Well, I think the point of the barebottom was the ability to remove detritus easily - whereas the sandbed in theory, traps all the detritus. Also to increase flow in the tank...
So while I think cultivating a bed of gsp or polyps would look cool, it would defeat the purpose of the barebottom tank by trapping the detritus, or at least making the removal of it hard.
I believe most people are against putting the rocks directly against the glass. Some people raise the rocks with acrylic rods, others use PVC and others put something like eggcrate or starboard underneath the rocks to prevent direct contact with the glass.
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