bare bottom vs. dsb
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Topic: bare bottom vs. dsb
Posted By: El Vato
Subject: bare bottom vs. dsb
Date Posted: September 05 2005 at 2:18pm
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I am about to set up my new tank in a few weeks and am interested in
knowing the pros and cons of the bare bottom and deep sand bed methods. any info or opinions? |
Replies:
Posted By: Mark
Date Posted: September 05 2005 at 2:35pm
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Salt or Fresh? What are you putting in it? You should always use some kind of substrate. It's used as a buffer, I am far from an expert but thats what I have learned. Who knows what it buffers? ------------- "The Poison Clan Rocks The World" 13g Peacock and 10 g mantis of undetermined species Kearns, UT |
Posted By: fishgirlheather
Date Posted: September 05 2005 at 2:54pm
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I just went barebottom about a month ago and love it. A good DSB will help in the breakdown of organics and is supposed to buffer or help keep calcium levels up. My 3"-4" sand bed was hard to keep white, collected detritus which was difficult to vacuum, and got easily stirred up with lots of flow (if you have an SPS tank). Barebottom, with either acrylic or starboard covering the bottom for support, is very easy to siphon every few days and you can really have good flow everywhere. I personally like the shiny bottom of my barebottom than and plan to cover it in zoanthids and star polyps. What size is the tank and what will it be stocked with? Definitely look up some pictures of both DSB and BB tanks and see which one you prefer. ------------- 55G barebottom reef w/ dual 250 watt MH 45 pounds LR, 3 Damsels, Green Spotted Puffer, Yellow Tang, Hawaiian Dusters, Sun Polyps, various mushrooms, zoos, leathers, softies, Lps, and SPS |
Posted By: El Vato
Date Posted: September 05 2005 at 3:08pm
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I will be setting up a 70G tank mainly sps but a few spfties and lps. I like
the look of both systems and have read several posts on reefcentral. however, I was interested if anyone here had tried bare bottom systems and what their reaction was. I know that this can be a bit of a touchy issue but it never hurts to ask. 
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Posted By: fishgirlheather
Date Posted: September 05 2005 at 3:48pm
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For an SPS dominated tank I would definitely go bare bottom. If you end up wanting a sand bed you can always add one. It is much easier to add sand than to remove it. My tank is mainly SPS with a few LPS and softies too and they seem to be thriving. I have noticed that they are growing much more quickly since I removed the sand bed and all of the excess nutrients along with it. I will never go back to sand after seeing and smelling all of the detritus a DSB collects. What kind of skimmer and other filtration, sump or fuge, are you going to be running. To go bare bottom you must be able to make up for the sand bed with mechanical filtration. Another consideration is that bare bottom tanks must be siphoned more frequently than a DSB and if you don't have a lot of extra time a DSB might be better as far as maintenance goes.
------------- 55G barebottom reef w/ dual 250 watt MH 45 pounds LR, 3 Damsels, Green Spotted Puffer, Yellow Tang, Hawaiian Dusters, Sun Polyps, various mushrooms, zoos, leathers, softies, Lps, and SPS |
Posted By: jordanh
Date Posted: September 05 2005 at 4:12pm
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Just out of curiosity, fishgirl, how long was your tank running before you switched to barebottom.
DSB and bare bottom are two different ideologies. I think you should choose the one that best fits how you plan on maintaining the tank. I personally prefer DSB because I'm too lazy to siphon detritus out all of the time and I beleive that the microfauna that inhabit the sand add diversity to the aquarium and are a benefit to the system as a whole. I have never had a problem with detritus collecting on the sand. I think if you only have a few fish, plenty of different kinds of scavengers, and good flow, you should be able to maintain a clean sand bed. Anyone out there that has had a tank running for an extended period of time, with a DSB, want to comment on that? Correct me if I'm wrong. |
Posted By: fishgirlheather
Date Posted: September 05 2005 at 7:33pm
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Mine was running for almost two years with a DSB. I have a Aqua C Remora and plenty of flow but it was impossible to siphon out the detritus without disturbing the sand bed. Since the purpose of a sand bed is to convert organic material into nitrogen, it is inevitable that detritus will collect in the sand if it is not being converted fast enough. I realize that there are lots beautiful tanks out there with a DSB but bare bottom is what works better for me. Whether El Vito decides to go with a DSB or BB, it will not determine if he has a successful reef or not, just looks and maintenance so choose the one that best suites your reef.
------------- 55G barebottom reef w/ dual 250 watt MH 45 pounds LR, 3 Damsels, Green Spotted Puffer, Yellow Tang, Hawaiian Dusters, Sun Polyps, various mushrooms, zoos, leathers, softies, Lps, and SPS |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: September 08 2005 at 12:05am
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This thread almost escaped without my comment. From the biological ecological system standpoint, the use of a denitrifying sand bed is definitely better. Perhaps contrary to what some may think, disturbing the sand bed is a good thing, in moderation, and in a properly maintained reef, the stuff found in the sand is full of life rather than lifeless. As far as aesthetic considerations, you know better than anyone what you like the look of. I believe that when Zoanthids attach to a bare bottom the tank will begin to suffer because of trouble removing detritus. (Fishgirlheather, please won't you come back and let us know how it's doing at one year.) The bare bottom idea is far from new. It is called the Berlin System and was mostly abandoned in favor of Natural Nitrate Reducing (NNR) sand systems which, when set up and maintained correctly, offer several significant advantages over every other system that has ever been tried. Now when it comes to a "clean sand bed", in nature they are actually few and far between. But many people want their tank to have the appearance of the white sandy beach we see in vacation pictures, and getaway tourist brochures. Ironically, there are miles and miles of less than pristene substrate that exist for the sole purpose ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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of providing tourists with that one white sandy beach. (I suppose this is where a large refugium with a DSB could be used to advantage.)Posted By: rstruhs
Date Posted: September 08 2005 at 1:20am
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If you decide to go bare-bottom, keep in mind that the idea is to keep all the "floaties" stirred up so that the mechanical filtration can pick it up. Therefore, you need a lot more flow! I believe that a LOT of flow is good for most of our corals and fish. And, the flow needs to change direction every now and then. (Our oceans all have low and high tides, right?) There is also a "new" idea that no matter what you have as far as substrate or flow or lighting, occasionally, you (the god of corals and fish in your environment) need to create a natural disaster! Move the rocks, move the sand (If you have any), even kill a fish (Or put some dead material in there for the scavengers! Good luck on your decision! Rodney ------------- Rodney, Sandra, Jeffery, and Laura Struhs South Jordan, Utah 98th South & 40th West. (801) 282-2744 75 gallon reef 55 gallon reef 55 gallon FOWLR 20 gallon FOWLR |