Thanks for the video! I am currently contemplating ditching the Sand Bed and going Bare Bottom. Looking at the way you went about this, I am thinking I will go the same route as it seems like the most logical way to make such a drastic change with minimal impact.
Very good report! Looks great! Colors became stronger with the absence of nutrients/detritus collected in the substrate. Besides the extra light from reflection too.
went barebottom three months ago, never been happier! As have a very deep tank, took 5 weekends to take the sand out. Best thing ever! Since then my PO4/NO3 have been manageable, colors are great, growth even better. You can direct flow however you want.
What a great, informative video! Thanks man! I wish you would have included a full tank shot or two though. Really wanted to get a look at the white painted bottom glass through the whole tank :)
i did it a bit different, with a damsel that loved to dig under rocks and make its own cave every other day i would get spikes from the deep sand bed. and got sick of it. year old sand so not the worst it could be, but i was jsut tired of dealing with it even though i love the look. ater reading and watching everything i could about removing sand i rolled the dice and did it my way. 1 i set up a 50g tank on the floor next to my 125g. pump and heat but no light or sump. its a temp set up. 2 i pumped it full of my tanks water and moved corals and fish into the temp tank. 3 moved rocks into tubs and filled them with tank water and dropped a PH in each tanking the main tanks water to a inch above the sand so i didnt disturb it. 4 after all the criters was moved and rocks in tubs i finished draining the tank into buckets and dumped that water. scooped 100% of the sand out and washed the tank out and wiped dry. 5 i put all my rocks back into the tank and get it all set back up with only one of my aquscapes getting damaged ;[ have to re-glue that.. waiting on BRS to get it the glue to me .... 6 i then added all the water from the tubs and 90% from the temp tank, then corals, broke one of my sps..... now i have frags ;] then the fish. then topped off the water with a 20%ish water change replacing what i didn't use. my thoughts on doing it this way, 1 the water is still what the everything has been using + a water change. 2 nothing to blow up on me since there was nothing in the tank to blow up. and if anything the tank might not have the bio to keep up for a week or so. 3 so checking water 2 times a day, going to add up the $$$ doing that but i want to see what is what. and so far nothing has changed. iv had to over feed to keep thing even and so far that has not changed. my alk has dropped some but nothing im worried is going to crash, and i can sup if needed. in short i rolled the dice and so far 1 week into this im still good but time will tell if i get a crash. either way after the smell of that sand im glad i did it. could go my hole life and never smell that and its to soon. and i dont know how with that smell of death it could of been good for my tank. Small mini cycle, lost 2 of my small chalice frags that was very new to the tank, and 2 of my Monti frags also very new from aquasd. Other then that water seams stable agian. Tabk had a hard time catching its self up to the Boi lost from the sand. But I also do not have near as much algae on the glass as I did before. One quick wipe a week.
Just cleaned out my sand today, it was a mess covered in cyano despite running fishless. Took out 80% of water, took sand out and put everything back together so I think it was just like a water change. Hope now thing are more stable. Thanks for the video.
Went well, much easier to maintain, there are two piles of detritus forming just sucking them up and you’re done. Still some cyano on the back wall, but that’s manageable and might disappear. Coralline started growing in power heads Put a fish in a view weeks after and he’s happy.
Well Done for making the change having taken the earlier decision to go with a sand bed, as quite a decision to make in your Display Tank without pre testing this using a Spare Tank? Just thinking whether a mirrored glass or silver (Aluminum) foil installed under the glass tank base would reflect the LED/T5 light back up the water column to provide double light intensity, so equivalent to maximum water flow, as unsure whether this would increase coral growth or help to reduce the light intensity day duration?
I've decided to go barebottom and currently vacuuming out as I perform water changes. I dont understand why so many hobbiest reccomend using the filter sock to catch the sand and send water back into the sump bc the water and sand I'm removing is dark as hell
Beautiful tank and great video! One thing I don't understand is that in most videos I see people trying to get rid of phosphates and nitrates and in this one you talk about raising them. I don't have an aquarium, but I'm thinking about getting one, so I'm trying my best to learn.
