Sand bed or Barebottom?

[mdisalvo55]

What are the pros and cons of each? I'm setting up a 20 gallon and would like to know which to go with...let me know what you prefer and why.

[R33f3r]

Do a search because everyon will tell you otherwise. IMO, I would go bb, but you have to some research on it. Lots of threads here.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=888200&highlight=bb+vs+dsb

[chrisstie]

I'd say it depends on what kind of tank you're setting up. Is it going to have inverts and corals too? or just fish only?

My personal opinion is that if you're not going to be fish only, than go for the sandbed. The pros are you will replicate a natural environment that has bacteria and critters to break up detritus and keep your water levels very stable as opposed to no sand bed ... aesthetically i personally find it more pleasing but thats just me.

The cons? Well you want to treat your sand bed with care. You don't want to have a critter or two or even yourself to be in a position to go mucking about in the sand bed. 20 gallons is kind of small so if a trace of something bad was put in the tank or released from the sandbed, it may affect life inside worse than say, the same amount of bad element in a 100gal tank..

Sand beds - or even gravel since I see you have freshwater experience- shouldn't really be messed with because they do trap in sediment and decaying stuff that turns into harmful chemicals when not properly let to sit and continue their crazy chemical reactions to break down into something inert.


From what I've reado n here, only a small population really have explosively bad sand beds.. I think with caution if you go that route it is not too big of a thing to worry about.

But thats just me- others are probably dead set for bare bottoms- more power to them :)