Bare Bottom vs Sand Bed Aquariums | Pros & Cons | Making The Switch 

Thanks Travis. Good points on both sides. I do like the look of the coralline algae on the bottom glass.

I have a bb tank now. Ive done both, and i will never do sand again. BB is so much easier and cleaner.

I believe i one of the viewers who requested this a while back, thanks for the research and video..

That's what I've been doing hex every week I'm taking off just a little of the top so j will get there great video

Awesome video Travis with a lot of great information. I have seen one video where a very knowledgeable and experienced reefer used something called Star Board on the bottom of his bare bottom to cushion it from falling rocks. The new additions are looking happy. Hope to see you soon and feel better.

just what i needed thanks for the vid

Great way to sum up all this web info into something easy to understand. Love your channel. I recommend everyone I know to sub.

As always another great vid.

Love the vid !! Helpful as always. Reef looks amazing 😁

Good information on the pros & cons of having a sand bed vs. bare bottom tanks.

Good informative vid, unbiased opinion on the Pros and Cons of each

so very informative i love you channel great video thank you so much for sharing Travis

Man your tank is looking awesome :D

Your Montees are beautiful bro. Thank you for great vid

Great vids brother

OMG Travis lol, I had just started watching your videos from the very first one you had done to try and find out your reason for a bare bottom tank, plus I wanted to watch them all any way as you have such a wealth of information in your videos, and here you are explaining what I wanted to know. We've had no end of problems with algae growing on our sand lately, and it has been a nightmare trying to determine what's causing it and eliminate it, it's felt like more trouble than it's worth having sand. With that being said we now have a Diamond Watchman Goby and our sand is now white again. We've had just about every algae you can think of in the last 6 months since we upgraded from a 50 gallon tank to 125 gallons and it's been a slow battle to try and eliminate the causes.

How do the hermit crabs do in a bare bottom tank?

great video 👍 way too many headaches having sand

I have a deep sand bed, Seachem Matrix, and a biopellet reactor. Am I overdoing it on the anaerobic bacteria?

Had an old tank having to redo no longer like alot of sand but debating bare vs low sand bed

good video man.

great vid may be removing sand

how big is the blue tang?? beautiful fish

If u want good light reflection from day one paint the bottom of the tank white

Thank you for this video. We have had the discussion of going bare bottom so I can't wait to show my husband this video. If your tank is less then a year old how long do you recommend taking to siphon out the sand?

Can you please tell me how you keep your PH up with bare bottom? I recently went bare bottom after a move because my LFS owner told me that the stand bed was too disturbed due to the move and suggested I remove it and either replace it with new or go bare bottom. I decided BB and I really like it but it has killed my PH. I use to be between 8-8.3 and now I am between 7.7-7.9. Any suggestions and did you experience this? I don't really wanna dose and "artificially" raise it. I am currently pumping in fresh and from outside directly to my skimmer but it really doesnt help much. Great videos and any help would be much appreciated.

What lights are you using? Link pls

Can hermit crabs still walk around OK I'm going like you it's cleaner and heathier for the fish I'm doing 25 percent water changes every 2 weeks 330 litre tank or is it better every week cheers

great video, are you still using the aquamars LED lights? how are you finding them with growth and colours, thanks