When people get rid of both, they are usually at a high amount. Mine both dropped low, almost undetectable. When that happens the corals don't like it, that's why I try to keep them elevated to acceptable levels.
barebottom is the easiest and cleanest way to maintain a fish tank if you have a strong filtration 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
I placed aluminum foil (shiny side up) under my tank for my bare bottom set up. Everyone talks about SPS dying out from under neath from lac of light. Who knows right- might just do the trick. Beautiful reef you've got!
I have a very thin sand bed basically 7years ago I was told you don't need a deep sand bed so as I'm getting back into the hobby after a divorce 7 years ago I just got done setting up a 40g today and put in a very light sand bed basically just for the look
Alk May have dropped due to no sand helping to buffer your alk/Calc as well... great video. How much of a pain of cleaning algae off the bottom.. yours looks super clean
Sup CJ. I do a water change every week, and only take a scraper to the bottom every other week. I feel as though if I keep this going I will never have to worry about coraline sticking to the bottom. All of my rock is moveable, so it's pretty easy. Algae has never been a big deal in my tank. I clean the viewable sides every water change, no biggie.
Love love love this tank. What kind of paint is safe for an aquarium bottom ? I love the white. Also which light are you using? Those corals look extremely healthy. Can I begin my tank bare bottom or I need to start with sand and gradually take it out ?
Well any paint would work. I didn't paint the inside of the bottom of the tank, I painted the outside bottom of the tank. I am using a custom 6 bulb 24" T5 light with 13UP LEDs. You can start a tank without sand, but in many cases it will take longer to reach stability vs a tank with sand.
The plan for now is to keep the bottom of the tank as pristine as I can, But I can already tell that coraline is starting to take off in certain areas. We will see in time how diligent I can be.
Enjoyed your video, can you tell me how you anchor your frags to the bottom and have them stay put? I saw a Goni on a frag plug. Is it secured with frag glue? Thanks. - Nate. S.Florida
Looking for advice/guidance in steps to: go bare bottom as well as complete break down - 40 gal breeder with 25lb of pukani, 2 clowns, 3 blue chromis, 1 purple dottyback 6 LPS coral (frogspawn,hammers,torch) The rock has to be immersed in large pail with bleach for a week to rid of tons of aptasia & major turf algae. Q: Do I need to buy a small tank 15/20 gal? to store LPS and fish? until getting the existing tank set up completely. Thnx
Yes. I would get a small tank, place all the animals in the small tank. Take the large tank, and completely kill everything not wanted like algae etc. Then slowly cycle the 40, then add everything back slowly with no sand. Hope this helps.
hello sir, I did have questions if I may! will going bare bottom also eliminate pests such as bristle worms? I am TERRIFIED of them and it is literally stopping me from salt water tanks. in addition, I am in love with the goby and shrimp symbiotic relationship, which I am assuming without substrate, I cannot inhabit them. thank you for great content and you got a new subscriber! stay healthy!
Stupid question but I’m pretty sure I already know the answer to but I’m going to ask it, you didn’t paint the inside of the tank I’m assuming but the outside underneath correct?
There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers, so here goes. ;) No, the inside bottom is not painted, rather the outside bottom was painted before setting it up.
Hello , I'm gonna upgrade my tank , actually I have 70 gallons and I'm going to 130 gallons and planning to put just all rocks and water to the new tank and like that start with bare bottom, do you think is a good idea? I'm moving on and I have not too much time to care about all the details. Thank you in advance for your possible help .
If you plan to not add the sand from the pervious tank, try and save all the water from your current system and add that to the new tank. With the rock and water from the previous, that should be enough to kickstart the new system. Although you did not mention if you have corals, fish etc.
@@IanKreer Hi , thanks and yes , I have actually an established 3 years tank with 8 fishes and some big soft Corals and 2 small hammer corals and 5 bubble tip anemones .
