Pros and Cons with Bare Bottom tanks

[ta_lewis]

I would like some input on this topic, is their a benifit to have sand or not, other than the look.

The reason why I ask is that i currently have a setup with sand but the sand keeps turning brown, I have a dart with a 4-way on my 90 gal system, all my levels are good I test with Elos test kits, feeds small amount everyday. The tank has been setup since June, but I put over hundred lb. of LR that came out of a tank that was setup for 7yrs.

[agsansoo]

Pros:
1. Less live rock is needed, more room for fish.

2. Easier to clean: you can blow a power head at the bottom and stir up the stuff and siphon it off or let the overflow pick it up.

3. You don’t have to worry about sand getting into the corals. I hated when fish or other things would drop or blow sand onto the corals. Making cloudy water.

[dendro982]

For me, the sand is not an option - just can't keep sand bed without fouling the tank.
Started with sand, tried DSB+patience, live bagged sand in a clean tank - nothing worked.

Bare bottom is controllable.

[str1988]

I am running without sand as well. After many tanks over the years with sand I decided to go BBottom .

I have about 100lbs of rock in a 65gallon tank and so far I like it. I did make a frame work for keeping the rock of the bottom of the tank so I could get some movement under the structure.

[fali]

You can get sand stirring animals like stars, snails, fish ect. I had Nassarius Snails which kept my sand clean. However my recently purchased yellow dottyback wiped them out. Now my sandbed is browning again. Thinking of getting rid of that dottyback.