Bare bottom?
- Thread starter weezywe12
- Start date
hogben
New member
Sand beds have lots of good pros:
Beneficial life, buffering, filtration.
You may also have a critter in mind that requires sand.
Don't forget looks!
I went from sand to bare for reasons:
Adding more flow does not stir up the sand.
Easier to keep very clean, but you have to do the cleaning!
I'm in an apartment and no sand bed means when I move its much easier to break down and setup the tank.
If the rocks are stable on the bottom of the tank (not on top of the sand) you could probably remove the sand bed. I have read occasions of removing a sand bed in small amounts over a loooooong period of time. Stirring up an old sand bed can be dangerous to inhabitants which is why they went slowly.
deviilsadvocate
New member
Its a personal choice.. IMO I try to make my tank as similar as possible to the fish's natural environment. And do fish have sand in the ocean? 
Reef_Dart21
New member
I prefer live sand because of the filtration lowering of nitrates and etc, if you do go with a bb however, I recommend placing egg crate on the bottom because my last tank got a hairline crack from having the lr placed on the glass.
nathan.hales
New member
all my tanks have been sand, but i would like to do a bb tank. for such reasons as listed above (easy to keep clean)
Pcrain
New member
sand.. BB is cool for the reasons listed above but I firmly believe you need the sand buffer zone so i would make sure i could have a 5gallon RDSB
so my vote is actually BB with 5gallon RDSB although that is not what i run you get the best of both worlds!!!! i would say dont go BB unless you get that RDSB
so my vote is actually BB with 5gallon RDSB although that is not what i run you get the best of both worlds!!!! i would say dont go BB unless you get that RDSB
Sohal Tang Tim
Member
4inch sand bottom and no less
4inch sand bottom and no less
Unless you have a bare minimum of 4 inch sandbed and preferrably 6inch sandbed you would be better off going bare bottom.....
Anything less then 4 inch sandbed will not give you the proper denitrification process and then the sand becomes only a trap for detritus of which it cannot
filter properly which can cause ongoing problems in your reef set up.....
Opinions will definitely vary on this subject but I have an article that explains the reasons to go 6 inch sand bed... I personally am very sorry that my tank is 8feet long and shallow...so shallow that I cannot go 6 inch sandbed without losing too much viewing area...I went 2 inch and have regretted it every since!!!
I had a 90 gallon bare bottom and it was extremely healthy system...I did not miss the sand much once the bottom is covered with coraline it looks very natural anyways....
Good luck,
Tim
4inch sand bottom and no less
Unless you have a bare minimum of 4 inch sandbed and preferrably 6inch sandbed you would be better off going bare bottom.....
Anything less then 4 inch sandbed will not give you the proper denitrification process and then the sand becomes only a trap for detritus of which it cannot
filter properly which can cause ongoing problems in your reef set up.....
Opinions will definitely vary on this subject but I have an article that explains the reasons to go 6 inch sand bed... I personally am very sorry that my tank is 8feet long and shallow...so shallow that I cannot go 6 inch sandbed without losing too much viewing area...I went 2 inch and have regretted it every since!!!
I had a 90 gallon bare bottom and it was extremely healthy system...I did not miss the sand much once the bottom is covered with coraline it looks very natural anyways....
Good luck,
Tim
TheGreekReefer
In Memoriam
BB all the way
Weezywe12,
When it comes to bottom media I have run:
1 Crushed coral over under-gravel filters that was SOP in the 1970’s
2 Bare bottom (I.E. classic Berlin) with a high capacity protein skimmer
3 Variations of the Jaubert Plenums
4 The DSBs advocated by Dr. Ron & Rob Toonen
5 The EcoSystem “Mud Bed” systems. (These featured macro algae filtration in addition to the “mud” substrate. These systems were adjunct to the main tank, as part of the sump.
I also experimented with combinations of the above, such as #2 & #5 and #4 & #5.
Based on the above, my next reef tank is going to be a “#2 & #5” combination. To me this is the best combination as it allows you to get the high flow rates in the main tank that will keep your SPS coral happy also the benefits of algae filtration and the fauna “breeding ground” that an EcoSystem style filter can provide.
Running a high efficiency protein skimmer & algae filtration can be an interesting balancing act as the protein skimmer can “starve out” your algae filter. This is highly influenced by your feeding regime. I.E. the amount of import that your system receives.