You Literally just helped make my decision. Thank god I found this video. Doing a 40 Breeder black back, white bottom. Looks AMAZING. One question, should I put foam under my tank or just but it on plywood? What cha think? Thanks for the video. Amazing tank bro 👍🏼
If its a regular 40 breeder you buy from Petco, you shouldn't need any foam since the 40 breeder comes with a nice plastic base. Normal plywood should work just fine. :)
@@NeoStorm_401 I honestly don't think you would benefit much from an additional layer besides wood. Some tanks do not have a plastic base, and just the glass rests on the stand. In this case yes, I would recommend some kind of foam or rubber pad.
i started with my bare bottom , but i put a methacrylate down , between rock and glass , but accumulate so much dirty. Did you put a glue at the methacrylate? I not put , to the edge go in so much dirty. I don't know is better to take out methacrylate. Thanks What is your tip to me ? I have a Redsea 300 XL
I have a barebottom tank for almost a year & love it but don't like the mirror effect on the bottom. You painted the bottom white on the outside of the tank & know the floor looks white & not mirrored, right ? Looking forward to your answer. Thnks
Yes, correct. I spray painted the bottom of the tank on the outside white. In my tank, I see no mirroring effect, just a solid white. I hope this helps! :)
Alkalinity drop was due to increased uptake by corals as the cleaner water from detritus removal promoted faster growth-same thing I noticed when I removed my sand 2 yrs ago. I also removed sand gradually over 4 wks by removing 25% with each weekly water change. Had to double my kalkwasser concentration and I’ve added Tropic Marin all for reef (one part calcium/alkalinity/trace elements) to keep my alk at 8.5 dkh. My sps growth has taken off. Cleaner water with increased growth has forced me to double the flow on my mp10’s and aquamai kps to keep flow adequate. Also had to rescape my tank by removing half of my base rock to give corals more room and height to grow. Take it as a good sign!
Hey M W, thanks for the reply. I am glad your transfer to bare bottom was a success! I have been thinking about adding All For Reef to my system for a little while now. Did you notice a change when adding the All For Reef to your system? I notice it also includes trace elements. Not sure what Tropic Marin includes in their mix but I am assuming its similar to using a calcium reactor and using crushed coral for trace elements supplementation.
Ian K You’re exactly right! Learned about All for reef from the BRS tour of their reef tanks at company headquarters. Most of the 25-75 gallon reefs run by employees in their cubicles/offices are using it as a one part universal supplement-it provides calcium, alkalinity, magnesium, and trace elements just like a mini calcium reactor. Lot of reefers there even dose it through their dosers to provide everything corals need besides food, flow, and light. I added it to my daily kalkwasser dose because my alkalinity kept dropping to 6.5 despite increasing the concentration. Figured my sps was starting to accelerate growth and kalk wasn’t providing enough elements. I have a 50 gallon mixed reef and just started adding 5 ml (half the instructed first dose for my volume- didn’t want to raise alk too quickly) daily with kalkwasser and that was enough to stabilize alk back to 8.5 (Hanna checker tested). Initially tested daily when I started All for reef. Now I test weekly with water change and it’s been stable so I’m good for now but probably will need to increase as growth continues. I’m very satisfied with the results so far-stability is key. Just got the larger size bottle from BRS so I can continue growing my reef. If BRS guys use it on their reefs it’s good enough for me.
@@MW-ut3dk So wait, you dose Kalk and AFR at the same time? Meaning you add the AFR to your Kalk container, or do you dose from a different container? Either way, I already have a separate dosing system that isn't being used so I could dose it separately. You have sold me on the AFR. Im going to put in an order with BRS with T5's and other gear on Black Friday and I will include the biggest bottle of AFR I can buy. Thank you for the info!
Ian K I dose AFR first, just 5 ml directly to the display tank, and then dose my kalkwasser by hand, both just in front of my mp10 to quickly distribute throughout the tank. I like dosing kalkwasser because I get Ca and alk with pH increase benefits, which has been shown by BRS to increase coral growth rates. It’s effective, safe (don’t have to worry about doser failures), and cheap as hell! Don’t mix the two agents in the same dosing container- don’t know what kind of nasty chemical reaction that would cause-dose separately. If you’re adding kalk via ATO keep that going and just start by adding AFR at half the initial dose recommended on the label. Test alk daily and adjust AFR as needed to reach the alk levels you want ( or calcium levels you want depending on what you test for). There’s actually a thread on Reef2Reef started by BRS about how you can make your own AFR solution for less cost than buying the premixed solution, but the cost savings for my small reef would not make it worth my time ($7 is not enough savings to justify the lost time).
