overstreetlogan
living it up
Just wondering what you folks think about bar bottom reef tanks?
Bare bottom reef tanks
- Thread starter overstreetlogan
- Start date
FishyReef
Broke Reefer!
My tank has been bare bottom since I set it up in January. While I eventually plan to add sand, I think bare bottom tanks are nice. As long as you epoxy your rock in place to prevent rock slides, and don't have anything in your tank that requires a sand bed such as a burrowing or sand sifting fish, then I don't see why you have to have a sand bed. I think the barebottom would be especially neat once the tank ages and coralline covers the bottom of the tank!
sen5241b
Reef enthusiast
We could talk about sand beds forever. At a high level, sand beds are good because they hold a lot of beneficial bacteria that will convert nitrates to nitrogen gas that will rise, in the form of bubbles out of your tank. My sand bed does this and I can see bubbles rising all day. (I am not even going to touch DSBs here). But there are potential problems with sand beds. Over-feeding and a lack of flow can cause a lot of detritus to build up in the sand bed. You may get a lot of detritus in the sand even if you do have good flow and don't over-feed! If you then -for any reason- stir up the detritus out of the sand bed it could very well start a fish and coral killing cycle of ammonia. Some people stir the sand bed in small sections at a time every month or two to release detritus but experts (Dr Shimek) say if you do this you will lose the benefits of the sand bed. One guy pumped all the water out of his tank to catch a fish then pumped the water back and accidentally stirred up the detritus in his sand. The ensuing cycle killed everything.
Bottom line is bare bottom tanks are fine if you can do without the sand and have another way to export nutrients (i.e. get rid of 'trates).
There was a good article about sand beds in a recent issue of Coral mag by Dr Shimek.
Bottom line is bare bottom tanks are fine if you can do without the sand and have another way to export nutrients (i.e. get rid of 'trates).
There was a good article about sand beds in a recent issue of Coral mag by Dr Shimek.
sen5241b
Reef enthusiast
"united rednecks with reef aquariums of america"? You mean you're a reef-neck?
overstreetlogan
living it up
Well I've been running my biocube as a bare bottom and I have not had any problems I have plenty of corals.but I've ran a 125 and a 30 reef tanks and had problems those had sand beds I constantly had problems with them.maybe it's just me but I think most my tanks from now on r going to be bare bottom.thank you for your inputs.i have never talked to anybody about bare bottom tanks and wanted some insight on the topic.
overstreetlogan
living it up
I like that reef-neck lol
Kelz88
Got Reef?
did you have sand or crushed coral? crushed coral is yuck
d2mini
Reef enthusiast
I prefer shallow sand beds, around 1".
I like the natural look and I feel like I get the bacteria benefit as well.
I like the natural look and I feel like I get the bacteria benefit as well.
beeguiles
they call me fish geek ;p
I personally like to have the sand bed. It looks more natural. I only go 1-2 inches and I just suck up the detritus off the top occasionally. I've never had a problem with it.
BL1
.............
I've had to have pretty deep sand beds because of certain wrasses and conch snails. Plus I like the way it looks. But, I have seen a couple of bare-bottom reefs where the entire bottom glass was either covered in ricordeas, acans, or with GSP and all of those reefs looked really cool.
Bifferwine
I am a girl
It really is a personal preference thing. I don't like the look of bare bottom tanks. Like others, I think it looks unnatural. 1 inch of sand makes the tank look nicer and is easy to keep clean if you have snails. That's another downside to bare bottom tanks -- you can't keep livestock that burrow or live in the sand. Nassarius snails for one, but also many types of fish, sea cucumbers, etc.
Like Brian, I have also seen bare bottom tanks that have the bottom completely covered in corals that are attached and growing on the glass. That looks way cool. But that's not really bare bottom, is it? :) When I think bare bottom, I think just the glass.
Like Brian, I have also seen bare bottom tanks that have the bottom completely covered in corals that are attached and growing on the glass. That looks way cool. But that's not really bare bottom, is it? :) When I think bare bottom, I think just the glass.
d2mini
Reef enthusiast
I think of something completely different but that's for another time and place. :mrgreen:
