Has any one ever removed all of the sand out of their fishtank and made it a bare bottom.Reason is that my fish especially sand sifting goby amongst others has moved all the sand out from underneath all my live rock anyways making 0 in back and 4inches in front of tank,creating tons of wast and debris all over my rocks and corals .It's a job cleaning all that stuff up every other day.I really regret getting that white castle sand(never again) .My clowns burrow in it and create a cloud that covers everything .Im thinking about transfering all sand into my fuge .Any feedback ,or any experience ?
bare bottom tanks
- Thread starter CeasarIM
- Start date
I only have bare bottom tanks. My 460 I am growing GSP to cover the bottom back to the rocks. My 200 bowfront I have two large power heads on the bottom behind the rocks to keep the lower water moving and two smaller power head lower in the front. If I had sand they would be blowing it all over. Thats my thoughts.
Wayne
Wayne
Barebottom all the way... only way I would go. setup my tank with sand at the begining and about 6 years in things started to go down hill as the sand bed had filled up. I now have barebottom and keep a ton of flow going. The bottom gets covered with Coraline algae and looks pretty natural after awhile. You don't even notice it when looking. Much cleaner looking imho. Only drawback is not able to keep certain critters and sand dwelling fish.
DEERE G
Passing Through
My tank is bare bottom. I have Maxi-Mod 1200 pointing straight down in the back between the overflows. It blows alot of stuff forward. My rocks are loosely stacked on the bottom to allow for flow on the bottom. I siphon the little pile of detritus that gathers in the front every couple days. I also have 3 other powerheads circulating in there also.
I get so much crap floating all over since my fish stir stuff up that it covers most of my live rick to the point where its all dirt covered looking like you know what .Besides its been with that stupid sand castle sand for about 6-7 yrs .I had regular larger sand for many yrs ,but all that talk about white castle had me thinking that it would be more natural.It was for about 2-3 yrs maybe more ,than nothing but head aches,especially in a 220gal.I think it does not let fish waste penetrate the surface so it keeps all the crap on top than the fish and the current move it onto the rock and the corals.My next big project is getting rid of about a garbage can worth of live sand .
slapshot16
New member
I removed my crushed coral by siphoning it out. I did it in quarters over about 4-6 weeks. I did it during water changes. No issues.
serpentman
part time superhero
:uzi: Barebottom
Sorry, just like my sand too much.
Like others mentioned, you can remove, just be sure to remove slowly to avoid stirring up too many nasties at once.
Sorry, just like my sand too much.
Like others mentioned, you can remove, just be sure to remove slowly to avoid stirring up too many nasties at once.
serpentman
part time superhero
If you still decide to sell them, I may be interested in the coris.
Big E
Premium Member
Hi Erik,
Some Thalassoma wrasses sleep in the sand but they don't need it to survive. They do fine without it.
I know some of the timid Halichoeres wrasses need sand, but I'm not sure it's needed for survival for all fish in this genus.
I've never owned a yellow wrasse so I'll defer, but I'd do a bit more research before I dumped the fish if I wanted to keep it.
Some Thalassoma wrasses sleep in the sand but they don't need it to survive. They do fine without it.
I know some of the timid Halichoeres wrasses need sand, but I'm not sure it's needed for survival for all fish in this genus.
I've never owned a yellow wrasse so I'll defer, but I'd do a bit more research before I dumped the fish if I wanted to keep it.
Big E
Premium Member
Just found this thread...........
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1563883&highlight=yellow+coris+wrasse
The one guy has housed 3 for eight months without sand
You could also put a small tub of sand behind the rocks. He wouldn't need much.
Here's another..........been in his frag tank for months with no sand
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1557708&highlight=yellow+coris+wrasse
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1563883&highlight=yellow+coris+wrasse
The one guy has housed 3 for eight months without sand
You could also put a small tub of sand behind the rocks. He wouldn't need much.
Here's another..........been in his frag tank for months with no sand
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1557708&highlight=yellow+coris+wrasse
Last edited:
Kreeger1
KING LEAR
I've seen the small sand tub Idea and thought that was cool and did see that the fish did sleep in the sand. I just no when I see a fish in the store going in and out of the sand I don't want to take that away from it, We're already taking them from there natural environment why not try to keep it as close as possible. If that's even possible 
IMO if you want to keep wrasses that play in sand or sleep in sand have sand for them. There's a million other choice for Bare bottom tanks. You've got to figure even if they don't have to have it for survival its got to be stressful not to have it???
My take on that.
IMO if you want to keep wrasses that play in sand or sleep in sand have sand for them. There's a million other choice for Bare bottom tanks. You've got to figure even if they don't have to have it for survival its got to be stressful not to have it???
My take on that.
BrunstuckyJoe
Active member
True, we are trying to recreate the ecosystem where they have come from......if we don't want to give them what they have been taken from...it defeats the purpose of saving the reefs to some extent.
the budman
New member
the only bare bottoms should be.... oops never mind, i like sand and agrre with those that think it is best for all the creatures we keep
