sand or bare glass bottom?

[Lance]

Undecided. I have a 90 gal reef now with sand. Am in the process of setting up a 225 gal with large fish & softies. Planning on going BB with this tank. Will see which I prefer. If I don't like the BB, can always add sand later.

[kodak]

Thank you Lance


Does anyone else have an opinion?


link to my new tank diagram
http://www.riftzoneaquatics.com/foru...achmentid=2915

[2manytanks]

I also am partial to sand. As someone else said, if done properly it also adds to your capacity of biological filtration. But do a bunch of reading on the internet about sand beds and make up your own mind.

You'll hear a lot of people talking about the lower levels of sand going anaerobic but with the depth you'd likely be using in a nano tank that shouldn't be a problem. In any case, with a deep sand bed the lower anaerobic layer is important to it's proper biological function. Once established, the bacteria that populate the top will remove ammonia and feed nitrite to the next layer down which is populated by bacteria which convert the nitrite to nitrate which is consumed by the anaerobic layer. But to work properly the sand not only has to be live with bacteria but other critters like worms which will channel and mix the sand to allow flow between the different layers.

It also opens up the possibility of having other animals like sand sifting stars, gobies and sand dollars - who will also help keep the sand mixed and clean. With a shallow bed in a nano tank you'll want to keep the sand stirred up to prevent the build up of detritus and stars and gobies can fit right in. I had a 12g tank with both a sand sifting star and a goby, they did just fine and it was a beautiful tank.

[Trigs]

Tell you the truth I like both! But I love the sand look makes it look really clean plus a little easier to clean I find =)

[AJ_77]

I would have agreed with you until recently - I cleaned the sandbed out of the tank I just got (1-2 inches' worth of aragonite). It was aboot 18 months old, and the filth that came out of that nearly made me puke. The tank was well-maintained and filtered, B-King skimmer etc... what I would consider "clean," but that nasty skunky leftover toxic mud made me think twice. Just too gross to contemplate.

I think it was a wise moderator here who once said, "how can all that trapped black goo be good for my system?"

Thinking of going BB next time (and I usually love all those little critters that inhabit the sand, add to biodiversity and filtration capacity, etc etc...)

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by AJ_77

I think it was a wise moderator here who once said, "how can all that trapped black goo be good for my system?"

No, I think I said that.

I went BB on my last tank and loved it, then my new tank I waffled and added sand. After 8 months, I've removed it with all the black goo. It was disgusting!

[superduperwesman]

+1 for Sand

[Borderjumper]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

No, I think I said that.

I went BB on my last tank and loved it, then my new tank I waffled and added sand. After 8 months, I've removed it with all the black goo. It was disgusting!

[Marlin65]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

No, I think I said that.

I went BB on my last tank and loved it, then my new tank I waffled and added sand. After 8 months, I've removed it with all the black goo. It was disgusting!

Black goo is good for growth on corals. I just stirred up all the goo in my sump and my corals loved it they fed and just opened right up with lots of polyp extension.
Just my 2 cents everyone has their own way though.

[mark]

I'm BB.

When originally setup my 145g plan was would always add sand later. After bottom started getting covered in coralline ended up don't mind the look and left as is.

Don't think it's necessary for filtration as I'm zero nitrates and no sand in system but there's always the option of a RDSB or sand in the sump. Adding Ca etc, probably doesn't contribute a whole lot specially with the system pH (why Ca reactors add CO2 to dissolve media) and I ran a 75G for years with a DSB and though added some sand over time, wasn't much overall.

Believe the pro/cons for a sand bed is just aesthetics and what you can keep. Love the idea of the shrimp/gobie pair but without sand I'll live without. Also will admit when I see a nice tank with a clean SB think of adding sand to mine, but the urge passes fairly quickly.

Remember there's no reason you can't add a SSB or a DSB later to a established tank if don't like the BB. Better anyway if the LR was placed direct on the glass rather then on the sand where it could settle.