Substrate.....or no substrate?

sharky222 · #1 09-23-2010, 03:28 AM

Hi everyone,

I am a complete newbie -- my 100g tank arrives in a few days. A few more days to troll this site and learn more stuff.....!

The folks at my LFS are strongly of the opinion that it is not necessary to use a substrate of any type, and in fact using a substrate can cause more problems than it is worth. All of their tanks have a bare bottom (so to speak), which doesn't look great, but I am tempted to try this (I found a roll of sand-printed drawer-liner that I'll tape underneath the tank to solve the aesthetic problem!).

Would be curious to know if this is good advice, or not.....does it make sense to start out substrate-free?

reefwars · #2 09-23-2010, 03:32 AM

without a sandbed you limit yourself to livestock as alot of things need and thrive from the sand, plus its home to alot of beneficial bacteria.if not maintained a sandbed can be your worse nightmare.alot of reefers go bb me personally i love the sand look

mattdean · #3 09-23-2010, 03:35 AM

Personally, I think substrate looks more natural. the only reason a sand bed can cause problems is if it's not maintained properly. If you do a shallow bed, just siphon it out when you do water changes. No big deal. Also, there are great cleaners like Nasarius Snails that stir the sand bed up.

Even with NO sand bed, you must keep detritus off the bottom glass, so it's pretty much the same.

Do what you think looks best, but research it and make sure you are avoiding potential problems.

Good luck

sharky222 · #4 09-23-2010, 03:41 AM

Re: no substrate, and limiting livestock....if I go "bare bottom" can I still have shrimps and starfish and such?

I also think sand looks better. But these guys at the LFS swear by no-substrate, so it got me thinking.

reefwars · #5 09-23-2010, 04:01 AM

dont listen when a lfs swears lol you can still have shrimp and starfish too depending on the kind

also take into consideration rocks falling and algae growing.one more thing to note is if you ever changed your mind its not easy adding sand to a tank that has none

id say go with the sandbed it does alot more good than harm

sharky222 · #6 09-23-2010, 04:11 AM

Thanks! I think you have convinced me....

reefwars · #7 09-23-2010, 04:34 AM

I would suggest looking at other members tanks and see what you find appealing , then do a wish list of the fish you want and see if a bb works for you. Give this thread some time and you'll get a better scientific response, I'm only speaking from experience. I'm sure bb had it's advantages as well like weight on your glass, moving your tank, not as much sand floating around .it's a decision I wouldn't take lightly and won't work for all set ups but may be better for some

keep researching and then post why you wanna go the route you choose

xtreme · #8 09-23-2010, 04:48 AM

I run a bare bottom. No worries about to much flow stirring up sand. Much easier to clean if necessary. A fellow canreefer asked me the other day where my detritus was, I don't have any since there is no sand bed for it to settle on. It takes most people at least 10 or 15 mins to notice there is no sand in my tank since they are busy looking at all the fish and coral. It doesn't look as nice as a white sand bed but it will blend in with coraline over time.

A SSB is really only for aesthetics and I could never keep it clean anyway and a DSB is to hard to maintain IMO so BB is my vote.

e46er · #9 09-23-2010, 04:54 AM

i had a 3" sandbed for about 1 1/2 years recently moved and went with a shallow (under an inch) sandbed and like the look much better but its only been running a week like this so my opinion is based purely on aseticitcs

bryceschutte · #10 09-23-2010, 05:01 AM

From one new guy to the next. I love the look of the sand bed but man am I having troubles keeping nice and clean. I am seriously thinking about getting rid of mine.