Bare bottom or sand bed?

[Reefinny]

So I am in the process of upgrading my tank to a DSA225 pro. I was leaning to trying a bare bottom tank. I hear there are good points and bad points to both.

I'd love to hear from the bare bottom group about the pros and cons and if you were bare bottom and went sand bed and why.

Thanks!

[Drewl117]

I am upgrading to a 210 and was thinking of going bare bottom as well. I'm still not sure what to do since I do like the look of the sand but I want a high flow tank and I don't want any sand storms.
Tagging along

[toothybugs]

I recently sucked all the sand (incrementally) out of my 40B at home and set up my 15 at work to be BB from the start.

Chemistry at home has improved virtually overnight and the BB at work is so easy to keep clean. My 75 that is in process of being built is going to be BB as well since I'm taking the plunge in to SPS and am finding I really like that clean, sleek look of a black-bottom BB. Plus I figure if I'm going to rip my GSP off the rocks and put it on the glass, a flowing bottom of GSP could be way cooler to watch than sand.

Give it a shot, you can always add sand if things aren't going how you want them to.

[jrp1588]

I go bare bottom out of necessity. Despite my best efforts, I can't keep a sandbed clean. This usually results in cyano or dino after a year or so. Sand is also very limiting to how much flow you can put in your tank. I'm trying to get zoas to start growing on the glass. So far I haven't had much luck getting the frags to stick though.

[Hentz]

This topic is all over with pros and cons from everywhere.

I myself have always been a fan of sand. It looks great. I won't say it looks "natural", due to the fact that if you look at the reefs in the ocean, you don't see sand. You see huge mountains of rock, with coral. :P

While sand looks great, I removed it all at once from my old 75 SPS Dominant tank. I had a thin layer so it didn't effect anything. Though I was able to up my flow quite a bit and feed more without effecting my parameters. I was able to keep the tank spotless. At this point I actually had an outbreak of coraline.. Yes, an outbreak. I had to clean it off weekly lol. My tank was thriving, corals wouldn't stop growing. I was running Reefbreeder LEDs. I could only imagine what I would have experienced running T5's like I am now :D

All in all, barebottom is great. Massive flow, gives it a deep color in the tank, thus allowing corals to 'pop' more.

Though sand also looks incredible.

I say, if you do sand, do a thin layer. It won't be much of an issue to water parameters, if at all. Though the only downfall would be flow, as it would have to be turned down a bit.

When it comes down to it, either way you will be successful.

Maybe go BB and if you don't like it, add sand later? That's always an option as well.

[Shawn O]

Super thin layer of epoxy on the bottom, sprinkle a thin layer of sand on the wet epoxy, vacuum up any loose sand once epoxy has cured.

Get creative, add some swirls or high spots to make it less uniform looking.

[jrp1588]

Super thin layer of epoxy on the bottom, sprinkle a thin layer of sand on the wet epoxy, vacuum up any loose sand once epoxy has cured.

Get creative, add some swirls or high spots to make it less uniform looking.

I've considered that option. Doesn't it just get covered in coraline eventually anyway?

[toothybugs]

I did that - twice - setting up my desktop 15. Between the epoxy absorbing a little water and swelling, as well as creep along the glass, water undercut the epoxy and it lifted. Twice.

[FishN00b83]

I love the look of sand. I have 120lbs in a 72x24 180g. It's real deep in some parts but shallow in others. I just vacuum the hell out of it every week.

With my 125 I noticed once the sand got super thin, it was just a cyano mess. My plan with this tank is to keep it at least 1.5 inches and not let it get to low. A barebottom tank just doesnt do it for me, the sand is worth the effort

[jrp1588]

I love the look of sand. I have 120lbs in a 72x24 180g. It's real deep in some parts but shallow in others. I just vacuum the hell out of it every week.

With my 125 I noticed once the sand got super thin, it was just a cyano mess. My plan with this tank is to keep it at least 1.5 inches and not let it get to low. A barebottom tank just doesnt do it for me, the sand is worth the effort

Maybe I've always used too small of a grain on my sand. I've never had sand that could be vacuumed. If I tried, a large portion of it would get sucked out along with the detritus.

[FishN00b83]

I use a fine grain. You need to hold the end not in the water and put your thumb over it. Fill up the main tube about half way then pump your thumb on the other end to get the crap out. It takes some time to get it down but it's the only way to keep it clean.

[Reefinny]

All good points, right now in my 100 I have sand and in my frag tank I have bare bottom. I like both. As far as epoxy and sand I am not going that route to not like it and mess up the tank.

[Drewl117]

Super thin layer of epoxy on the bottom, sprinkle a thin layer of sand on the wet epoxy, vacuum up any loose sand once epoxy has cured.

Get creative, add some swirls or high spots to make it less uniform looking.

I always worry about the epoxy leaching something over time and wrecking the whole system

[Dkuhlmann]

I go bare bottom out of necessity. Despite my best efforts, I can't keep a sandbed clean. This usually results in cyano or dino after a year or so. Sand is also very limiting to how much flow you can put in your tank. I'm trying to get zoas to start growing on the glass. So far I haven't had much luck getting the frags to stick though.

That's what super glue gel is for

[jrp1588]

That's what super glue gel is for

Doesn't do the job for me. It'll stick for about a week and then pop loose.

[Dkuhlmann]

That's strange, I've got stuff that has been glued with it for months. Most of my frags as well as some mushrooms.

What about try one of the epoxy's that is aquarium safe?

[tomaquar]

I guess my 2 cents is that everything you try will have a problem of some sort. Nature of the beast :)

That said I cut travertine tiles to fit the bottom of my bare bottom tank. It has a nice appearance.

I also epoxied little squares of travertine to the bottom of each of the rocks on the floor so there is a 1/2 inch gap for flow through.

My zoas always grew better when I had a DSB and I had lots more stray critters showing up out of nowhere so there is some advantage to DSB. Plus you cant have any fish that require sand so that is a loss. All in all however this is the cleanest, lowest maintenance tank Ive every had

[DesertReefT4r]

I have gone back and forth on thus a few ti es with my old tanks. BB i could never get the flow right and had detritus build up in areas in the bottom

[Bent]

I think it's a matter of what you want to keep. Sand critters need sand. Otherwise I wouldn't have one.

[DiscusHeckel]

I have had sand bed, BB and then sand bed again. I have made up my mind and will always have sand bed because it looks natural. I have three orange-lipped conches, sand sifting star fish and five ophiodema sp. They keep my sand bed immaculately clean.

[seamonster124]

Sand bed for me. Sand dwellers are my favorite fish

[Dr.T]

I started with a DSB and then switched to a BB when I moved. IMO you should go with what looks good to you. The bare bottom doesn't look as jarring as you would expect but I have a very high lip around the bottom of my tank (as I originally built the stand to hide the DSB. Honestly, the combo makes it look slightly more "natural" as you don't even notice the bottom at first.