Bare Bottom or Sand - Looking for constructive reasons for both.

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simon_kruger

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Hi All,

I just took apart my 300 Gallon Reef (Reasons to be explained later, but it needed to be done). Right now I'm contemplating going Bare Bottom. I have over 200lbs of Fiji Pink in there now but I'm open to suggestion. What I am looking for is facts, pros and cons of each. Pls no opinions.

I know theres a few strong personalities around here with oposing views. Keep it clean :)

Your thoughts are greatly appreciated.
 
Pro's :
Easy clean up of detritus
No nutrient sink

Con's:
Looks aweful
you have to clean it often or it looks dirty.

If your filtration is good and you have no nitrates and low phosphates, there really is no reason to go barebottom...unless your going for the ultra light pastel color SPS.
 
Ares, honestly the "old Tank Syndrome" is my key point to all of this. I have a large system my sump is 600 gallons or so and its now got 2~3 inches of detritus on the bottom of it. At 4ft deep its impossible to clean regularly. The sump has been running for 4.5 years and in the last year all my SPS died off (didnt help that the dwarfs nailed them as well). This is my opportunitity to get it the way I want. I am altering the sump to incorporate 6 large filter socks to post-filter the water falling from the tank and skimmer entering the sump. I want crystal clear water this time, i always had water clarity issues. Going forward I dont expect to have the level of detritus like i have now. I have reduced my fish count to almost 30% of what i had. I took out 60 inches of fish yesterday. I am only going to go with Wrasses and Small Tangs and Blennies. I have about 1500lbs of LR so I am going to re-aquascape the tank.
 
I'll have about 17,000 Gallons of circulation as well in the main tank. I heard BB's need flow. The main tank is 300+ gallons. Is that enough.
 
Having had big systems with both (I had a 280 with sand) and have had my 450 BB up for over 3 years now here is what I would say.

BB:
Pluses:
1)Can get unbelievable flow without worrying about blowing sand around. Keeps detritus suspended and then skimmed out or filtered out. I never have had nitrate issues in mine.

2)No worries with old tank/nutrient sink

3)Chemistry is a bit easier to maintain I think because the sand doesn't sink or absorb what your trying to do.

Minuses:
1) Maintenance in general. You need to vacuum often. Honestly weekly if you want to keep it clean looking. If you don't care every couple months will work. Water changes are more important.

2) Sand provides a stabalizing factor. I've found that if I slack on my water changes I can definitly tell on my BB. It's not very foregiving with issues

All in all I would go BB again with an SPS tank. Anything else I would use sand.

Looks are in the eye of the beholder. Within a few months the BB is covered with corraline anyway and blends in perfectly fine. I actaully prefer the clean look.
 
I positioned my tunzes at the bottom blowing across the barebottom and it worked well. Of course there is always deadspots but you can control where there are and only have to vacuum those couple spots.
 
If you are still going to house wrasses, you will need to have sand.

You can vaccum your sandbed. If you're having to vac a BB anywayn you may as well have the benefits of a ssb.
 
I concur with Skriz on that.

I run both - bb in my coral tanks, some of my FO are BB and some have sand for sand sifters etc.

We vacuum our BB coral tanks a LOT and there's still detritus on the bottoms - there's a good pile in there now where the currents converge.

Shallow (3/4" to 1") sand is my personal preference on a display tank (ie my own tank), because I like creatures that like sand, and I prefer a more natural look.

I never got into the whole deep sand bed thing - and glad I didn't because of many problems that some people have encountered with that if it's not properly maintained.

For me, if I have to vacuum anyway - I'd prefer sand.

But you're right - there are many pros and cons to both ways of going.

Cheers,
Jenn
 
Simon,

I emptied my tank over the weekend. I took out my Seachem Meridian DSB and will be going with a SSB, possibly Seachem Pearl Beach (if I can find out what the grain size is!).

Vaccuming regularly is going to be a PITA for me, so a good cuc and sand sifters is the best option for me. I also like the look of sand vs. no sand.

Fwiw, with my dsb, my nitrates were zero, ph stable, etc. I never had any spikes or issues with water quality or clarity (clarity is due to ozone...when I run it).
 
I had BB in my 125 for almost two years befre I got the big tank running. Dead spots where detritus collect is inevitable, but you can take a maxijet attached to a scraper rod or something and blow it out every so often.

But honestly I love having sand now in the big tank, the tank looks so much more natural and I can enjoy so much more life that I was unable to sustain before.
 
EnderG60;352781 wrote:
If your filtration is good and you have no nitrates and low phosphates, there really is no reason to go barebottom...unless your going for the ultra light pastel color SPS.
Click to expand...

I find that not to be the case. I had some amazing deep rich colors in my tank when it was a full SPS garden. Those pastel colors have a lot to do with the husbandry. Simon, you've been in this hobby loooong enough to know whats best for you and how to take care of either of those systems. The main question you HAVE to ask yourself.....can I deal with looking at a tank with out sand. If you even cringe at the thought, then just put sand back in. I find it no different than a tank with sand. I try to do weekly water changes...but that was no different when I had sand. If I miss a week or 3, it's fine. Yes the main thing about BB tanks is flow and a rockin skimmer. The rest is up to husbandry.
 
Seriously, I spend a bit of time maintaining my "sand", which is actually very coarse. I personally cannot stand the sight of a bare bottom. Its like looking at a horrific tattoo on a hot chick (see my other thread).

FWIW, small tangs turn into big tangs very quickly!!
 
Thanks everyone, I appreciate your comments.

Jeremy, oh yeah I know. I took out 30 inches of tangs yesterday. Big fish = big pooh.

I think I have decided to go with a simple look. I want it to be very easy to maintain. I agree sand does look better but it's forever moving around. I even recessed my tank in my stand so I didn't get to see it. Well that didn't exactly work there's areas of no sand and areas with 6 inches. Even in a 8ft tank at 30 inches tall controlling sand is a pain. I can live without the creatures that needs sand.

Maybe a change is as good as a rest :)

Thanks again guys.
 
My sand doesnt move at all, even with all 6 Tunze full blast..... but I guess its because of the 48" depth. I think you will be happy with BB, and overtime if you not, then hell you can always add sand down the road...Your tank always looks great anyways!!! Pm sent
 
James S.;352935 wrote: I think you will be happy with BB, and overtime if you not, then hell you can always add sand down the road...Your tank always looks great anyways!!! Pm sent
Click to expand...


Yup.
 
Nevermind sand, how about you get a real skimmer..no more Mickey Mouse crap! ;)
 
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