Bare Bottom Tank

[nyc reefer]

Im considering going bare bottom on the new tank build. I have aproximately 30lbs of LR, will keep 5 fishes about 15" total. Going to keep mostly zoas and other LPS . Are there any advantages or disadvantages to running the tank bare bottom? I am aware the sand bed helps with buffering to maintain a stable PH, would I still need a clean up crew? Does it make a difference? Thanks in advance.

 

[Aquadicted]

The advantage bare bottom aquariums give you is being cleaner due to no dead spots and no place to build up waste. All of the waste should be filtered out of the system via skimmers and such as you already know. As for cleanup crew, it really depends on how much waste is being produced by your system and how much of it is being taken out. No one can give you the answer because it's impossible to say. If you have waste being dissolved into your water column you will have algae build up and will need a clean up crew. I personally don't have a cleanup crew in any of my quarantines which are bare bottoms because I don't let waste build up enough to have that much algae. Whatever little I get I can just wipe off.

 

[homegrowncichlid]

Lot's of posts on this subject already, but personally, I'm bare bottom, and keep a DSB in the sump/refugium. I don't really think my DSB does anything major anymore, as I sill dose additives, run reactors, skim and denitrifier. It did give some species I've had someplace to play and hide out in.

My observation tank has the DSB in it, but again, in there it has limited value, since I still have to maintain it actively.

 

[jackson6745]

On smaller tanks I find BB systems to be far less stable. It's not so hard to strip a system these days with all the powerful skimmers, carbon/bacteria dosing schemes, and efficient flow/mechanical filtration. Not a fan of BB system on smaller tanks at all.
I find BB to be very useful on larger systems. These systems are already very stable because of large water volume and lots of live rock. Having less area to store organics allows for a clean, balanced, stable system.

 

[nyc reefer]

Bare Bottom

Ok I guess I'll go with sand, to avoid running into problem. Thanks for the imput guys.

 

[MikeC]

:banghead::banghead::banghead:

 

[thirty6]

Are you running a sump? Can put mud or dsb in fuge like posted above. I have BB and maintain a simple tank. Biggest issue I have is fish selection as I have to stay away from certain wrasse ect. I can add a sand box but haven't done that yet

 

[nyc reefer]

Sand on the bottom

I completed the transfer just now. I bought an extra 20lbs bag of wet sand to augment the one I transferred over from the RSM. I screwed up and bought very fine sand and it's created a sand storm. I left the skimmer and return pump running I hope by the morning it will have settled down.

I found one large bristle worm in the old sand, threw him out. I hear they ruin coral, and can sting fishes. All in all only two fatality at the moment, a small yellow tang and an emerald crab. I think the tang was on his way out regardless of the move. He was very thin and had damage to his dorsal fin. The other five fishes transferred into the new tank and appear well. As far as the LR, I dont think I need any more than what I already had in the RSM. I just stacked it nicely and think its fine leaves room for swimming and growth of future corals.

I'll post some pictures tomorrow once the tank clears up. I have to clean up the wiring, then clean the slashing on the glass and stand. I didn't install a sock yet but tomorrow I'll also do that.