Thinking of going bare bottom (1 Viewer)

[reefling]

I have never done so before. Any hard rules on doing so? Do you need sand in the sump?

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[CBBSteve]

Hi, Corey.
I HATE my bare bottom. Later this summer, I'm going back to a DSB (deep sand bed). It's just too much trouble to siphon out the detritus that collects on the bottom.

BTW, I don't have sand in the sump either.

good luck,
Steve

 

[reefling]

Hi, Corey.
I HATE my bare bottom. Later this summer, I'm going back to a DSB (deep sand bed). It's just too much trouble to siphon out the detritus that collects on the bottom.

BTW, I don't have sand in the sump either.

good luck,
Steve

Thanks for that Steve. How deep of a sand bed?

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[RR-MAN]

I have never done so before. Any hard rules on doing so? Do you need sand in the sump?

I have done both but mostly BB. My current tank is BB.

If you already have sand in the tank - siphon out the sand slowly over time. You don't want to stir all detritus and cause a tank crash.
You do not need sand in the sump - all the micro fauna (beneficial bacteria) that you have on the rocks/water columns should be sufficient.

Maintaining a sand bed is pain in the rear unless you have few small fish/wrasses and target feed. And there is so much waste CUC can process. And the best part of the BB - you can have unlimited flow.

 

[Dainese954]

I have done both but mostly BB. My current tank is BB.

If you already have sand in the tank - siphon out the sand slowly over time. You don't want to stir all detritus and cause a tank crash.
You do not need sand in the sump - all the micro fauna (beneficial bacteria) that you have on the rocks/water columns should be sufficient.

Maintaining a sand bed is pain in the rear unless you have few small fish/wrasses and target feed. And there is so much waste CUC can process. And the best part of the BB - you can have unlimited flow.

I’m BB right now, considering going back to a small sand bed. The detritus on the bottom is really ticking me off. What CUC is there to help? I have a couple of snails and halloween hermits so far. Thanks in advance.

 

[steveb]

My frag tanks are BB and yeah it tends to pile up anywhere the current slows down...

In the end you have to siphon stuff out running bare bottom, you have to siphon stuff out running with a sand bed, the sand bed is just better at hiding it.. but the nutrients are still there... Regardless of what you run the CUC can only do so much and they poop too...

But I have to say I love the look of a clean sand bed, although a bottom covered in a field of zoas, chalices or acans would be pretty cool too..

 

[FarmerTy]

I run sand even in my frag tank. I'm not a BB guy, too much work to keep it looking clean for me at least.

 

[RR-MAN]

I run sand even in my frag tank. I'm not a BB guy, too much work to keep it looking clean for me at least.

And how much work to keep the sand clean? [emoji23]

It's all about preference.

 

[paraletho]

I have beenBB for 2 yrs now. I miss the look of the sand but to tell the truth I am having much more success. I have one corner behind the rocks that builds detritus. 15 minutes once aweek I blow it up with a baster into the water column and catch it in some socks. Pretty steady at 3 Nitrate 0.03-0.05 Phosphate

 

[FarmerTy]

And how much work to keep the sand clean? [emoji23]

It's all about preference.

To me, sand is like carpet. Gives me the impression of being clean because I can't see every little speck on the carpet.

Barebottom to me is like an all black floor. Every speck will show up... For my personality type, that would drive me up the wall. [emoji23]

 

[FarmerTy]

To me, sand is like carpet. Gives me the impression of being clean because I can't see every little speck on the carpet.

Barebottom to me is like an all black floor. Every speck will show up... For my personality type, that would drive me up the wall. [emoji23]

I should note I've never cleaned any of my sandbeds and never had a problem with them either. Full disclosure though, my last 3 tanks all got "upgraded" within 3 years so none of those sandbeds were tested beyond 3 years. Also on the same lines, I feed a metric ton of food (4-5 feedings a day) and keep huge fish populations for tank size so trust me, 3 years of feedings and fish poop in my tank is more than most will accumulate in the same 3 years.

 

[reefling]

Decisions, decisions....

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[Cody]

To me, sand is like carpet. Gives me the impression of being clean because I can't see every little speck on the carpet.

Barebottom to me is like an all black floor. Every speck will show up... For my personality type, that would drive me up the wall. [emoji23]

The difference is that sand looks natural and carpet looks like a dirty pair of pants that can't be taken off and cleaned correctly. God I hate carpet. Cleaning carpet is like cleaning a pair of pants in the shower without taking them off. Such a horrible idea.

 

[FarmerTy]

The difference is that sand looks natural and carpet looks like a dirty pair of pants that can't be taken off and cleaned correctly. God I hate carpet. Cleaning carpet is like cleaning a pair of pants in the shower without taking them off. Such a horrible idea.

You just described 4 years of college there for me... Laundry? Why? Just wear it while I shower. [emoji41]

 

[Ostentum]

The 375g will be bare bottom. For the simple fact that I am going to have a ton of flow for the sps sand on your corals will kill them. Plus I think jFox made a good point. You don’t find much sps or coral on the sand bed it’s all up on the rocks away from the sand

 

[Tangs]

For over a year I have been working towards a bare bottom for my 125. I was using an under gravel attached to a hanging power filter. I started taking the plastic under gravel plates out a month ago. I do have a lot of live rock and will cover the bottom with a lot of that. Even with siphoning the sand once a month the crushed coral was full of fish poop and what ever else. Project might be completed by Christmas just not sure what year eh.

 

[reefling]

The 375g will be bare bottom. For the simple fact that I am going to have a ton of flow for the sps sand on your corals will kill them. Plus I think jFox made a good point. You don’t find much sps or coral on the sand bed it’s all up on the rocks away from the sand

That was a big reason I was considering.

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[frankc]

Does anyone else worry about the pressure from a pile of rocks hitting a small point of the bottom glass? I'm so paranoid about this, that even under a deep sand bed I put a layer of egg crate to distribute the weight more evenly.

Aesthetically, I much prefer a sand bed, plus the nitrate reduction is awesome. And as someone who has had carpet all his life and now lives in a house with none, I really miss it. All the extra noise, and with 3 big dogs tracking in dirt all the time, unless you sweep and mop every hour, the floor just becomes gritty and nasty whereas with carpet it magically disappears.

 

[Cody]

Frank, I worry about heights, tight spaces, and children around tanks. Never once have I worried about the corner of a rock cracking the glass. The live rock is very porous and would probably break long before the thick glass would. You're fine.

 

[Dainese954]

Does anyone else worry about the pressure from a pile of rocks hitting a small point of the bottom glass? I'm so paranoid about this, that even under a deep sand bed I put a layer of egg crate to distribute the weight more evenly.

Aesthetically, I much prefer a sand bed, plus the nitrate reduction is awesome. And as someone who has had carpet all his life and now lives in a house with none, I really miss it. All the extra noise, and with 3 big dogs tracking in dirt all the time, unless you sweep and mop every hour, the floor just becomes gritty and nasty whereas with carpet it magically disappears.

I use starboard under my rocks