A picture of one of my past EcoSystem based systems is shown in figure 5 of this article: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-01/gt/index.php I made the sump/filter from a 55 gallon tank, that was housed in the stand of the main (180 gallon) tank. In this particular system, I did not use a skimmer. The amount of macro algae shown in the in this picture was harvested roughly 2 weeks. The “mud” can just be seen under the macro algae growth.
Regards,
Scott
When it comes to bottom media I have run:
1 Crushed coral over under-gravel filters that was SOP in the 1970’s
2 Bare bottom (I.E. classic Berlin) with a high capacity protein skimmer
3 Variations of the Jaubert Plenums
4 The DSBs advocated by Dr. Ron & Rob Toonen
5 The EcoSystem “Mud Bed” systems. (These featured macro algae filtration in addition to the “mud” substrate. These systems were adjunct to the main tank, as part of the sump.
I also experimented with combinations of the above, such as #2 & #5 and #4 & #5.
Based on the above, my next reef tank is going to be a “#2 & #5” combination. To me this is the best combination as it allows you to get the high flow rates in the main tank that will keep your SPS coral happy also the benefits of algae filtration and the fauna “breeding ground” that an EcoSystem style filter can provide.
Running a high efficiency protein skimmer & algae filtration can be an interesting balancing act as the protein skimmer can “starve out” your algae filter. This is highly influenced by your feeding regime. I.E. the amount of import that your system receives.
A picture of one of my past EcoSystem based systems is shown in figure 5 of this article: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-01/gt/index.php I made the sump/filter from a 55 gallon tank, that was housed in the stand of the main (180 gallon) tank. In this particular system, I did not use a skimmer. The amount of macro algae shown in the in this picture was harvested roughly 2 weeks. The “mud” can just be seen under the macro algae growth.
Regards,
Scott
smatter
Active member
Its a personal choice.. IMO I try to make my tank as similar as possible to the fish's natural environment. And do fish have sand in the ocean?
It really depends on which part of the sea you are trying to replicate. The fore reef and reef flat don't have much, if any sand. A lagoon or patch reef environment would be the most natural choice for sand.
Bluetangclan
New member
I have had both. Currently my reef tank is BB with a white plastic cutting board on the bottom. I would hit myself 2 years ago for saying this but for a reef BB is the way to go. Mine now has entire zoo colonies spreading across it, all kinds of polyps and coraline algae. I think it takes longer to become a mature system as there is no sand bed. This is just an observation but it took almost 8 months for my SPS to show growth as opposed to dieing, plus for coraline to kick in. So eight months was my equalization point when things started working well.
Sandbeds have their perks. Critters and such. I am in the process of building a 90 gallon seagrass bed with a 4-5" sandbed, but it has a purpose obviously. You also miss out on cool things like leopard wrasse and pistol shrimp if you dont go with a sandbed. I have had sandbeds for years in my other tanks with no real issues, in fact my old tank had a 6 year old sandbed with no nitrate problems.
To sum up, unless you have a purpose for the sand bed, I recommend BB. Cleaning is sooo much easier. Stuff will colonize across it, and if you use I think its called starboard, you wont have the annoying reflective flat glass look.
Sandbeds have their perks. Critters and such. I am in the process of building a 90 gallon seagrass bed with a 4-5" sandbed, but it has a purpose obviously. You also miss out on cool things like leopard wrasse and pistol shrimp if you dont go with a sandbed. I have had sandbeds for years in my other tanks with no real issues, in fact my old tank had a 6 year old sandbed with no nitrate problems.
To sum up, unless you have a purpose for the sand bed, I recommend BB. Cleaning is sooo much easier. Stuff will colonize across it, and if you use I think its called starboard, you wont have the annoying reflective flat glass look.
Bluetangclan
New member
Any aragonite sand works best. I have used silicate sand in the past with no problems but it looks yellowish but super cheap. All the sand that i have collected in the past also was silicate as there werent any reefs nearby but I got great fauna in it. All kinds of worms and stuff. Size doesnt matter 
(thats what she said..) Aragonite sand is fairly expensive by the bag unless you are one of the lucky few with access to Southdowns sand from Home Depot(if its still out there).
(thats what she said..) Aragonite sand is fairly expensive by the bag unless you are one of the lucky few with access to Southdowns sand from Home Depot(if its still out there).
