Sand less tank

[AlbertG]

Hello everyone .
is anyone one here running a display tank sand less .
is so please post picture .
I have ben running mine with sand but always have issues with and really annoys me how the power head mess up my sand all the time .
i have seem couple non display tanks without sand and they look ok . but again they are not display tank .
can you guys share picture of sand less tank . thanks

also wath are the pros and cons of having vs not having sand .

 

[this is me]

Many people have ran bare-bottom tank. I've tried it but did not like it.
The pros is that you can have lots and lots of flow without having to worry about sandstorm. Any algae like cyano, you can just suck it up.
The cons, the look of bare bottom tank(to me). There's something missing about it. After a while, coralines grow on the bottom glass and it's a PITA to clean it out.

Biological benefit is from person to person experience but I've always have no issue(algae) with it.

 

[dz6t]

So my three tanks full of SPS colonies do not count as display tanks? ::

 

[AlbertG]

thanks for the info .
my plan is run bear bottom and let gsp over grow there and also zoas so it look like grass .

I'm not to experience with corals so I dont know if this is possible.

 

[AlbertG]

lol yours are beautiful . Dong

you just have to much corals there for me to be able to tell how my tank is gonna look.
I wish my tank someday look like yours.

I know with time maybe will .

 

[this is me]

thanks for the info .
my plan is run bear bottom and let gsp over grow there and also zoas so it look like grass.

Until you realize the "grass" has been trapping detritus. Lol.
If you keep up with the cleaning on bare bottom, I will look pretty nice

 

[dz6t]

Instead of using GSP, I use montipora caps as carpet to line the bare bottoms.
It won't trap detritus.

 

[IPWitan]

i like the sand. But I also don't like dirty sand. From a technical perspective, I assume there is a benefit to having a white surface reflecting light up off the sand. While it may not be a huge amount, I doubt it is a trivial amount. But maybe nowadays where people have leds at 1/2 power this means increasing the output to 56% instead of 50%.

 

[delta]

I would say if you are leaning that way go that way it is a personal choice, just make sure you are not putting fish in the tank that are sand dwelling

I have run bare bottom, just not my cup of tea.

Flow should never be the driving force on this decision I think if you understand flow sand is never an issue. Its the fact your corals are not big enough to defuse the flow. i.e you do not need that much flow when you frag are smaller as the water moves a lot easier. I think the whole flow debate leaves out the most important factor, how big are your coral based in conjunction with the flow you have.

 

[ashtricks]

I am running a bare bottom 20 Long DIY AIO. Its my first reef tank. I had a sand bottom discus tank which was a PITA to maintain. So I had decided that I would not do sand for my reef tank. Its been running for a few months now. I also have display macro algae + chaeto in HOB to use up nitrates/nitrites. I did not have any live rock while cycling. I only added live rock which came with coral bought from Dong My basic parameters are all zero. Haven't tested for phosphates, alk etc. Keeping it simple to start.
I did get a big diatom bloom, followed by a lot of brown hair algae on everything. Even on the codium! But all of it cleared up on its own. Did I say I don't have any cuc?
My maintenance routine is wipe down the glass, stir up the bottom, vacuum during 2-3 gallon water change. And may skip a water change once a while. Not running any reactors, just purigen, filter floss and ceramic rings in the filter. I think I prefer the bare bottom for ease of maintenance, and I like the clean look. I have seen Mike Paletta silicone the bottom and put sand on it to give it sandy bottom look and texture still keeping the ease of maintenance. If the glass bottom starts bothering me then I will think of doing that.
-Ashish
PS: Everything is rosy until the first tank crash :very_drunk:

 

[nazz]

Never had a problem with phosphates since going BB

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