@@IanKreer thanks for the response. I currently have a 300 gallon glass tank that is six years old with sand. I am moving to a 700 gallon acrylic. I have never had an acrylic tank so I am paranoid. What paint did you use? I was thinking Rustoleum oil based. Did you use a bright white?
@@MrPdice Sure, no problem. I usually stick to the brand "Rust-Oleum", and they do make spray paints that are acrylic safe. But to be honest, I do not think it really matters all that much. Try and focus more on making sure the bottom is first polished as best as you can, and perfectly clean for painting so it sticks well. I used the brightest white I could find, but its all personal preference. A light tan may look better, and give a typical sand look rather than white. Good luck, I would love to see the results! :)
Last time I tested was 2 years ago. My bulb combination was 3 B+, 1 Purple, 1 actinic, 1 Coral+. Top of water was 400, top of sand (when I had it) was 250. I now have 4 Blue+ and 2 Coral+ so I am guessing the par is higher.
I felt the same way. There was absolutely no way I was removing the sand. 10 years later, well that changed. Hit me up in another 5 years and let me know if you have sand. :)
@@IanKreer In 10 years it's likely that sand is all that's gonna be in my tank. I will be very surprised if there's a single reef tank left in the world by 2040.
Thanks for the video! I am currently contemplating ditching the Sand Bed and going Bare Bottom. Looking at the way you went about this, I am thinking I will go the same route as it seems like the most logical way to make such a drastic change with minimal impact.
Wow your tank is amazing! I am starting a new build and definitely going bare bottom! I love the idea of painting the bottom white. Thank you.
Very good report! Looks great! Colors became stronger with the absence of nutrients/detritus collected in the substrate. Besides the extra light from reflection too.
went barebottom three months ago, never been happier! As have a very deep tank, took 5 weekends to take the sand out. Best thing ever! Since then my PO4/NO3 have been manageable, colors are great, growth even better. You can direct flow however you want.
Amazing looking corals
What a great, informative video! Thanks man! I wish you would have included a full tank shot or two though. Really wanted to get a look at the white painted bottom glass through the whole tank :)
Thanks Josh Houser! In the coming weeks I will do another tank update, so please subscribe if you haven't already to keep up to date with my videos.
Interesting results 👍🏾👍🏾
i did it a bit different, with a damsel that loved to dig under rocks and make its own cave every other day i would get spikes from the deep sand bed. and got sick of it. year old sand so not the worst it could be, but i was jsut tired of dealing with it even though i love the look.
ater reading and watching everything i could about removing sand i rolled the dice and did it my way.
1 i set up a 50g tank on the floor next to my 125g. pump and heat but no light or sump. its a temp set up.
2 i pumped it full of my tanks water and moved corals and fish into the temp tank.
3 moved rocks into tubs and filled them with tank water and dropped a PH in each tanking the main tanks water to a inch above the sand so i didnt disturb it.
4 after all the criters was moved and rocks in tubs i finished draining the tank into buckets and dumped that water. scooped 100% of the sand out and washed the tank out and wiped dry.
5 i put all my rocks back into the tank and get it all set back up with only one of my aquscapes getting damaged ;[ have to re-glue that.. waiting on BRS to get it the glue to me ....
6 i then added all the water from the tubs and 90% from the temp tank, then corals, broke one of my sps..... now i have frags ;] then the fish.
then topped off the water with a 20%ish water change replacing what i didn't use.
my thoughts on doing it this way,
1 the water is still what the everything has been using + a water change.
2 nothing to blow up on me since there was nothing in the tank to blow up. and if anything the tank might not have the bio to keep up for a week or so.
