Bare bottom vs sand

[NYreefNoob]

to be honest people always looking to find the best of this and that, i did bb on one tank, didnt care for the looks of it. and it didnt cause sps to grow any faster or have any better color. stability and low nutrients is the key. i see alot of people say oh my levels are good, well whats good ? and how often are you checking it, keeping your hand out of the tank is one of the biggest problem people have as well. the only benifit i seen of bb is being able to run a higher flow without worrying about the sand blowing. sand contains alot of benificial things for a tank as well. and it seems you keep switching things around and never really giving enough time for anything to work, as long as you have been in the hobby you know there is no over night success, well i guess there is, set a tank up and fully stock it with colored colonies, but thats eventually comes out down the road. here is a perfect example of a tank grown from frags with killer growth and color
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/tank-month/140898-tank-month-february-2013-a.html

 

[FocusReefing]

I like the look of sand in a tank personaly and I agree it does look more natural for reefs with exposed sand. But taking into account the asestetics of the tank I've noticed in nature there are parts of the reef where the floor isn't visible due to reef rock. If you we're to cover the bottom in rock (rather than the traditional stacking of rocks)you could go bb and not even notice the absense of sand. That and the eventual grow out of colonies would render the BB invisible just as in nature.

 

[albano]

Or flip tank over and paint the underside

There may be a teeny tiny chance that I'm wrong...but, I don't think that you would see the painted 'underside' when looking thru the tank...only a 'mirror like' surface

 

[duromega]

There may be a teeny tiny chance that I'm wrong...but, I don't think that you would see the painted 'underside' when looking thru the tank...only a 'mirror like' surface

yes you're right you are gonna see a "mirror like" surface I've done it before! haha:splitspin

 

[masterswimmer]

There may be a teeny tiny chance that I'm wrong...but, I don't think that you would see the painted 'underside' when looking thru the tank...only a 'mirror like' surface

Not even a teeny tiny chance. You're 100% correct. It's no different than looking through the front of your tank at the side glass. You can't see through the side of the tank. You only see the mirror-like reflection. Good call on that one.

Russ

 

[duke62]

I wouldnt do a glass bottom any way

 

[vio]

It would be bare bottom only where rock sits on the glass. With some creative cutting, the acrylic could be removable for regular cleaning. I saw a thread on here a while back that talked about this. Just an idea.

sound like good idea.

 

[FlyTekk]

Everyone who says they will see a mirror effect when looking at a dry side painted bottom glass is absolutely wrong! I can show pics to prove otherwise.

I love the look of sand. But i just put a mp60 on my 120g 60x18x26. Its barebottom fish only. I have mp60 on lowest constant setting all day long cause im anal about noise. Once a day i turn it to full strength. Before i do this i put 2 clean 100 micron felt socks. Within seconds the tank is full of floating debris. And about an hour later its all gone and socks are brown.

Parameters are all 0 and i have no sand or live rock. Thats something i cant do with sand. So i found a middle ground by spray painting the bottom glass on the underside (dry side) with textured sand paint. It looks just as good as starboard. Not as good as sand. But better than bare glass.

 

[FlyTekk]

Pics

Here are 2 pics of my 60g cube discus tank. I used dark grey stone textured spray paint to look like mud, on my 120 saltwater i used sand color but have to get home to take pics.

 

[masterswimmer]

Everyone who says they will see a mirror effect when looking at a dry side painted bottom glass is absolutely wrong! I can show pics to prove otherwise.

Why would anyone here be concerned about seeing through a dry side? I'm guessing the tank will be filled with water. I could be wrong, but who knows :happysad:

Russ

 

[FlyTekk]

Meaning the side of the glass that is painted is the dry side. Dont want anyone to think they should paint the wet side with toxic spray paint.

 

[TRUKINGNY]

Sorry for the bad pics don't have a great camera

 

[FlyTekk]

Damn that starboard looks beautiful!!!!

 

[dre82584]

u gotta go with sand bare bottom is no good sand will give u alot of bacteria u need

 

[viplok]

Bare bottom sucks

Jerl77 always got the best comment in this forum

 

[TRUKINGNY]

u gotta go with sand bare bottom is no good sand will give u alot of bacteria u need

Sorry I don't agree I have no problems at all I do run bio-pellets but even people with sand do

 

[ducati335i]

It really doesn't matter which one as long as you have a plan abd know what to do.. You can have a crappy bare bottom if you don't know what u are doing.. I run shallow sand bed.. In my 40 I have bare bottom.. I think shallow sand bed IMO wins for both beauty and added filtration, life etc. just gotta keep up w it

 

[MikeC]

u gotta go with sand bare bottom is no good sand will give u alot of bacteria u need

LMFAO I know what you mean if I only had sand :banghead::banghead::banghead:
Stop letting your self be brain washed and then making it public

 

[prattreef]

Mike your tank is very beautiful and healthy. It is only missing one thing--sand

 

[ducati335i]

I gotta say though.. Bare bottom
Looks insane if corals like SOS are growing on it! But I just like the sand for now