Sand

[Boogie]

What?s the pro and cons of having sand and not having it

 

[piranhapat]

Positive having sand might look better. Help with bacteria. Will hold nutrients which can be positive and negative. Having no sand you can control your nutrients better. With sand might hold more Nitrates as tank matures. At some point might battle diatoms and cyano with sand. Some Wrasses will sleep and hide in it at night. Either way you can have a successful tank. Depends what your going to do with the tank. And how much maintenance you want.

 

[Boogie]

I have a 250 dd tank with a 2-3 sand bed with 2 wp60 and sand is being tossed everywhere i tried to move them adjust them even lowered them and it?s still the same thing happening i want to add two more maybe 25/40 for my dead spots in the back but l don?t want a bigger problem by doing that.

 

[noelskii]

No sand = max powerhead! I went barebottom with starboard on my last tank and current. I love it. You can barely tell there's no sand because of the starboard. Until the starboard gets covers in coralline, then you'll have a purple bottom... And if you vacuum your tank, you can just do it on the sides and back- mostly all the build up is in the back under my gyre.

 

[vio]

Depend
LPS is NOT big deal, in special if you got access around Aqua scope to clean the sand.
SPS and NOT much room to clean is pain.
I try list 15 times sand , wont work for me ( SPS most) i prefer NO sand , lots of water flow ( at night , by using timers) .
Big fish ( Tangs) and feed like crazy ( me) wont work with sand.
No sand = less maintenance , i prefer NICE fish and NICE (healthy corals ) then NICE sand.

 

[Boogie]

Thanks for the info. I think imma try no sand for the first time and see how it works out for me.

 

[pecan2phat]

Sand will help with the reflection of light for the underside of SPS coral.
Sand will also allow you to keep Leopard Wrasses.

 

[Reef lover24]

I have always debated this topic myself when setting up tanks and I always don't know what to do and ultimately just use sand.. Barebottom tanks definatelty look nice but also depends on what you are trying to keep. I love wrasses and gobies and they love sand so that's why I always wind up going sand. If I set up a smaller tank I am thinking of just going barebottom, but again It all goes back to what you want to keep. barebottom as mentioned is less matienance which is always a plus. Please keep us updated on if you like no sand

 

[Boogie]

Lol well i know I?m not going with any of those fish. I need more flow in my tank and i can?t because of the sand. So i wanna try and see how it looks. But I?ll keep my sand nice and warm just in case it has to go back. But i just put a 60g cube I?m my man cave for right now (lol my second bathroom $ maybe I?ll try no sand on that one first to see how it goes

 

[vio]

Just to say something with my experience.
Wrasses ( in my tank ) kill lots of my snails , Thanks God one was stupid , jump out ( Dry) i still have one more ( 8 lines) still small.
Wrasses , by far one of my favor fish. NEVER ever Wrasses in my tank , they are GOOD hunters.

 

[Reef lover24]

i love wrasses but yes, good hunters. snails/hermits/shrimp don't usually last haha

 

[piranhapat]

No sand = max powerhead! I went barebottom with starboard on my last tank and current. I love it. You can barely tell there's no sand because of the starboard. Until the starboard gets covers in coralline, then you'll have a purple bottom... And if you vacuum your tank, you can just do it on the sides and back- mostly all the build up is in the back under my gyre.

+1....I agree get starboard and place on bottom. It's clean looking. You can turn up water flow and see things blow away. Nice that the rocks laying on the starboard instead of glass. I love it and never go back to sand. Less chance to scratch glass. Never had a diatom or cyano problem in BB. My snails all they do is breed.

 

[Reef lover24]

Never ever thought of using starboard.. Hmm if I start up a 30g nano anytime soon I am going to try this and see how it works. Thanks for the idea guys

 

[Boogie]

Lol i took the big jump to day and took all my sand out now the rocks are on the glass. I also set up my 60g in wall bathroom tank with out sand. Smh rocks are on the glass but I?ll get two sheets of the star board if i ever feel board again no time soon I?ll put it in. But I?m loving the flow l have now. Lol need more power heads