Your opinions regarding bare bottom vs shallow sand bed vs deep sand bed

marie · #1 04-11-2006, 03:01 AM

I never did like the look of 6" of sand in the bottom of the tank and nitrates have never (yet) been a problem.
Bare bottom always looked to sterile to me and I believe life is supposed to be a little bit messy.

So going with 1-2" of sand was an easy decision.

Beverly · #2 04-11-2006, 03:05 AM

Over the past several months, we've had several discussions on the merits of the three types of systems you're asking about. Do a search on the various key words in your post and you will find these discussions.

HTH

Ruth · #3 04-11-2006, 03:09 AM

I have all of the above! A 230g with a DSB (about 4-5"), a 190g and 24g BB and a 44g and 12g with a SSB. Which do I like better? Hard to say - they all have their pluses and negatives. With the DSB I find that it tends to facilitate the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate a little better or faster than the BB. I love the fact that I can siphon all the crud out of my BB and it is easy to see. I like the look of the SSB but find that I have to replace the sandbed as it starts looking yucky and then nitrates start to build. I also have to watch for nitrates in the BB tanks. It is still a hard comparison because all the tanks are different with different inhabitants. My large BB is very high flow and I skim the heck out of this tank. My small BB is low flow and no skimmer (just lots of water changes). There was a couple of huge threads on Reef Central that got totally out of control and actually ended up with some of their "experts" leaving RC and going and starting or participating in other boards so it is a highly debated subject. I think you have to decide for yourself what you want to keep in your tank, how much flow you will need, and which method is going to better suit your needs. I am sure others will chime in as there are many many opinions out there.

Marcus K · #4 04-11-2006, 03:22 AM

I like fine crushed coral the best, little larger grain size over sand. Seems to have a brighter white colour and stays in place better than sand. But you have to vacuum every water change.

AndyL · #5 04-11-2006, 03:38 AM

So many different methods... All the methods have various benefits and downfalls.

Personally, I really dislike the look of barebottom. However I use all 3 methods. My frag tank is bare bottom with lots of macros, My seahorse tank has a 2" sandbed (lots of macros there too). My FOWLR has a ~1sq foot fuge with a 8" DSB in the sump.

For me basically, I believe we strive to keep a ecosystem, anything less than a full system is incomplete. So much life exists in/around the sandbeds on the reef, that I can't see leaving it out.