you everybody for the opinions!

Good idea ! I love B.B tanks, are you going glass bottom ?

My input: I've had glass bottoms before that was how I first ran bare bottom tanks, but the last two tanks I currently have running I put an ABS sheet over the bottom, siliconed in place. The coralline algae takes off, it covers the ABS befor it even starts on the glass walls, I believe it speeds up the process, and it protects the glass.

Jon's Reef · Apr 24, 2022

Sand provides a large amount of fill light due to reflection.

If you are using live rock and a few media blocks in the sump, should be fine. Very hard to establish proper biological filtration with dry rock and no sand.

thatmanMIKEson · Apr 24, 2022

Benefits of bare bottom VS sand, those pesky fish that like to hide and your wondering if they are dead, you can see under every rock and usually can spot them.