Barebottom tank or sandbed?

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HI gents and ladies. What pros and cons are there between using a substrate in your display and not using anything. I hear some guys in the hobby prefers going bare bottom in there tanks. Want to know what the reason for the debate...
 
If I had a frag farm I would go bare bottom as its easier to clean trapped detritus etc

However, if t is a display tank that I put up for aesthetic reasons, surely substrate BB looks terrible IMO
 
Make sense just weird that some guys prefer it tho. I have seen a barebottom tank that did not look to bad then again it was filled crazy with rock so you barely noticed
 
For me I found BB works because of my high flow, I now have zero detris build up an any part of the tank except in the LR which I blow out with a powerhead every now and again.. IMO a sbustrate tank looks better but since removing my sandbed the corraline has grown on the glass and I have a select number of LR with zoos etc on the bottom so the amount of glass seen is minimal at best !

I think the benefits of a BB are overstated but I feel the main benefit is that I can now place seios behind and under my reef without it blowing the substrate around.

I still prefer the look of a tank with substrate though, you just get used to it once it is gone, also I do not have bracing at the bottom of my tank, if I did I would not go BB, I would make a plan with substrate, I think a tank with bracing exposed is the pits !

Muz
 
I have to say I find substrate to look so much more natural than a BB tank.
 
So how about some pix muz to see what yours look like?

Sure I will take a new one tomorrow when lights are on, I only have old pics now
 
hey muz, any news on the pics? i would also really like to see if BB can look cool, thanks man
 
I get so frustrated by people who have never been on a reef telling me that deep sand beds are a natural part of coral reefs and therefore a good choice for use in aquaria. The truth is that most corals occur in high abundance pretty far from any sandy zones.
I have been a fan of BB since I began in the hobby and the Berlin Reef System was the de-facto method for setting up a reef. I personally prefer it for nutrient export and so I can really up the flow speed in my aquaria. This doesnt mean that a sand bed isnt beneficial for a reef but I personally prefer a remote/satellite refugia/DSB somewhere in-line with the system.
 
I'm so sorry, I could not find the thread..

here are some pics, sorry I did not get time to clean the glass, I used to have aragonite just in front with BB under the reef, that worked well as well, I had seios under the reef blowing forward but in the end just too it all out.





Muz2008022.gif
 
It looks great MUZ u cant notice the different much with the coraline algae at the bottom
 
What I like about my tank is I took the poly and board away as well, now I can peer under the reef to see what is going on., when the sump lights are on I can see up into all the rocks to see if there are any problems, I can also see where the pumps direct the detris buildup again.. sorry it is a bit messy under there but I am reading that the Linckia Laevigata ( blue starfish ) feed on algae and detris, so they need some detris, as a result I only syphon every second week now.. this weekend it gets a good clean again.

What is also cool, is when I have my sump light on the light comes up through the reef, the corraline gives great colours. I must try to take a pic of that.

By the way, I don't recommend doing this, you have to have balls, cos if a rock falls the tank stands a good chance of snapping, I did go for a 12mm base instead of 10 to help a bit, but I make sure my reef is quite secure.

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I get so frustrated by people who have never been on a reef telling me that deep sand beds are a natural part of coral reefs and therefore a good choice for use in aquaria. The truth is that most corals occur in high abundance pretty far from any sandy zones.
I have been a fan of BB since I began in the hobby and the Berlin Reef System was the de-facto method for setting up a reef. I personally prefer it for nutrient export and so I can really up the flow speed in my aquaria. This doesnt mean that a sand bed isnt beneficial for a reef but I personally prefer a remote/satellite refugia/DSB somewhere in-line with the system.

Interesting coralite, I have met quite a few guys in the hobby that has the same view as you have that is the reason for me posting this thread. I have also been dwelling on going barebottom in my display tank but because of the mixed reaction I wasnt too sure.
 
If you are unsure why dont you do what we all do.. start with a shallow bed, say 2cm and take it from there, you can always syphon bits out slowly if you find that the system is not performing after a year or 2 once the tank has semi matured and as Mofro says, as you mature in reefing, then make the decision. If you don't go sand bed now you will eventually IMO.

There are so many different points of view on this subject and it is all subjective as all our tanks run in their own unique way depending on what you have in the tank, light cycles, additives, husbandary, feeding habits, equipment etc etc the list is so long, asking advice only equips you with information to work with... now you have to decide what will work for you, my point of view may not work in your system, IMHO.
 
Thanks MUZ, I was thinking of just having the DSB in my refugium and in the display I would go bare
 
Go for it ! Are you going to raise your reef or go direct onto the glass ? Those scraping rocks did'nt do it for me every time I moved them so I raised mine.
 
lol.. exactly
 
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