jimidalock
New member
I just ordered on of marinelands new deep dimension 200 gal. tanks 48x36x27. The question is for people with large tanks over 5 years old. Bare bottom or substrate? This is my quandary!!
Subsrate Question?
- Thread starter jimidalock
- Start date
savethereef
SCRK
True that to many mixed answers. With sand it looks natural. With BB its much cleaner but then again the Natural Ocean is not BB hehehe.
Also some livestock require sand others do not.
Also some livestock require sand others do not.
Chihuahua6
Premium Member
This question is asked over and over and it doesn't matter what size tank you have. DSB, SSB or bare bottom all have their advantages and disadvantages. If you search DSB bare bottom you will find many threads to read through.
If you're interested in knowing what I did, I decided to do a shallow sand bed with course sand in my 280. It's basically gravel size. I tried it in my 29 gallon because it had 100 GPH going through it at the time and fine sand would blow around. I saw some cheap course substrate at Petco for $.90 per lb in 10 lb bags. It has oblong pieces that are smooth and just a few very tiny shells mixed in. I have only 1/2" to cover the bottom and I vacuum it with water changes. I really like the look of it, better than I expected. I was originally going to do a DSB in my 280 but the sand was going to cost over $400! I'm too cheap to spend that especially since the tank was used and didn't even cost that much. I like the look of the course sand so much that I decided to use it in my 280. I will only need 50 - 60 lbs to do 1/2" which will cost $45 - $54 only. I will also have less worry about catching sand in the magnet and scratching the acrylic. I am very careful anyway but this makes it a bit easier IMO.
At one time I had a SSB of fine sand in a smaller tank and I would never do it again. It just gets filled with gunk and if it's not functioning like a DSB or being vacuumed like you can do with course sand it's just a waste trap. That's just my opinion though as many others use a SSB and have beautiful tanks.
BTW how much was your tank? Do you know how much the 300 gallon costs? Of course it depends on the retailer but I'm trying to get a ballpark price. People never seem to want to answer the question on what these new tanks cost and I don't want to call a store and waste their time since I wouldn't be buying one for about a year.
If you're interested in knowing what I did, I decided to do a shallow sand bed with course sand in my 280. It's basically gravel size. I tried it in my 29 gallon because it had 100 GPH going through it at the time and fine sand would blow around. I saw some cheap course substrate at Petco for $.90 per lb in 10 lb bags. It has oblong pieces that are smooth and just a few very tiny shells mixed in. I have only 1/2" to cover the bottom and I vacuum it with water changes. I really like the look of it, better than I expected. I was originally going to do a DSB in my 280 but the sand was going to cost over $400! I'm too cheap to spend that especially since the tank was used and didn't even cost that much. I like the look of the course sand so much that I decided to use it in my 280. I will only need 50 - 60 lbs to do 1/2" which will cost $45 - $54 only. I will also have less worry about catching sand in the magnet and scratching the acrylic. I am very careful anyway but this makes it a bit easier IMO.
At one time I had a SSB of fine sand in a smaller tank and I would never do it again. It just gets filled with gunk and if it's not functioning like a DSB or being vacuumed like you can do with course sand it's just a waste trap. That's just my opinion though as many others use a SSB and have beautiful tanks.
BTW how much was your tank? Do you know how much the 300 gallon costs? Of course it depends on the retailer but I'm trying to get a ballpark price. People never seem to want to answer the question on what these new tanks cost and I don't want to call a store and waste their time since I wouldn't be buying one for about a year.
jimidalock
New member
Thanks for your input everyone. Amanda the tank it self was 1350 and the stand was another 400, And I got starfire glass on the front.
So based on your experiance I'm think I will follow your lead with the larger heavier substrate. And I've always wanted a Blue spotted jawfish, and I have BB in my 55.
So based on your experiance I'm think I will follow your lead with the larger heavier substrate. And I've always wanted a Blue spotted jawfish, and I have BB in my 55.
Chihuahua6
Premium Member
That's a fair price for that tank.
Just remember the Jawfish needs at least 3" of substrate and I would not recommend using that much course substrate as detritus gets trapped in it easily and keeping that deep of a bed vacuumed is too laborous. You could add a small container with deeper substrate and rubble for the jawfish. I plan on doing this for a Long Tentacle Anemone.
Please post pics when you get your tank. Good luck with it.
Just remember the Jawfish needs at least 3" of substrate and I would not recommend using that much course substrate as detritus gets trapped in it easily and keeping that deep of a bed vacuumed is too laborous. You could add a small container with deeper substrate and rubble for the jawfish. I plan on doing this for a Long Tentacle Anemone.
Please post pics when you get your tank. Good luck with it.
