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Sand or Bare Bottom
- Thread starter DYIguy
- Start date
I put sand in all my tanks. In my opinion
That tank is small and you are not going to have a lot of live rock.so adding sand will give you another
Place for bacteria to live. I also have a lot of fish that need sand to sleep and live so going without sand is not an option for me.
Now no sand in a frag tank is a good idea.
That tank is small and you are not going to have a lot of live rock.so adding sand will give you another
Place for bacteria to live. I also have a lot of fish that need sand to sleep and live so going without sand is not an option for me.
Now no sand in a frag tank is a good idea.
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bare bottom for me, sand is messy and honestly, after awhile you wont even miss or notice the sand is not there in your tank. depending on the type of corals you are keeping, like SPS you can crank up your powerheads to max without having to worry about sand being stirred up. clean up is easy as well since you can see where debris and detritus settles and siphon it quickly. as far as beneficial bacteria, you can get ceramic bioballs, plates or bricks from MarinePure, Brightwell or others and put it in your sump.
bad thing with no sand is you can't keep certain sand dwelling wrasses.
in the end though, its up to you. both have their pros and cons and up to you which you think would be better for you.
bad thing with no sand is you can't keep certain sand dwelling wrasses.
in the end though, its up to you. both have their pros and cons and up to you which you think would be better for you.
Well, i just switched over.
Had a few bad diatome blooms and then a red slime.
Did the rebuild last Sat and loving the barebottom atm.
Have a 30IM long and mounthe 2 powerheads on the back wall facing forwards.
Detritus is pushed up the back wall into the overfloiws and the 'floor' is nice and neat.
there are 1 or 2 small areas where the odd detritus collects and are super easy to vaccuum up.
I supplemented the lack of sand by doubling up on my ceramic media.
Also have a few large zoa colonies on the 'floor' to hopefully grow out and cover it aloong with coraline.
I'm expecting some type of diatom attack from the recently cycled rock. So far so good, but its only been a week.
Had a few bad diatome blooms and then a red slime.
Did the rebuild last Sat and loving the barebottom atm.
Have a 30IM long and mounthe 2 powerheads on the back wall facing forwards.
Detritus is pushed up the back wall into the overfloiws and the 'floor' is nice and neat.
there are 1 or 2 small areas where the odd detritus collects and are super easy to vaccuum up.
I supplemented the lack of sand by doubling up on my ceramic media.
Also have a few large zoa colonies on the 'floor' to hopefully grow out and cover it aloong with coraline.
I'm expecting some type of diatom attack from the recently cycled rock. So far so good, but its only been a week.
Jamie S
NJRC Member
Here is my 4 month old bare bottom. I’m liking to look of it so far and it’s definitely easy to clean the detritus. It only builds up on 2 sides in the front and the snails takes care of the algae on the bottom. I don’t have much experience so I can’t offer you any other pros or cons
Attachments
If the sand is too coarse it will trap detritus
Hockeynut
NJRC Member
Sand for me always, just don’t feel bare bottom looks as nice. When I look at my tank and I dream I am floating along the edge of a beautiful coral reef I see sand in my dream not Monty covered glass. Lol
But I do understand the ease of cleaning.
I vacuumed my sand every Sunday when I do water change so it never really gets any buildup. Also my wrasses would hate me if they had no play sand.
But I do understand the ease of cleaning.
I vacuumed my sand every Sunday when I do water change so it never really gets any buildup. Also my wrasses would hate me if they had no play sand.
DYIguy
NJRC Member
My first and last dive was in a quarry when I got certified- then we had kids- have been able, until recently, to snorkel several times a year- so there was always sand- but my attention was always on the reef/ corals- when snorkeling with a group- everyone else was excited about the fish they saw- i loved to drift mostly and just take in the picture. The fish were secondary. Funny thing, most fish swam singly or a school- when I see some tanks today I get dizzy- dozens of fish swimming in all directions
I don’t clean my sand bed. I have gobys that clean the sand all day. I have snails that clean the sand bed. I have sea cucumbers the eat sand and poop clean sand. I have conch that clean the sand all day.
I have a brital star fish that shifts and moves the sand all night.
I look at my tank as a small eco system that cleans and sustain itself.
I have a brital star fish that shifts and moves the sand all night.
I look at my tank as a small eco system that cleans and sustain itself.
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Agree with everything that's been said so far.... Bare bottom is easier for cleaning and you don't have to worry about sand getting blown onto your corals. But I love leopard wrasses and jawfish so I keep the sand.
mickeysreef <*))))<
NJRC Member
we keep it naked over here
DangerDave
NJRC Member
A very thin layer of sand in the dt, everything else gets bare bottom.