I think the biggest missed pro is the micro and macro life that can be housed in a sand bed and more so a deep sand bed. Which is also the key to deep sand beds as a whole. Why have fish and corals but miss out on the other 1/3 of life that can be housed in the tank. I know we mostly build our tanks for fish and coral but I do enjoy watching a worm tunneling through the sand from time to time as well.. I like to get as much a complete piece of nature as possible and bare bottom just to me is very unappealing even though it can be way easier to clean and maintain in the beginning. I would argue that a mature sand bed is actually less maintenance then bare bottom as it cleans itself when properly done and the worst thing you can do at this point is try to clean it in any way as you will do nothing but create hydrogen pockets by moving sand and killing life that then rots under the surface of the sand. As for bare bottom and falling rock.. most I know glue their rock to the glass in bare bottom setups and I think it’s good practice to always glue rocks to other rocks when stacking. Once you have corals and coralline everywhere you won’t be rearranging your scape anyways so may as well go ahead and glue or dowel it all together from the start once you get the scape you want.. But hey who am I to argue either way I currently have zero salt tanks cause my 220 ruptured at the bottom seal and has been sitting on the back porch for months waiting to be torn down and rebuilt lol.. based on this experience the one thing I can say wo a doubt.. don’t trust factory tank stands for too long. Plywood and 1x is not sufficient support for a 1600lb tank. Over time the stand will break down and cause extra stress on your seals until they break. I was lucky it didn’t shatter the front pane and simply tore the seal slowly in the center of the viewing pane causing a slow leak and was able to salvage and sell most everything as I don’t have enough salt tanks to house everything only a basic small 40 cube cause everything else is freshwater in my house.. I now buy used stands and rip the guts out and build new 2x framing inside the shell so I get that factory finished outside look with the diy strength inside. Just something I think people should be aware of when setting up a new packaged tank stand combo.. my 220 bowed so bad it actually broke the bottom frame and bracing while sitting on 1/2” rubber base on the factory stand that came with the tank that was once perfectly level. After 5-6 years I checked the tank for leave again after the tank started leaking and it was leaning toward the front by 3/8” and you could clearly see the bottom glass bowing downward into the stand. The bottom is 3/4” tempered and was bowing enough to completely rupture the seal on the 7/16” front pane.. clearly inadequate middle support in the stand itself.

Biggest con is no watchmen Goby/pistol shrimp adventures.

What if you have a shallow sand bed

So is it true that after a few years you have to replace the sand due to the buildup of toxic? Is there tanks that's been running for 5,10 years without changing out the sand?

Once a week I use a massive powerhead pump to create a storm in the tank along the bottom. All the debris is sucked out and removed without me doing anything. It's wonderful. Do not miss the sand

What camera do you use for the underwater shots?

What kind of seaweed do you use.

Good video bro. What's up with a frag of that sps at 3:00?

Is that a long tentacle plate coral?? Very hard to keep coral!!!!! 😔😔😔😔😔

Make a DIY rack out of light diffuser panel & zip ties, add whatever you can fit from a quart box of Marine Pure balls, putting this in your system a few weeks before removing your sand should give you way more beneficial bacteria than you'll be removing! Even though you'll be replacing more bacteria then you're removing do as they say, take plenty of time removing your sand, nothing good happens fast in this hobby!

bare bottom tanks imo are always more beautiful

I think the sand beds clog up with detritus just a few millimeters below the surface and then run out of oxygen and cant decompose anything effectively anymore that's when you start having problems. Have to manually flip it around a few times a year.

Great video man. I have one question. How deep is a deep sand bed?

My tank is only a few weeks old. Should I still take a few months? Only have one eel and several corals in the tank.

Bare bottom all the way! Finally convinced her to let me go with no sand for her new tank

I never want a reef that looks like this. You do what you do, but what is the real point of it?

Can you do a half and half?

It's very hard to clean with substrate. Plus, the smell is...

What is that the fish are eating

Those fish are eating really well.

Haha you can't beat a good looking bare bottom 😂😂😂😂😂

Ahh... yes... bare bottom vs sand.... the one subject possibly more contentious than lighting. I prefer a Deep Sand bed.

Wish I knew this a month ago :(

barebottom is the easiest and cleanest way to maintain a fish tank if you have a strong filteration system.you put any sand into your tank only leaves you dirt and a lot of troubles need you to clean up very often. If you don't then your fish would easily get sick and die But if you do not put any sand then all the aquariums will lose a lot of money can earn. That is why the aquarium will not tell you the truth. People don't like to use barebottom it's because they think it's ugly and looks unnatural but don't forget one thing that is your fish tanks filtration system no matter how strong it is still can never compare with nature river water

seems like dog was running after you.