What's Your Bare Bottom Like?

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Heh. I know what you're thinking.

But really...I was wondering for those who have bare bottom tanks, what does the bottom actually look like? Is it covered in coralline or greenish algae, or what?

Just curious--thanks in advance!

[Moogled]

Drew, I'll take a picture of my BB tank and post it tomorrow.

The difference is kinda subtle if you paint it white. You get patches of coralline here and there.

Bonus: More light is reflected due to white bottom.

[Der_Iron_Chef]

That would be excellent--thanks!

[Pan]

put a mirror on the bottom and really freak out your fish

[robzilla]

do most people leave the bottom bare and stack the rock on top of the glass? or do you put something like starboard on the bottom to protect the glass???

[mark]

Have BB with rock directly on glass.

Mostly coralline covered except for the corners and areas under the rock.

Not to get into the negatives of sand beds (myths or facts) but I personally still believe a maintanied SB looks the best (plus can do that shrimp/goby thing).

[Skimmerking]

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e122/asmodeus338/235%20Gal%20REEF/DSC00730.jpg

[danny zubot]

I've only had my tank as a BB for about 3 weeks now, and its got a green algae covering. The tank is just going through the usual diatom cycle.

(plus can do that shrimp/goby thing).

I have my pistol and YWG pair in the tank too. So far they are fine, both eating well. I've had some residual sand and detritus settle on the bottom for the goby and conch etc to sift through. I don't think the pistol cares if there is no sand, as long as it has a few small pieces of rubble to play with.:biggrin:

[mark]

I have my pistol and YWG pair in the tank too. So far they are fine, both eating well. I've had some residual sand and detritus settle on the bottom for the goby and conch etc to sift through. I don't think the pistol cares if there is no sand, as long as it has a few small pieces of rubble to play with.:biggrin:

Excellent. To me, having seen in tanks and the wild, think the pairing is one of the neatest things. Not to hijack here, perhaps you could start another thread with pictures and updates, but do you think a pair could be added to a existing BB?

[Beverly]

When deciding to go BB, I looked at tanks on RC that had starboard on them. I suspected detritus would get trapped under the starboard which would defeat the purpose of the BB. So I have my rock on the glass. Have reaquascaped several times since going BB almost 2 years ago and have had no problems with rock on glass.

To reduce algae problems in a new BB tank, cure your LR in something other than the display tank. Make sure you have a heater and lots of water flow in the curing container. Clean the rock of all dead and dying matter from time to time and siphon out the dead stuff every week or so. Once the LR has cured, swish it well in the curing container to remove as much detritus as possible before placing it in your display tank. You're good to go and without all the nitrate and phosphate build up that you left behind in the curing container :)

[TRIX]

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=226008#post226008
Sry had too

[Scavenger]

One thing I did on my 48 when I went bare bottom was to paint the outside bottom. This really helped visually. There is no reflection and makes it look a bit more natural esp before you get bottom growth. The only thing I regret was doing it in black as I had a slight heat problem, but it looked great. Next time, I'm going to get a bit fancier. I paint landscapes as a hobby, so I may try and make the bottom look like rocks, sand and rubble. Another option would be to find some prefab wallpaper or shelf paper already designed to look like a seafloor, but I can't say I remember ever seeing one.

[danny zubot]

Here ya go Mark.
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=226128#post226128

If I had more time I would have liked to try a foam bottom. A friend of mine did a foam wall on the back of his tank that turned out very well. Painted it various colors of purple a green to simulate coraline growth. I think it would make a really cool bottom.

[Ruth]

Quite nice actually IMO- oh mean in my tanks. I have a 190g and a 100g that are both BB. On the 190 I have black starboard that is basically covered in coralline so you really don't see that much of it but it does stop the light from my sump/fuge from leaking through. On my 100g cube the stand is painted dark brown under the tank so I just left it as is (glass). It is still fairly new so no real build up of coralline.
I love BB tanks as they are so much easier to see and get the crud out. I like the look as well but a lot of people prefer the look of sand.

[Moogled]

I still can't find my camera, so here's an older shot.

It's been filling up nicely with spots of coralline here and there.

http://img187.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf0525ev5.jpg

[andsoitgoes]

I thought a lot about BB tanks and I've got a fair few FW tanks that are like it and, to be honest, I really don't care for the look - I find it just looks... empty - I wanted to like it, but the sand is just so pretty and natural!

[EmilyB]

Mine look like Mikes. I don't really find much detritus that is "suck-a-upable". It's more like sand coming from the rocks. I imagine rock breakdown will create a sandbed in time.

[BCOrchidGuy]

I saw seahorse fanatics tank which is bare bottom and it looks great. I imagine it takes a long time though for all the coraline to get to the point where it looks like a bottom rather than all the bare glass. I was thinking about a bare bottom but was also hoping to get a pistol shrimp and goby, I wonder about putting a small barrier of sorts with a 2 inch sand bed for the goby/shrimp and then covering/disguising the sides with live rock rubble... Any thoughts as to whether this would be feasable or just cancel out the idea of the bare bottom.

Doug

[Der_Iron_Chef]

If you have adequate waterflow, I imagine the sand would get dispersed around in time. I'm sure the goby would help with the dispersion, too!! But it's a cool idea...maybe worth a try?