BareBottom Club

[Gina]

Gina. Maybe suggest wht i am doing. I am getting that creamy clear acrylic cutting board material.. and glueing a layer of CC onto it then placing everything ontop of that. that way it looks natural and doesnt have the side effect of the bb mirror look

Might just suggest that on the next set up!

 

[Cougra]

is i t just me,,,or does the rock seem to shed diterus more? ive had my 210 up 6 months now,,,i know all this gunk isnt coming from my feedings and such...or does the sand hide that much?

The rock doesn't shed more detritus simply because you don't have a substrate in the tank, it sheds the same amount in a tank with a sandy bottom but for some reason, people have this mentallity that you don't need to clean the substrate. It's the misconception of the "set it and forget it" mentality that came about with the DSB that I feel is the major source of the problem.

The major difference that a bare bottom tank allows is the ability to put higher current levels across the bottom of the tank and blow the mulm forward so you can see it easier.

I think the biggest mistake I made in my tank was to go with a very fine and therefore really light substrate like South Down. A heavier aragonite or even finely crushed coral thats 1/4" to 1/2" deep (basically enough to cover the botton and give my goby something to sift through) would allow for beter water flow coupled with GOOD REGULAR VACUUMING of the tank would be just as effective as a bare bottom aquarium.

 

[Mad Mike]

Cougra you are 100% correct it's poor maintenance that gives the DSB the bad rep. However it is a lot harder to maintain then a BB. Vaccuming that sand I found most of it got vac'd out, then it had to be rinsed in RO abd set back in. It just took way more time and it never really came clean. It always felt like an uphill battle no matter how much I cleaned it, it was always dirtier then it should have been.

 

[Woodstock]

Cleaner all around enviroment. I don't have the substrate acting like a sponge for all the phosphates,thats the biggest plus. My algae problems went away over night. I can also see the detrius to siphon out.

Ditto~~

is i t just me,,,or does the rock seem to shed diterus more? ive had my 210 up 6 months now,,,

Mine sheds a lot too... it is just like 'cooking' it in a seperate container except there are corals on it

 

[Rougiem]

The rock doesn't shed more detritus simply because you don't have a substrate in the tank, it sheds the same amount in a tank with a sandy bottom but for some reason, people have this mentallity that you don't need to clean the substrate. It's the misconception of the "set it and forget it" mentality that came about with the DSB that I feel is the major source of the problem.

Good Point Cougra. I like the DSB, but I believe both choices are of a personal preference and what you like. Both BB and DSB have advantages and disadvantages. Many of you give great points to why you have what you have.

One of my points for having a DSB is it does supply your tank with a steady supply of live foods. It needs to have sand-dwelling critters. These organisms that live in the sand can become food sources for your corals by releasing eggs, larvae, ect into the water. This can be a supplement to regular feedings you may already do.

Cheers! :columbo:

 

[Cougra]

Cougra you are 100% correct it's poor maintenance that gives the DSB the bad rep. However it is a lot harder to maintain then a BB. Vaccuming that sand I found most of it got vac'd out, then it had to be rinsed in RO abd set back in. It just took way more time and it never really came clean. It always felt like an uphill battle no matter how much I cleaned it, it was always dirtier then it should have been.

That's the reason that I think it's better to go with a heavier substrate instead of a fine sand. With the heavier substrate I can vacuume it properly and suck out more mulm then sand. I'm slowly removing my south down sand from the tank with each water change (in other words not replacing the stuff I vacuume out) and will probably end up putting some light golden river gravel in once I have most of the south down out. It's still fine enough for the goby to sift through but heavy enough not to be removed during a substrate cleaning.

I like the DSB, but I believe both choices are of a personal preference and what you like. Both BB and DSB have advantages and disadvantages. Many of you give great points to why you have what you have.

I agree it's a matter of choice and as long as you know that there are pitfalls to each system and you are willing to work around the pitfalls then things will work out. The great part of this hobby is that there are so many choices we can make for any type of aquatic environment and no two tanks will ever look the same.