3 so checking water 2 times a day, going to add up the $$$ doing that but i want to see what is what. and so far nothing has changed. iv had to over feed to keep thing even and so far that has not changed. my alk has dropped some but nothing im worried is going to crash, and i can sup if needed.
in short i rolled the dice and so far 1 week into this im still good but time will tell if i get a crash. either way after the smell of that sand im glad i did it. could go my hole life and never smell that and its to soon. and i dont know how with that smell of death it could of been good for my tank.
Small mini cycle, lost 2 of my small chalice frags that was very new to the tank, and 2 of my Monti frags also very new from aquasd. Other then that water seams stable agian. Tabk had a hard time catching its self up to the Boi lost from the sand. But I also do not have near as much algae on the glass as I did before. One quick wipe a week.
Just cleaned out my sand today, it was a mess covered in cyano despite running fishless. Took out 80% of water, took sand out and put everything back together so I think it was just like a water change. Hope now thing are more stable. Thanks for the video.
How did it go? With fish you would've murdered it taking the bacteria out like that.
Went well, much easier to maintain, there are two piles of detritus forming just sucking them up and you’re done. Still some cyano on the back wall, but that’s manageable and might disappear. Coralline started growing in power heads Put a fish in a view weeks after and he’s happy.
Well Done for making the change having taken the earlier decision to go with a sand bed, as quite a decision to make in your Display Tank without pre testing this using a Spare Tank? Just thinking whether a mirrored glass or silver (Aluminum) foil installed under the glass tank base would reflect the LED/T5 light back up the water column to provide double light intensity, so equivalent to maximum water flow, as unsure whether this would increase coral growth or help to reduce the light intensity day duration?
I've decided to go barebottom and currently vacuuming out as I perform water changes. I dont understand why so many hobbiest reccomend using the filter sock to catch the sand and send water back into the sump bc the water and sand I'm removing is dark as hell
Yeah! It does get pretty nasty!
Looks amazing. I'm thinking about starting ( restart and upgrade ) from a 90 to a 150 gallon with a white bare bottom tank
Go for it!
Beautiful tank and great video!
One thing I don't understand is that in most videos I see people trying to get rid of phosphates and nitrates and in this one you talk about raising them. I don't have an aquarium, but I'm thinking about getting one, so I'm trying my best to learn.
When people get rid of both, they are usually at a high amount. Mine both dropped low, almost undetectable. When that happens the corals don't like it, that's why I try to keep them elevated to acceptable levels.
@@IanKreer thank you for replying. Much appreciated :)
I just took all my sand out and my water has never looked better. My fancy goldfish don’t seem to mind. Wish me luck thanks for the video!
This video was intended for salt water, but congrats on the sand removal, I hope everything goes well with your tank!
barebottom is the easiest and cleanest way to maintain a fish tank if you have a strong filtration 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
So beautiful! Is it hard to keep the bottom glass as pristine as yours? Thank you!
Thanks
Subscribed !!!
I placed aluminum foil (shiny side up) under my tank for my bare bottom set up. Everyone talks about SPS dying out from under neath from lac of light. Who knows right- might just do the trick. Beautiful reef you've got!
I think you may be the first to have done this, great idea, and thanks!
Interesting. some of my wrasses however sleep in the sand.
I have a very thin sand bed basically 7years ago I was told you don't need a deep sand bed so as I'm getting back into the hobby after a divorce 7 years ago I just got done setting up a 40g today and put in a very light sand bed basically just for the look
Good luck with it!
Alk May have dropped due to no sand helping to buffer your alk/Calc as well... great video. How much of a pain of cleaning algae off the bottom.. yours looks super clean
woah woah is cj gonna be changin ?
Sup CJ. I do a water change every week, and only take a scraper to the bottom every other week. I feel as though if I keep this going I will never have to worry about coraline sticking to the bottom. All of my rock is moveable, so it's pretty easy. Algae has never been a big deal in my tank. I clean the viewable sides every water change, no biggie.
Love love love this tank. What kind of paint is safe for an aquarium bottom ? I love the white. Also which light are you using? Those corals look extremely healthy. Can I begin my tank bare bottom or I need to start with sand and gradually take it out ?
