I Don't Want Sand. I dont Want Clear Bottom. What else?

In the process of setting up my 235g FOWLR. I dont want DSB Due to the fact of it getting caught between the magnet with mt Acrylic tank. And clear bottom doesn't appeal to me either. What about seashells and other "beachy" stuff?:

 

alot of people use a product called "Starboard" on the bottoms of the tank. Its not really safe to have a glass bottom if a piece of LR takes a dive. I also know people will use silicone and sand to give it a sand look. Its a pretty good way of making cleaning of FOLWR tanks easy without sacrificing too much on aesthetics!

 

Well, I dont have a "glass" bottom. I'm acrylic. Starboard is some sort of acrylic too? I dont want that. But please elaborate on this silicone sand substrate... Is this "fake sand" or something?

 

If you "glue" a layer of sand to the acrylic I'd use a 2 part epoxy like Zpoxy. Silicone never really bonds to plastic and you'd eventually end up with peel up.

 

Oh wait... You guys are talking about "gluing" sand to the bottom? No way! My wife is asking if just broken seashells are ok?

 

i've seen shot where people spread a layer of silage evenly over a surface and press agronite sand into it. It doesnt often look awesome but you can experiment

 

Broken sea shells would collect alot of detritus. I wouldnt do it. Ive seen people paint the bottom of their tanks with textured paint before and it looked like sand.

 

if you epoxy'd it to starboard then your tank isnt compromised. Thats where i was going.

 

Agreed, seashells and large grain sand is just a disgusting detritus trap and nitrate farm, especially in that size tank.
Why not a shallow (2-3") bed and a DSB in the sump?

 

If you're trying to just avoid the sand scratching you acrylic tank avoid it all together and research a way to grow coralline algae in a FOWLR tank. There is good article on it at marine depot below. Just go bare bottom and grow I some coralline on the bottom maybe? That's what I would do in your situation. it might take a while but good things come to those who wait right? It would be natural and look pretty sweet.

http://kb.marinedepot.com/article.aspx?id=10274

Sorry I posted this from my phone...