I went with a compromise. There's a layer of sand covering all the viewable front/sides that varies from nearly nothing to 2" in some areas. MOST people would also view my sand to be dirty looking. I make few efforts to clean it and I believe that disrupts all the critters who are trying to make a living there.
The back (and other less visible areas) is completely BB. All the rockwork is also sitting directly on the bottom of the tank.
When I installed the small refugium, it has a DSB about 4" deep.
I didn't get my nitrate monitor until after the refugium was running, but I have no measureable nitrate in my tank. (I also have more algae than most people seem to want, so I can't conclude that my sand, refugium w/DSB are necessarily the cure)
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400 gal reef. Established April, 2007. 3 Sequence Dart, RM12-4 skimmer, 2 x OM4Ways, Yellow Tang, Maroon Clown (pair), Blonde Naso Tang, Vlamingi Tang, Foxface Rabbit, Unicorn Tang, 2 Pakistani Butterflies and a few coral gobies
My Tank: http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=28436
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