Well any paint would work. I didn't paint the inside of the bottom of the tank, I painted the outside bottom of the tank. I am using a custom 6 bulb 24" T5 light with 13UP LEDs. You can start a tank without sand, but in many cases it will take longer to reach stability vs a tank with sand.
Love this video, very informative, thanks for sharing 👍 Is your plan to keep your bare bottom pristine clean or let coralline encrust it?
The plan for now is to keep the bottom of the tank as pristine as I can, But I can already tell that coraline is starting to take off in certain areas. We will see in time how diligent I can be.
Ian K so you think I should def start with Bare bottom. I really don’t like the sand and what comes with maintaining it anyway. So what cha think?
3:32 I like this part the most. Fish rubbing it butt on a fluffy plant.
Corals actually are animals 🙀
Im a big fan of the bare bottom tank
Enjoyed your video, can you tell me how you anchor your frags to the bottom and have them stay put? I saw a Goni on a frag plug. Is it secured with frag glue? Thanks. - Nate. S.Florida
Good spot! I actually temporarily super glued the tip of the plug to my plastic overflow. ;)
@@IanKreer thanks for the reply👍😊
Looking for advice/guidance in steps to: go bare bottom as well as complete break down - 40 gal breeder with 25lb of pukani, 2 clowns, 3 blue chromis, 1 purple dottyback 6 LPS coral (frogspawn,hammers,torch) The rock has to be immersed in large pail with bleach for a week to rid of tons of aptasia & major turf algae. Q: Do I need to buy a small tank 15/20 gal? to store LPS and fish? until getting the existing tank set up completely. Thnx
Yes. I would get a small tank, place all the animals in the small tank. Take the large tank, and completely kill everything not wanted like algae etc. Then slowly cycle the 40, then add everything back slowly with no sand. Hope this helps.
I think the sand was buffering your system. Could have been why you saw a big drop in ALK. Was it Aragonite?
I was using Reef Flakes.
hello sir, I did have questions if I may! will going bare bottom also eliminate pests such as bristle worms? I am TERRIFIED of them and it is literally stopping me from salt water tanks. in addition, I am in love with the goby and shrimp symbiotic relationship, which I am assuming without substrate, I cannot inhabit them. thank you for great content and you got a new subscriber! stay healthy!
When you get rid of the sand, you also get rid of most of the bristol worms, but not all. The ones that aren't removed stay in the rock.
Bristle worms are your friends. Been reefing for 13 years, without ever getting stung. Never used gloves either... 🙈
How much do you feed and what do you feed? also, when you bumped up the feeding when N&P dropped, how much did you bump it to?
I feed flake food in small amounts 4 times a day, a homemade blend of frozen food once a day, and a very small amount of reef roids at night.
Stupid question but I’m pretty sure I already know the answer to but I’m going to ask it, you didn’t paint the inside of the tank I’m assuming but the outside underneath correct?
There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers, so here goes. ;) No, the inside bottom is not painted, rather the outside bottom was painted before setting it up.
Ian K thank you 😊
Hello , I'm gonna upgrade my tank , actually I have 70 gallons and I'm going to 130 gallons and planning to put just all rocks and water to the new tank and like that start with bare bottom, do you think is a good idea? I'm moving on and I have not too much time to care about all the details.
Thank you in advance for your possible help .
If you plan to not add the sand from the pervious tank, try and save all the water from your current system and add that to the new tank. With the rock and water from the previous, that should be enough to kickstart the new system. Although you did not mention if you have corals, fish etc.
@@IanKreer Hi , thanks and yes , I have actually an established 3 years tank with 8 fishes and some big soft Corals and 2 small hammer corals and 5 bubble tip anemones .
@@pedrovfg If possible, you could always place some of the sand in a bowl in your sump to help start the cycle faster.
Great tank and great video! New sub here...
