BB vs. SB

[Manny]

Is there a thread I missed that lists the pros and cons of barebottom and sand beds?

I'm 95% sure I'm going DSB.:scratch:

Besides flow.... what are the other advantages of going BB?

 

[Tonyscoots84]

ok ill try my best to answer your question..

other advantages....
- alot cleaner
- dont have to worry about toxins building up in the sand.
- More flow in the tank. (this is beneficial for certain types of corals u choose to take care of)..
- bigger skimmer (alot less nutrients in the tank).

overall there are many benefits to going barebottom.
But you will def. need alot of flow, and a big skimmer to remove nutrients.

and with sand the sand acts as a denitrification agent. when cycled properly it will cut ur nitrates down tremendously for the most part.

pretty much it all depends on what you want to keep in the tank and your taste.. i love my barebottom and will never go back to sand.. neverrrrrrrr. lolz..

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

I would go with a Shallow sand bed. It lets you have sand sifting fish, shrimp, sea stars, snails and ETC!! Bare Bottom doesn't let you do that.

 

[nanoreefer22]

Chief,
I see where your coming from but all those things add to the bioload of the tank, so don't you think a tank without them would do somewhat better? With the lower bioload and all.

As Tony said you can keep a BB for the most part cleaner, you don't have detritus accumulating, and the water stays nutrient free. This is only a part to keeping a healthy thank but it works, if you do it right. I have detritus accumulation in one spot about 1inch x 1inch.

The cons of BB are that you have the unnatural look unless you find a way to camoflauge it.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

He said he was going DSB and I sugg'd SSB that's all. Oh and there should be a still in between it and lets in my prev post.

 

[herman]

Guys,
I think alot of you are missing the bigger picture. Lets get one thing straight. There are many different ways to keep a reeftank. Each one has its pros and cons. There is no perfect way to do it. There is no proven way to do it. Dont let others decide what you want to do.

Tony, you will realize soon enough what the disadvatages are BB. Its not as easy as you think. Fact of the matter is that there is no such thing as the easy way. NOTHING replaces diligence and routine husbandry of the tank.

If you are 95% sure that you want to go the DSB route, make it 100% and go with it. Any help that you need, we can help you with and we will be with you 100%

I personally have gone the BB route. But as in every reefkeeping forum the board will always be divided 50/50.

I am not going to say that if you go BB its a guaranteed success, cause there are plenty of failed BB tanks just as there are plenty of failed DSB, SSB tanks.

I just hope that this thread will not get into the argument of why the other is no good.

Lets keep it constructive here.

 

[herman]

Chief,
I see where your coming from but all those things add to the bioload of the tank, so don't you think a tank without them would do somewhat better? With the lower bioload and all.

As Tony said you can keep a BB for the most part cleaner, you don't have detritus accumulating, and the water stays nutrient free. This is only a part to keeping a healthy thank but it works, if you do it right. I have detritus accumulation in one spot about 1inch x 1inch.

The cons of BB are that you have the unnatural look unless you find a way to camoflauge it.

Add buffering capabilities to the argument Cause many peeps have a problems with that in a BB setup cause they dont know their chemistry...:sgrin:

 

[nanoreefer22]

Add buffering capabilities to the argument Cause many peeps have a problems with that in a BB setup cause they dont know their chemistry...:sgrin:

Ahhh yes, you gotta know your stuff to keep a BB.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Manny as I have said time and time again with this subject and thousands of other subjects in my life. Do what works for you.

 

[nanoreefer22]

Do what works for you.

Chief, you should add this to your signiture I like the phrase :cool3:

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

LOL Kris, I just might

 

[Tonyscoots84]

ohhhh yea i forgot to add that. u gotta no some stuff in this hobby such as the chemistry and all the essentials in buffering... but as it was said whatever works for you... the dsb didnt work for me thats why i changed... its all up to you.....

 

[herman]

How did it not work for you Tony?

 

[Tonyscoots84]

the sand smelt like rotton eggs when i took it out.. there was alot of darkish grey sand.. really bad odor... and the phosphate tester came up medium.. no more phosphates and brown on the rocks is almost all off the rocks.. yayyayay

 

[Tonyscoots84]

but i still love the sand look.. but i really like the bb clean look.. just my opinion.... everyone has there own...

 

[herman]

the sand smelt like rotton eggs when i took it out.. there was alot of darkish grey sand.. really bad odor... and the phosphate tester came up medium.. no more phosphates and brown on the rocks is almost all off the rocks.. yayyayay

In less than a year????? Strange......

 

[Tonyscoots84]

u no what i think it was herman... i think it was i used 2 cocktail shrimps to cycle the tank.. im guessing the crap when into the sand bed from it getting moved by the powerheads and also used that live sand stuff in the bag and then stirred it in with the lfs sand.. i dont no... maybe it was just me... also i have 2 tangs, osc clown and a goby at the time. high waste.. sand and waste... i brought mr. goby back to the store.. so i only have the 3 guys right now..

by the way i didnt have a huge cleanup crew to even stir the sand enough... i guess my problems that i had that contributing to the spoiled sand..

 

[Manny]

He said he was going DSB and I sugg'd SSB that's all. Oh and there should be a still in between it and lets in my prev post.

pardon me for my ignorance but what is the difference between DSB and SSB? I was leaning on 4 to 5 inches of sand.

 

[Manny]

Thanks all

If you are 95% sure that you want to go the DSB route, make it 100% and go with it. Any help that you need, we can help you with and we will be with you 100%

I'm pretty much 100% :scratch:
I just wanted to make sure a year from now I wouldn't regret my choice.

I just hope this thread will not get into the argument of why the other is no good

I'm sorry, this is not what I intended :hug:

 

[Tonyscoots84]

no dont worry about it manny... were here to help ya.. it justs that there are so many different ways that different people do things with there reef or fish tanks that works for them.. no arguing at all. Just different views.. lolz.. u pick the one that works for you.. good luck.. any questions feel free to post more or pm any of us.. were always here to help......

WERE FAMILY HERE WITH MANY DIFFERENT VIEWS.LOLZ...:grouphug: