bare bottom?

[t_hac]

hey everyone!

i most likely going to buy a aquapod 12 or biocube 8, reason being the watts per gallon is 4.5 where as the biocube 14 is only 3.4

anyways i contemplating wether or not to do a bare bottom tank.?

or the regular sand bed 2-3inch

i am going to have it a coral only tank with no fish only some inverts...

whats your opinion on bare bottoms? (hehe no pun intended )

[Rbacchiega]

I've always liked the look of sand in a tank...

[t_hac]

Originally Posted by Rbacchiega

I've always liked the look of sand in a tank...

yea i like the look too but this one is all about the corals and im wondering if its a big + to have BB,

but i also dont like the look when theres a bunch of algae growing out of it and its all dirty

[Rbacchiega]

you could always get a conch...barebottoms to me, although they have their advantages...don't seem to turn my crank (bahahahahaha).

Plus, if you're only going corals, I don't imagine there'd be a whole helluva lot of detrius on the bottom so long as you're doing regular maintenance...could be wrong, but that's my opinion

[mark]

Be surprised how many people will be looking at my tank then after 10-15 minutes go, 'I just noticed, you've got no sand'.

If you do go sand, just go a enough to cover the bottom, a 1" or less.

[Snaz]

I have 1 - 1.5 inches of sand in my AP12 and I don't have any algae on the surface. I'm not sure which critters are keeping it clean but I suspect the 12 small hermits are shifting it enough. The only algae the tank has ever had is the 2 day old brown haze on the glass which the magfloat cleans in a jiffy. Oh and LOTS of coraline!

I slope my sand high in the back, shallow to front so the sand at the front is level with the black trim.

[mike31154]

No comment on the BB, but you mention a difference in watts per gallon that you are basing your purchase decision on. What type of lighting are we talking about here for either the aquapod or biocube? If you're going to keep corals you may be well advised to concentrate more on the type of light output rather than watts per gallon. The difference in light output for given watt of the different options (MH, T5HO, PC) is substantial. Watts per gallon alone is no longer a good indicator of what's best for your livestock.

[Whatigot]

IMO, the only thing bare bottoms are good for is spanking

I ran a heavily stocked aquapod with no skim for a year and I contribute my success to the 5' of crushed coral I had on the bottom.
Pod city and excellent bio filtration...
In a larger tank, I don't think it makes as big of a difference, but in a smaller one, makes a big dif.

[t_hac]

Originally Posted by mike31154

No comment on the BB, but you mention a difference in watts per gallon that you are basing your purchase decision on. What type of lighting are we talking about here for either the aquapod or biocube? If you're going to keep corals you may be well advised to concentrate more on the type of light output rather than watts per gallon. The difference in light output for given watt of the different options (MH, T5HO, PC) is substantial. Watts per gallon alone is no longer a good indicator of what's best for your livestock.

yea i know, for now all i can afford is the stock lighting so i am looking at the most wattage i can get... and if the bulbs arent cutting it ill replace them.

the aquapod has the sunpaq pcs which apparently produce %50 more lumen output than comparable bulbs...

so thats what im leaning for.. the most power for stock lights, i know t5/mh is better i had a t5 fixture on my 55 and saw the difference from my pc light on the type and output that they give off...

[t_hac]

Originally Posted by Whatigot

IMO, the only thing bare bottoms are good for is spanking

I ran a heavily stocked aquapod with no skim for a year and I contribute my success to the 5' of crushed coral I had on the bottom.
Pod city and excellent bio filtration...
In a larger tank, I don't think it makes as big of a difference, but in a smaller one, makes a big dif.

yea i am now leaning to having a small amount of substrate to keep the pods happy and i forgot about the bio filtration, since i have no skimmer this will be a +