Thanks Semisuccessful Reefer! Hopefully my videos will help you become more successful. :)
You Literally just helped make my decision. Thank god I found this video. Doing a
40 Breeder black back, white bottom. Looks AMAZING. One question, should I put foam under my tank or just but it on plywood? What cha think? Thanks for the video. Amazing tank bro 👍🏼
If its a regular 40 breeder you buy from Petco, you shouldn't need any foam since the 40 breeder comes with a nice plastic base. Normal plywood should work just fine. :)
Ian K yep! One from Petco I just built the stand Looks awesome. Just was wondering if the extra layer would help secure it. Thanks
@@NeoStorm_401 I honestly don't think you would benefit much from an additional layer besides wood. Some tanks do not have a plastic base, and just the glass rests on the stand. In this case yes, I would recommend some kind of foam or rubber pad.
Ian K thanks for the advice
What salt do you use?
i started with my bare bottom , but i put a methacrylate down , between rock and glass , but accumulate so much dirty. Did you put a glue at the methacrylate?
I not put , to the edge go in so much dirty. I don't know is better to take out methacrylate.
Thanks
What is your tip to me ?
I have a Redsea 300 XL
I don't use methacrylate, my rock is laying on the glass, nothing
@@IanKreer but I see it the color White.🤷
Very very interesting. What are your PO and NO3 values before and after going barebottom ?
My old values before bare bottom were P: 0.9-1.1 N:8ppm. But these values were always fluctuating given the size of my tank (30G)
@@IanKreer Cool . What are your values now ? How old is your tank and what equipment do you employ ? (I also have smallish tank - at about 50G)
@@mihaia6026 My values now are P: 0.5, N:6ppm. My tank is 8 years old. For more info on my tank visit my site: iankreer.com
@@IanKreer 0.5 or 0.05? 0.5 seems pretty high.
I have a barebottom tank for almost a year & love it but don't like the mirror effect on the bottom. You painted the bottom white on the outside of the tank & know the floor looks white & not mirrored, right ? Looking forward to your answer. Thnks
Yes, correct. I spray painted the bottom of the tank on the outside white. In my tank, I see no mirroring effect, just a solid white.
I hope this helps! :)
Thank you so much for answering my question, most of them can't be bothered I huess.. I think I'll try this. Thanks again.@@IanKreer
@@cheryllong995 No worries, I try and respond to everyone as best as I can. Good luck with the project!
What paint did you use.
Did you paint the bottom of your aquarium or it is Styrofoam?
Thank you
The bottom of aquarium is painted white.
Alkalinity drop was due to increased uptake by corals as the cleaner water from detritus removal promoted faster growth-same thing I noticed when I removed my sand 2 yrs ago. I also removed sand gradually over 4 wks by removing 25% with each weekly water change. Had to double my kalkwasser concentration and I’ve added Tropic Marin all for reef (one part calcium/alkalinity/trace elements) to keep my alk at 8.5 dkh. My sps growth has taken off. Cleaner water with increased growth has forced me to double the flow on my mp10’s and aquamai kps to keep flow adequate. Also had to rescape my tank by removing half of my base rock to give corals more room and height to grow. Take it as a good sign!
Hey M W, thanks for the reply. I am glad your transfer to bare bottom was a success! I have been thinking about adding All For Reef to my system for a little while now. Did you notice a change when adding the All For Reef to your system? I notice it also includes trace elements. Not sure what Tropic Marin includes in their mix but I am assuming its similar to using a calcium reactor and using crushed coral for trace elements supplementation.
Ian K You’re exactly right! Learned about All for reef from the BRS tour of their reef tanks at company headquarters. Most of the 25-75 gallon reefs run by employees in their cubicles/offices are using it as a one part universal supplement-it provides calcium, alkalinity, magnesium, and trace elements just like a mini calcium reactor. Lot of reefers there even dose it through their dosers to provide everything corals need besides food, flow, and light. I added it to my daily kalkwasser dose because my alkalinity kept dropping to 6.5 despite increasing the concentration. Figured my sps was starting to accelerate growth and kalk wasn’t providing enough elements. I have a 50 gallon mixed reef and just started adding 5 ml (half the instructed first dose for my volume- didn’t want to raise alk too quickly) daily with kalkwasser and that was enough to stabilize alk back to 8.5 (Hanna checker tested). Initially tested daily when I started All for reef. Now I test weekly with water change and it’s been stable so I’m good for now but probably will need to increase as growth continues. I’m very satisfied with the results so far-stability is key. Just got the larger size bottle from BRS so I can continue growing my reef. If BRS guys use it on their reefs it’s good enough for me.
