Considering a switch to barebottom, looking for advocates and detractors

[cody6766]

I'm considering pulling the sand out of my 30g while it's in its move phase. I have about an inch or so covering the bottom, maybe a bit less, so it's mostly there for looks. I've noticed that I have trouble getting my flow pattern dialed in so detritus is swept to the overflow. Instead, it collects near rocks and corners and other hard to reach places.

I have a mixed reef and plan on keeping it that way. I don't have a wrasse or any critter than needs a sandbed for sleep/living.

If you've had a bare bottom tank I'd like to hear your story. Are/were you happy with it? If you switched back to a sand bottom, why did you do it? It seems to be fine for nutrient control, but I'm concerned about aesthetics. I"m going to search RC for pics and the like, but I'd like to get the local take.

 

[happysak]

No sand in 50gal, also going to pull sand out from sps tank. Much cleaner this way

 

[BrianOKC]

Depends what your goals and live stock choices are. Good and bad about both IMO.

 

[happysak]

Depends what your goals and live stock choices are. Good and bad about both IMO.

That's true. In my case, good overcome bad and sand was siphoned out. It wasn't missed.

 

[lauremf2002]

I dont have sand in my 120 but I dont like the bare bottom. I still get detritus on the bottom and when it gets disturbed it causes a snow storm. There are too many places I cant get to to siphon it off and I cant get the flow to because of how large an area it is and the rocks. It would work well for a smaller tank though

 

[Actnatural]

I am in the process of finalizing my conversion and am loving it (sucking up leftover detritus stubborn sand) already seen a drop in cyano...actually none anymore that i can see
- detritus on the bottom is the purpose of being barebottom if its right there in your face you cant miss it with the siphon
- siphoning sand is almost impossible compared to siphoning the gravel of a freshwater tank
- if i ever go back to a substrate it will be crushed coral because it will allow me to siphon and be effective
+ the benefits of being able to clean under your live rock

if you do decide to go barebottom I have found a little trick I'm sure to continue using: siphon out the detritus with your gravel vac thingy into a 5 gallon bucket let the detritus settle and pour the water back into the tank making sure to stop when the poopoo starts to move back into the tank - really will save you from having to make up new saltwater to just siphon out detritus. A few photos of my conversion - I converted with the fish still in there with no problems.

 

[CUZ]

if you do decide to go barebottom I have found a little trick I'm sure to continue using: siphon out the detritus with your gravel vac thingy into a 5 gallon bucket let the detritus settle and pour the water back into the tank making sure to stop when the poopoo starts to move back into the tank - really will save you from having to make up new saltwater to just siphon out detritus. A few photos of my conversion - I converted with the fish still in there with no problems.

I used to just put the other end of the hose into my filter sock in the sump instead of a bucket. Caused the sock to plug up but i usually did it when they were due for a change anyhow.
I no longer use filter socks in my sump but bought a small one just for cleaning the dt.

 

[happysak]

I am in the process of finalizing my conversion and am loving it (sucking up leftover detritus stubborn sand) already seen a drop in cyano...actually none anymore that i can see
- detritus on the bottom is the purpose of being barebottom if its right there in your face you cant miss it with the siphon
- siphoning sand is almost impossible compared to siphoning the gravel of a freshwater tank
- if i ever go back to a substrate it will be crushed coral because it will allow me to siphon and be effective
+ the benefits of being able to clean under your live rock

Good points

I used to just put the other end of the hose into my filter sock in the sump instead of a bucket. Caused the sock to plug up but i usually did it when they were due for a change anyhow.
I no longer use filter socks in my sump but bought a small one just for cleaning the dt.

Great idea

 

[cody6766]

That was going to be my cleaning plan. I do that with sand in the tank actually. It's great for saving time and effort. I think I'm going to give this a shot. I think it will lessen the danger of a mini-cycle during my next move in a month or so. We found a house sooner than expected, so the stay over at my mom's place will be around a month. Once we close, we'll be heading to OUR house.

So, when converting to BB, is it better to take the sand out all at once or a chunk at a time? I would think that it would be better to remove it over 2 or so weeks so the tank doesn't undergo any rapid changes. On the other hand, my bed is really shallow, so I doubt it does much other than hide a few snails and trap poo.

 

[Actnatural]

i removed mine over about a week and a half mainly because or the enormous amount of sand i had to remove - 2 inch sandbed from a 125 isnt a small amount I would remove sand till i felt the water was too cloudy give a few hours rest time and scoop some more out never exceeding twice a day to give the fish a chance to deal with the change

 

[blakers82]

The main reasons I haven't converted (yet) would be that I have a couple of diving wrasses and I also have eggcrate underneath my rock formations. That white crate would be ugly. Do you have a FTS, Roman? Any interesting cleaning regimens that you perform??

 

[cjilge]

Hey Blakers82, I might relieve you of your wrasses! lol What do you have? I like the BB idea but I dont like the look personally. I do think the idea of growing some gsp or something onthe bottom would look cool.

Chris

 

[chaderic26]

I had an idea of buying small black tiles and tiling the bottom with them, and then letting zoa's grow over them. This way you could remove small tiles as you wanted to frag and replace them with fresh tiles, or just let them grow in to a crazy zoa garden and just be able to pull all the zoa's out if you ever change tanks or upgrade.

:strooper:CHAD

 

[cody6766]

I think you're on to something there. I may get some white travertine tiles, or something similar, and lay them end to end. I also prefer the look of a sandy bottom, but I also like the idea of a free frag rack that cuts back on detritus buildup. I bet it would free up some grazing property for my lawnmower blenny too.

 

[chaderic26]

What would be fricken awesome, is if you could get some that had a sandy texture too.

 

[cody6766]

That's not difficult. A little fiberglass resin painted on the top will solve that. Sand could be sprinkled on like glitter on elmers in arts and crafts. It would still get covered in coralline, but it would probably still look pretty good.

Step 1, paint on resin
Step 2, cover with sand
Step 3, let dry and dust off excess sand
Step 4, ????
Step 5, profit!

 

[blakers82]

That's not difficult. A little fiberglass resin painted on the top will solve that. Sand could be sprinkled on like glitter on elmers in arts and crafts. It would still get covered in coralline, but it would probably still look pretty good.

Step 1, paint on resin
Step 2, cover with sand
Step 3, let dry and dust off excess sand
Step 4, ????
Step 5, profit!

Time to go to work
Work all day
We like underpants, Hey!

 

[blakers82]

Interesting idea. So would you tile the entire floor of the tank? How would that work with rock? You'd also need to make plenty of spares to fill in the frags that we taken out.

 

[chaderic26]

I would do the whole bottom on a new tank setup. This would distribute the weight of the rock more evenly on the bottom panel of glass also.

 

[*reefermadness*]

I like the idea! But you may want to use ceramic or porcelain (sp) tiles instead of the travertine. I know that natural stone has some residual elements that may leach into the tank if it is not completely sealed. Just my 2 cents