BareBottom, Whos got em:)

kdblove_99

kdblove_99

New member
When i have my 60 cube done i'm really considering barebottom.


Those that have switched to BB what do you think?

I love the thought of just having mega flow and not worrying about sand going everywhere.

My 180 i had alot of sand, hated it, This tanik now I added just enough to barely cover the bottom, Like the look better than the deep but still find it annoying.
 
When I redo my 120G, I am going bare bottom. With my two Tunzes, I had sand storms or sand mountains. :D Also - I figured it would be easier to keep "cleaner" water.
 
i went bare bottom when i had my sps tank. i hated it at first but got used to it. when the coraline algae starts to grow on it it looks great. now i have a zoa only tank and it is bare bottom. i will not go back to a sand bed in my tanks.
 
I have a glass tank, so I wall be using "Starboard." Starboard is a name brand that is also UV stable. From what I can gather, it could be pretty expensive. I am going to use high density polyethylene (HDPE) sheets. I will be ordering from Unite States Plastic Corp.

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/pr...e=USPlastic&category_name=72&product_id=10369

If I buy it from USP, will TAPS cut it for me? Anyone have a table saw with an acrylic blade that I can use to cut my board? I will be beveling the edge with a router.

BTW - are you going to just lay your rock directly on top of the starboard or are you going to create a stand for your rock? I was thinking of elevating my rock slightly off the starboard so that I can blow detritus off of the bottom. It should also improve flow.
 
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thanks! now more questions; what thickness? not planning on doing this, but have always been interested.
 
My tank is bare bottom. You soon get enough algae and stuff there that it's fine-not as pretty as sand but so much easier to keep clean.

I set my rocks right on the acrylic and since rocks are so uneven they only touch the acrylic at a few points of contact. Water can find its way around the rocks pretty well.

One thing I did that I really like is I used a masonary drill to put 1/2" holes through some rocks and then piled them onto pillars made of 1/2" acrylic rod cemented to an acrylic 5" x 5" base. You can make these pillars 15" tall that are quite stable, and then lean other rocks against these, make bridges, caves, etc. The openness of the reef looks nice and offers good flow. The top rock's hole gets covered by a small rock or something.

I have styrofoam under the tank and sometimes you can see little bits of the white, so maybe some colored sheet on top of that would be best.
 
warren, i don't believe you one bit ;). c'mon man, post some pics of what you are describing :D. that sounds sweet.
 
I'm very tempted to go with a faux sand bed. Don't really want starboard or glass bottom, but a faux sand bed will still allow the high flow with the benefit of looking like a sand bottom.

Here is my question going BB or faux sand bed: What is the minimum flow recommended for a BB?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11582574#post11582574 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tfp
warren, i don't believe you one bit ;). c'mon man, post some pics of what you are describing :D. that sounds sweet.
Click to expand...

My wife just got a Nikon D80 so I really should do some tank pic's. I'm not sure all the caves and stuff would show well in a pic. I'll try.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11582602#post11582602 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bored4long
Here is my question going BB or faux sand bed: What is the minimum flow recommended for a BB?
Click to expand...

Flow for what? I think it is okay to let stuff settle on the bottom. I don't have any mechanical filtration other than skimming so all that stuff would just keep flying around.
 
Check out this thread . Flyyguy posted how he was able to lift his rock off the bottom. I like the drill the hole in the starboard and put in acrylic plugs. The only problem is that I don't know how I am going to aquascape my rocks.

But the stand made out of acrylic rod and strips seems pretty easy too. I just need to find access to a table saw with an acrylic blade.

Minh
 
I bought a sheet of Starboard marine grade UV stabilized from Interstate Plastics. They didn't have it in stock here in Sacramento but they had a sheet transferred from the bay area and it didn't cost anymore then it would have there. I'm going BB on my 150 and 75.
 
My tank has been BB over a year now, here is a picture about the time I took out the sand and added some more rock. The two pieces on the left in the front leaning against each other, and the pillar on the right are pinned with acrylic rod. I have a few others that I did as well to see how it worked for myself, so I didn't get too wild really.
right107.jpg

Here are a bunch of BB and Starboard threads from the SPS site and should answer all the questions you may have.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=650985&highlight=Starboard

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1265288&highlight=Starboard

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1254754&highlight=Starboard

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1124779&highlight=Starboard

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=916435&highlight=Starboard

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1082159&highlight=Starboard
 
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