Setting up new tank, bare bottom ?

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#1
Hey you guys I am going to set up a 150 and going to transfer everything from my 120. I have sand in my 120 but I'm thinking of going bare bottom. I always hear that there's probably a lot of maybe possibly toxic gases in my sand. the 120 has been set up for year-and-a-half. I'm also thinking I can have better control of my detrius, by being bare bottom. I want to know what your guys experience is with bare bottom tanks. I've never done that before. I hear there's a material alled starboard,you can put at the bottom it's like vinyl like cutting board material to protect the glass. I think it would probably look better than just glass on the bottom also. Please let me know your thoughts and experience, I appreciate it.
 

Smite

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#2
Interested to hear BB tips as well. I almost went BB on my 66. I had planed to paint the bottom underside of the glass a whitish sand color to make it look more natural and possibly reflect light back up better.
 

dontavo27

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My Tank Build
#3
Wish I had gone bare bottom on my tank. I calcified parts of my sand bed early into my build, its annoying when I try and lightly vacuum my sand and get a clump of sand stuck in the tube.
I think youre right about toxic gases being realeased from a sand transfer though, Ive heard this as well.
I mean your sand being 1.5 yrs old, Im sure it has some detritus build up. Ive also heard of people washing out sand in pillow cases and trays. Id also like to hear some experiences with barebottom.
 

Titanwerx

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#4
Interested to hear BB tips as well. I almost went BB on my 66. I had planed to paint the bottom underside of the glass a whitish sand color to make it look more natural and possibly reflect light back up better.
Ive always had sand, but BB look cool too. I dont think it would matter painting the glass as I would imagine it would eventually get covered with coralline algae.


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#5
I want to say depending on tank size and whether or not you have a refugium or not. My 30g aio was doing well but got kept getting sand moved by power heads. Then slowly removed sand and went bb. During that time I was struggling keep nutrients up and when I fed heavy algae everywhere. Even my ph was stable. Then got fed up and switch to a larger grain size one that I got from another reefer. Tropic eden the big size. Since then everything has been stable. I can now feed more often and the biological filtration was able to break things down. Then again it could be coincidence. Just sharing my results. So I guess results may vary with different tank variations and setups.
 

Euro92

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#7
You also have to consider if your getting any wrasses. They need sand to sleep. I have sand and always like the way it looks. I also love wrasses to clean my tank so I don't think ill ever go bb.
 

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