Bare Bottom tanks

[Fishcull]

Has anyone tried a bare bottom tank?

I used it exclusively when I was breeding discus. I love the clean look and the easy maintenance. I have never tried it for reef. Thinking of doing it for the next setup.

What are the things I need to look out for? What are the advantage/disadvantage?

 

[new2saltyfish]

send a pm to pallobi...he has an amazing system that is bare bottom

 

[mnavick]

send a pm to pallobi...he has an amazing system that is bare bottom

Great pics and some good reading.....................
http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums...A-PALY-SYSTEM-Coral-amp-Livestock-pics-thread...

 

[MikeG]

There are lots of people around that run bare bottom tanks. Some great advantages to it including the ability to have huge amounts of flow without worrying about sandstorms. Ther ability to keep ditritus in suspension to be removed by your skimmer or easily sucked out. Some down sides are limitations on livestock that require a sandbed to thrive like some fish that bury themselves in the sand ot inverts that dig burrows if you wanted them. I won't say much on denitryfication, if that is a concern you can always run a remote deep sand bed in a bucket.

For me, I just think it looks un-natural but if you like the look I would go for it.

 

[inverted]

I've done both, but prefer sand. I find it's tough to keep the bottom of a BB looking clean and you need a lot of flow to keep crud from settling. I think they are good for SPS dominated reefs, but often sand is better for a mixed reef IMO. Also, I tend to like to keep fish and inverts that prefer sand. For me, I've found medium grain sand to be a good mix. I find it doesn't get blown around and is still soft enough not to hurt sand sifters. Sand can accumulate detritus and bind phosphate though. However, detritus can be eliminated with good flow, as long as your not using sugar sand and phosphate only binds if you let levels get high enough. Either way can work quite well though, just depends of your goals and preferences.

 

[pallobi]

it really comes down to what kind of system or reef you keep... most corals aside from sps, dont like the high flow it takes to keep a barebottom system clean and the detritus suspended, so it is removed via a powerful oversized skimmer, or filter sock... letting it build up in your sump, would be counter-productive to the reason to use a barebottom display, as the point is NOT the let the nutrients and extra crap build up...

and thank you guys, for the compliments

here is a link to a video that shows my system up to date, and the flow i utilize on my display... of course my display is not the normal and the approach is a bit off kilter, but it gives you a good idea of what you might be able to acheive with a barebottom system, in regards to system health and cleanliness...

[video]http://s906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/reef%20videos/?action=view&current=VIDEO0024.mp4[/video]

 

[pallobi]

There are lots of people around that run bare bottom tanks. Some great advantages to it including the ability to have huge amounts of flow without worrying about sandstorms. Ther ability to keep ditritus in suspension to be removed by your skimmer or easily sucked out. Some down sides are limitations on livestock that require a sandbed to thrive like some fish that bury themselves in the sand ot inverts that dig burrows if you wanted them. I won't say much on denitryfication, if that is a concern you can always run a remote deep sand bed in a bucket.

For me, I just think it looks un-natural but if you like the look I would go for it.

and agreed with all said here 100%...