@@MW-ut3dk So wait, you dose Kalk and AFR at the same time? Meaning you add the AFR to your Kalk container, or do you dose from a different container? Either way, I already have a separate dosing system that isn't being used so I could dose it separately. You have sold me on the AFR. Im going to put in an order with BRS with T5's and other gear on Black Friday and I will include the biggest bottle of AFR I can buy. Thank you for the info!
Ian K I dose AFR first, just 5 ml directly to the display tank, and then dose my kalkwasser by hand, both just in front of my mp10 to quickly distribute throughout the tank. I like dosing kalkwasser because I get Ca and alk with pH increase benefits, which has been shown by BRS to increase coral growth rates. It’s effective, safe (don’t have to worry about doser failures), and cheap as hell! Don’t mix the two agents in the same dosing container- don’t know what kind of nasty chemical reaction that would cause-dose separately. If you’re adding kalk via ATO keep that going and just start by adding AFR at half the initial dose recommended on the label. Test alk daily and adjust AFR as needed to reach the alk levels you want ( or calcium levels you want depending on what you test for). There’s actually a thread on Reef2Reef started by BRS about how you can make your own AFR solution for less cost than buying the premixed solution, but the cost savings for my small reef would not make it worth my time ($7 is not enough savings to justify the lost time).
Seems like for consistent stable water Bear bottom might be the way after all
I can't comment on going bear bottom, that sounds super dangerous. But I can say after going bare bottom my tank was much more stable! ;)
I have a new 150 gallon reef tank, I was thinking of going barebottom. Any advice?
If you decide to go bare bottom, remove the sand out slowly and test often. :)
How do you remove the sand substrate? I’ve problem scooping out the sand.
Use a cup to scoop out, or siphon with a tube.
Thanks.... managed to scooped the sand out using a mini dust pan. 😬😬😬
I have an acrylic tank should I Paint the bottom white our use star board ?
If it were my tank, I would just paint the bottom.
@@IanKreer thanks for the response. I currently have a 300 gallon glass tank that is six years old with sand. I am moving to a 700 gallon acrylic. I have never had an acrylic tank so I am paranoid. What paint did you use? I was thinking Rustoleum oil based. Did you use a bright white?
@@MrPdice Sure, no problem. I usually stick to the brand "Rust-Oleum", and they do make spray paints that are acrylic safe. But to be honest, I do not think it really matters all that much. Try and focus more on making sure the bottom is first polished as best as you can, and perfectly clean for painting so it sticks well. I used the brightest white I could find, but its all personal preference. A light tan may look better, and give a typical sand look rather than white. Good luck, I would love to see the results! :)
Do you know your par from top to bottom
Last time I tested was 2 years ago. My bulb combination was 3 B+, 1 Purple, 1 actinic, 1 Coral+. Top of water was 400, top of sand (when I had it) was 250. I now have 4 Blue+ and 2 Coral+ so I am guessing the par is higher.
How did you remove the sand?
I siphoned a bit out during a water change.
Wow !! i can start without sand ?. my new reef 300 XL. Only with alive rock ?.... cycling the aquarium , when it's ready ..pumm!"! Corals Inside...
I went barebottom
I would translate this info into changing the aquascape if you maybe impulse bought some weird rock and want to go a more Marine orientated rock.
I wanted to go barebottom but my family thought it lookes hideous lol
It's true. Some people like the look, and some don't. Its personal preference.
What is MNP?
N&P, Nitrate and Phosphate
Ok. Thanks, I just hadn’t heard it before.
@@JohnArcycle no worries :)
I would never go barebottom, no matter what. I could get rid of all the corals, all the rock, all the fish, but not the sand... for real.
I felt the same way. There was absolutely no way I was removing the sand. 10 years later, well that changed. Hit me up in another 5 years and let me know if you have sand. :)
@@IanKreer In 10 years it's likely that sand is all that's gonna be in my tank. I will be very surprised if there's a single reef tank left in the world by 2040.