Mobile Bay Reef Keepers

Anyone here running a barebottom tank?? I'm in the process of swtching to my new tank and have been mulling over running this one BB.

I did for a while but wanted a few wrasse that enjoy the sand so I added some sand to the front half of the tank. If you are going to do this I'd suggest cooking the rock to get everything out and have a way to keep any detritus from building up in the back of the tank.. ie, have flow down the back pushing everything to the front. The key is to syphon out everything that settles on the bottom.

My old 65 Hex was a bare bottom. It did make cleaning a breeze. I'm not sure why you would want to cook the rock though. Over time you'll wind up with coraline all over the bottom unless you scrape it. I just let mine grow. I thought it looked nice. I think that it's all in what you like.

with the rock in my 135 i constantly had junk coming out of the rock and I had to syphon so much. Maybe not cooking it but i would clean it a lot better than you would normally clean your rock.

I wonder if you can keep a cucumber without sand.

I'm not sure.... I found a home for one of mine and will throw the other one in the sump for the time being. I'd like to know if it's possible though:)

snoopdog wrote:I wonder if you can keep a cucumber without sand.

Well, it all depends upon the cucumber. If you have a substrate 'mopping' species, you may be ok if there is some detritus and plenty of rock. The species that actually consume sand to extract their food will absolutely starve without it.

Suzi I only have about 1 - 1 1/2 inches of sand depth in my tank and am not sure how much your cuke would need. It's probably more volume than your sump but I don't know if it would be enough. Floorspace would be the same size as your 75.

If you think it would be ok and you still are looking for a home I'd be happy to take it. You could send it with Mike. If not, I certainly understand.

Gee Doc, you're a swell guy.

Don't worry, I won't tell anyone.

Shhhhhhhhhhh!!!! Don't tell anyone. It could ruin my reputation!

Doc-He'll be with the rest of your stuff that Mike is picking up

I am now barebottom in my 225. So far so good.

I am absolutely astounded at the detritus from the rock work alone. It is really hard to fathom how a sand bed works long term after seeing it in person.

well look who came out of hiding. So you are up and running again Phil. Thats good to hear. When I was bare bottom I had tons of detritus and other stuff on the bottom at all times, even when i would syphon it out. I only added sand to the front half of the tank so I could get a wrasse or two that need sand. I'm going to put a thin layer of sand in the entire tank when I set it back up after I'm done cooking my rock.

You put the origional rock back in, didn't you Phil? Glad to hear your tank is back up and running.

I noticed with the 20 the huge amount of detrius from the small amount of rock, it is pretty amazing.

Yep, after 3 months in a two garbage cans the rock went back in the tank. I left the lights off another 3 weeks. I am sure the rock was still "cooking."

No more sand. I didn't know if I would be able to stand it, but now I like it.