To sand or not to sand that is the question?

Forum:

Good afternoon with my new 100g build im debating if I should go with a bare bottom or shallow. We currently have a DSB in our 90g BF and it awesome since we can add just about coral with out a problem whoever there is the ever present danger which is inherent with the DSB.

We are looking for feedback from the group on BB vs. a DSB let us know what you think.

E








Thanks to all for the feedback

E

 

Hello. Anybody in here? Hello ooooooo. Oh, I guess it's my turn to speak. Well um, I like sand. Thank you.

 

OK, being serious now. I haven't had any direct dangerous problem with my sand bed. It does seem like it's messier than bb but I can't help thinking that there are advantages to having it too. Here's an article that seems to go to great length looking at sand and rock:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/6/aafeature

 

Billme:

Thanks for the response im reading the article as we speak....and yes hello! LOL

 

I'm a sand person. I think it's mostly a personal preference thing. I think my creatures enjoy it more and if you end up like me with some vermitid snails bare bottom would be out of the question. The bottom would turn into a spikey field of vermitids.

 

Av8Bluewater:

Good point I to enjoy the symbiotic relationship in the ecosystem something to consider.

 

I'm a sand girl too - I have a pretty shallow one - 1-2 inches - some areas a little more some a little less based on fish/critters and such moving it around. I do siphon sections during water changes

 

It's been a while since i read that article, but I think I remember that they did a very good comparison but weren't able to come up with a solid conclusion on deep vs shallow beds and which is better. What I did get out of it though, was that some systems just work better than others but unable to pinpoint why.

 

World Wide Corals has an amazing setup that's bare bottom with the bottom covered in montipora. It's really something to look at. That's what made me consider going bare bottom at one time. My next build I'm going to try bare bottom, I want to try it on a fresh system.

 

I too have a shallow sand bed. 1-2 inches. I siphon the entire sand bed every week. I recommend siphoning.