Bare bottom vs. Sand bed

[Roblox84]

Right now I have a 75g bare bottom reef and since I will be moving I am planning on upgrading to something bigger, possibly around 120g or so. My question is would it be better to make my new aquarium a sand bed? Is a sand bed woth it or will it be a pain in the ***? I have heard things such as you have to change the substrate every few years which I can't imagine how that's even possible, or pockets of gas forming in the substrate, algae growing all over the sand, or the sand getting blown around everywhere due to the powerheads. I would prefer ease of maintenance over aesthetics. What would happen if I never change the sand bed, because I probably won't if I go with sand. What to you guy's think? Sand or bare bottom?

[speccialj922]

I haven't heard of having to change shallow sand beds, only deep ones. For me, it doesn't feel right without SOME sand in there, even if it's only a 1/2'' deep. If you don't mind the look of a BB, then stick with it.

[Alex T.]

I started my sps tank barebottom. The main thing with barebottom is that even with proper flow, detritus always settles on the bottom no matter what. It must be siphoned out or you'll have problems. As my corals started to grow in it became harder and harder to get to all the nooks and crannies that detritus settled. I added a shallow sandbed and really have no issue with it. Either way will get you where you need to go, but once everything starts growing in, it's going to be tough, if not impossible to get down in there.

The added benefit of a nice white sand bed is also that it reflects light. My tank appears much brighter than before. I also need a frag tank since my sump can no longer receive light through the bottom of the tank. lol

[Agu]

Originally Posted by speccialj922

I haven't heard of having to change shallow sand beds, only deep ones. For me, it doesn't feel right without SOME sand in there, even if it's only a 1/2'' deep. If you don't mind the look of a BB, then stick with it.

I also prefer the look of some sand.

[mike_cmu04]

I have done sand and bb and i think sand is much better looking.

[Potsy]

It's much easier to add sand than to remove it, so I'd start out bare bottom. If you don't like it, it's an easy fix.

I've always used a shallow sand bed but this time around I went with a bare bottom with starboard and I'm much happier. The way I have the flow set up, a line of detritus collects along the tank's two sides which is easily siphoned out with some airline tubing. I was shocked when I saw how much poop ten snails are capable of producing in 24 hours. I use a turkey baster to blow detritus off the rockwork, wait a bit for it to settle to the sides, siphon it all out, and in a few minutes have a tank that is nearly detritus free. I just like having total control of my tank's nutrient load.

That said, it's all a matter of preference and personality. Beautiful tanks are possible regardless of the method chosen.

[RcToners]

I am not a fan of BB tanks, I have never seen a reef in the wild with a BB and I prefer to try to get my tanks to look as close to the wild as possible.

[Alysiak00]

Originally Posted by RcToners

I am not a fan of BB tanks, I have never seen a reef in the wild with a BB and I prefer to try to get my tanks to look as close to the wild as possible.

REALLY!!!!!!!!!! Thats all i ever see when i go diving in the ocean, bb. its nice having nothing below you but glass and silicone corners lol

[2006]

Do you BB guys/gals have measurable nitrate?

I like SSB about 2". Lots of snails and tons of flow keep it clean.

[fcmatt]

BB seems to have been a popular trend over the last several years that is only now losing
favor among many people. a lot of us tried it years ago and i agree with another poster
who said things will settle no matter what. i like a thin layer of sand as it looks really nice.
a few large snails, a hector/diamond goby, and good rockwork design with proper flow can
keep it looking great.

i am making an assumption about the boom in popularity of BB based on reading reef forums.
it seems the hobby goes in cycles with sand coming back in popularity for the majority.
i can be mistaken!

BB might be a nice choice for a frag tank though which is for a particular purpose but a
main display in a living room just needs sand in my opinion. tis cool.

[Roblox84]

Thanks for all your input. There is sometimes just way to much information on the internet to make a good judgment, but it seems as though because of your responses I will make it a sand bed. I personally also like sand bed, but it was just easier for me with the bare bottom tank, especially with moving the tank, which will be moved probably another 2 times. But it's good to hear that you never have to change the sand bed, because there was no way I was ever going to try that.

Just another quick question. I used to have crushed coral in my tank before and my serpent starfish and snails would plow right through the crushed coral and it would end up being pushed to one side and leave a bare spot in my tank. Also, the starfish would burrow around the live rock in order to get as far under the substrate as possible and then just move to another spot and do they same. They just can't seem to figure out that they can't get under the rockwork. How can I keep this from happening, should I get rid of the starfish or just not put much sand around the rocks or will the snails and starfish treat the sand differently and just stay on top of it since the particles are much smaller then crushed coral.

[campos]

Originally Posted by speccialj922

I haven't heard of having to change shallow sand beds, only deep ones. For me, it doesn't feel right without SOME sand in there, even if it's only a 1/2'' deep. If you don't mind the look of a BB, then stick with it.

i have a deep sand bed about 4 inches and was not aware of having to change out sand.
Is this true?
I can't imagine having to do that every few years

[SuperNemo]

BB has its perks but like many here on RC, i just cant image a tank without sand. I have egg crate to support my rock, so BB was not a choice anyway. With a good flow and good snails, you can keep the sand clean. just dont go over 2" of you might as well go for DSB.

[serpentman]

To me, BB just looks off. However FWIW, I used a mix of aragonite and sugar oolite and have had issues (should have gone 100% oolite). I am slowing removing my deep sand bed and going shallow.

[speccialj922]

Originally Posted by campos

i have a deep sand bed about 4 inches and was not aware of having to change out sand.
Is this true?
I can't imagine having to do that every few years

I'll be honest, I have never run one in my tanks so I can't say that I have researched the topic enough. So maybe I shouldn't have posted that without any concrete evidence.
But I will say that there is some disagreement on whether or not a dsb is a good idea based on toxic gas pockets that can form (I believe there are other reasons, but cannot think of them off the top of my head).

[ALH]

I prefer BB. Plus I have an acrylic tank so much less danger of scratching the tank with a magnet that picked up sand

[HorsePower]

I love my sand bed but my next tank will probably be BB! I can live without the sandstorms!

[waynotcars]

What I do was from underneath the tank painted the bottom a jamaican blue color. I get the bare bottom and it looks really pretty. I just removed a 4" sandbed. It was NOTHING but a pain and a LOT of work . You either clean the waste from the sand OR the bare bottom. Either way it has to be removed and it is MUCH easier removing waste from glass than sand.