 

[Witfull]

I agree it's a matter of choice and as long as you know that there are pitfalls to each system and you are willing to work around the pitfalls then things will work out. The great part of this hobby is that there are so many choices we can make for any type of aquatic environment and no two tanks will ever look the same.

so true....

for me the outweighing factor is time. vacuuming sand and all that fun stuff takes to much time for me. i know where the dirt is,,,i can suck it out without losing to much water,,,quick and easy.

 

[niagara135]

I went BB a couple months ago. For the past month my tank has been basically on it's own as I have been renovating my second story and the tank has been doing just great. It was a month before I actually took a few moments to clean the glass, that happened at least every couple of days with sand.

 

[cleartank]

My tank has been bare bottem for 10 years, I never have been sold on sand except for its looks.

 

[Mebigloser]

I like BB, you can have tons of circulation and not worry about blowing sand everywhere....

MBL

 

[Eric]

I tried it on my 70 gallon and gave in to the DSB nobody noticed the last tank pic I snuck sand in there I coverd my bottom there was no support group then guess I'm an addict lol

 

[Woodstock]

Another perk of a BB tank is having more room for fraglings to grow! Zoas, GSP, clove polyps, shrooms... lots of frags stuck to my bottom. This makes removing them a breeze using a scraper~~

 

[Witfull]

fragacillin!!

 

[mattie]

while i run 1 tank with sand and the other barebottom.
i like the look of the sand and i had to wait several months for the sand to stop blowing around and i gave up on a few areas in the tank on them be covered with sand. high water flow and fine araganite is not a good mixture. I am the worst person when it comes to vacuming the sand. hmmmm in my 20g nano i vacumed the sand twice in 18 months and i have never vacumed out my 75. but my 33 which is barebottom i used to vacume it out monthly. becouse the detritus was so visible But last week i upped the flow again in my 33 to dangerous levels knocking over corals all the time. but the tank has never been cleaner.so somewhere around 45-50x turnover with changing currents really keeps the tank clean and since it is been keeping all the detrius suspended in the water flow my skimmer has been pulling more junk and the tank looks better so i am starting to like barebottom again. oh yea my tang like barebottom too cause more surface area for algae to grow.

 

[Woodstock]

......But last week i upped the flow again in my 33 to dangerous levels knocking over corals all the time. but the tank has never been cleaner.so somewhere around 45-50x turnover with changing currents really keeps the tank clean and since it is been keeping all the detrius suspended in the water flow my skimmer has been pulling more junk and the tank looks better so i am starting to like barebottom again.

45-50x !?!? Wow Mattie... that's some major flow you have there! :columbo:

 

[tmc]

i finally took the plunge, boy was my cc dirty under their. post some pic tomarrow of the transformation. it has been a long day.
tmc

 

[Woodstock]

Coolio TMC! Welcome~~

 

[Cougra]

But last week i upped the flow again in my 33 to dangerous levels knocking over corals all the time. but the tank has never been cleaner.so somewhere around 45-50x turnover with changing currents really keeps the tank clean and since it is been keeping all the detrius suspended in the water flow my skimmer has been pulling more junk and the tank looks better so i am starting to like barebottom again. oh yea my tang like barebottom too cause more surface area for algae to grow.

With so much water flow, do you have any dead/safe areas in the tank for fish to go to rest? That type of current can and will exhaust them out!

 

[corvettephreek]

can i be in the club? I just moved my 20L to a 75 USG tank with only eggcrate on the bottom. I was going to use sand (again) but i ran out of money and patience, plus I am using a giant Rio PH for flow, and so far after about 2 weeks being up and running, it is sooooooo much better. it took me forever to empty my 20L out and the sand stinks to high heaven!!! love BB, feeling free is great, plus easy to get to the bad stuff. plus the eggcrate helps me by putting small peices of LR with frags in one place and they never move around!!!. pix will come soon, promise.

 

[Witfull]

welcome to da club~~