Im doing some research on what to use on the bottom of a tank. I have read all the pros and cons of Deep Sand Beds, and Bare Bottom tanks. Deep sand gives bacteria a place to live to keep water clean. bare Bottoms allow no place for debris to settle and rot. Wouldn't an undergravel filter with power heads on the stand tubes with crushed coral substrate offer a bit of both worlds. As long as you pick up large bio mass that wont filter through the cc and filter it should keep everything in suspension, give more flow to the tank and allow the tank to benefit from the extra place for beneficial bacteria. I know I am currently blowing the debris out of my sand bed once a week in my nano. Now looking at build a 72 gallon, I will need one huge turkey baster and a lot of time to keep it clean!
BB, UGF with CC, or DSB
- Thread starter biglurr54
- Start date
Im not sure but I would think you would need some very large powerheads to accomplish this and not have detritus build up underneath the UGF. My feeling is that this would work as a detritus trap which is the opposite of what you want. And then once its setup and running you would have no way to tell if its working or not (unless you could look up from underneath the tank). But its an interesting theory and you never learn if you dont think outside the box.
Both BB and DSB have their pros and cons. Their really is no "right" or "wrong" between these two, imo. I would forgo the CC + UGF though as the live rock will act as your filtration.
You should also comprise a list of fish you want to keep, that may be your deciding factor between a DSB vs BB as some types of fish need a sandbed to be kept healthy (or at least a container of sand).
You should also comprise a list of fish you want to keep, that may be your deciding factor between a DSB vs BB as some types of fish need a sandbed to be kept healthy (or at least a container of sand).
Biglurr54, I need to appologize. As Im not an expert in filtration methods of yesteryears, I should not have added my opinion on this matter. You didnt mention if you were intending on running that as normal UGF or reverse flow UGF and I appologize to you and Paul as I wasnt even thinking about a reverse flow UGF, which I guess would be the way to go if you choose to go that route. I know many years ago UGF were a very common source of biological filtration on saltwater tanks. Then came along trickle filters and people moved away from the UGF. Then came along the popularity and availability of quality Live Rock and people moved away from trickle filters. So as Dunc101 said, as long as you have enough quality live rock, you really neednt worry. There are certainly many options all of which will do the job. Its more of a matter of personal choice and the look you are going for. This is a very quickly evolving hobby and its exciting to see the ways things change and improve. Changes in reef keeping over the years are allowing people to keep increasingly more delicate and demanding types of coral, fish iverts etc. and have some amazing looking tanks.
