Bare bottom??

[NealNano]

OK setting up a new tank. Its going to be a 40 breeder. I have had a 20, 29 and 55 in the past. I always used araganite around 3 to 4 inches deep. This time Im thinking of going bear bottom. There will be a fuge with a dsb on this set up as always. What are the pros and cons of the bare bottom?

[LobsterOfJustice]

I think the fur would just make a mess personally.



Sorry, couldnt resist.

Basically, bare bottom allows you to remove the waste before breaking it down rather than processing it. High flow and heavy skimming are pretty important.

[rbaker]

I've had both. IMO, the sand bottom looks better, but is a detritus trap. The bare bottom is way easier to care for and once the bottom glass is covered with coralline, it looks pretty decent...

[NealNano]

ha ha sorry about the spelling.

[seapug]

Originally posted by LobsterOfJustice


I think the fur would just make a mess personally.

I know it was an innocent typo but I'm still laughing.

[Frick-n-Frags]

the down side is that you have a much narrower window of success between nitrates/algae explosion on one side and eutriphication/starvation on the other side.

But when it is working (my experience is more like that of a pendulum heh, but not so funny ) it is amazing. maintenance is a dream too. but redialling things when it is off is sometimes a lengthy proposition.

this season's iteration for me, due to a valonia problem is the minimalist amount of LR, more coral -to-plant mass ratio, algae fuge OFFLINE. I think I have the correct # of astreas to patrol the walls and small pile of LR in a 55-long. If the water starts getting a bit rich in nutrients, the algae will be just waiting to explode, so the snails must stay 100% on top of it.

I am running my MH's really bright but only for 4 hours to see if the corals can scam out better than the veggies vs long durations of dimmer MH which seems to rage the algae. (really bright means one 250W 10kK SE at 4" with tight foil reflector and one 250w 10kK DE as low to the flours as I can get the housing, so maybe 8")

this time around. I want to see what the algae in the coral can do so only one clump of halymenia (pretty big red alga) was saved.

my whole game is:
a) tracking down the last of the valonia spores sprouting on fragrocks and pulling the chaetomorpha strands that can grow inches per day in the high flow and low competition.
these tangle like unrolled thread in all the sps.
b) trying to guesstimate the feeding amount to walk the tightrope


Attention all algae:

Dammmm you![shakes fist in threatening gesture]

thank you for your attention.

[bhdmc]

My first reef tank was BB. Coraline algae covered the bottom. It looked great. My second reef tank has 2" sand bed. It also looks great. The only problem I have with the sand bed tank, my Tunze P/H at times causes a sand storm. It a matter of preference.