Benefits of Barebotom over sand?

[Jflip2002]

Fly, think barnacle blennies are ok? And Will be LMB be ok, in the BB?

[Twitterbait]

LMB will be fine but you will need to feed nori.

[Dagrape]

Originally Posted by Fly Guy

Negatives are that quite a few fish are not an option.

I was under the impression that due to running less nutrient you could have WAY more fish in a BB!

[combiemaster]

do you still get a shimmer on the bottom if you go BB because the shimmer on the sand really kicks arse!

[tperk9784]

Originally Posted by Dagrape

I was under the impression that due to running less nutrient you could have WAY more fish in a BB!

He is not talking about NUmbers of fish only varieties of fish. IE fish that need sand to thrive.

[Jflip2002]

Jeez. you can keep 0 of sand dwelling fish. But you can keep lets say 5 tangs as opposed to a normal 3 you would keep with a SB. Less variety, more quantity.

[gwaco]

as mentioned , you can have lots of flow , easy to keep bottom clean , no sand blowing around is easier on your equipment , don't need to go crazy with the alk and calcium levels . you can keep as many fish as your equipment allow . i have around 20 fish in my 180 , and some of them are getting really big . i have had a watchmen goby in a barebottom tank for around 2 years , and it doesn't seem to mind that theres no sand , but he does have a nice pvc home with a couple of elbows on the ends ( i don;t think you could even talk him into trading it for sand ! )
you can also have more room for corals since you can place them on the bottom , providing you have enough light . which brings the point of you may get away with less light used , say a 250 watt versus a 400 watt . you don't have to sit and guess when your sand bed is full .
thats my 2 cents !

[gwaco]

Originally Posted by Jflip2002

Jeez. you can keep 0 of sand dwelling fish. But you can keep lets say 5 tangs as opposed to a normal 3 you would keep with a SB. Less variety, more quantity.

maybe but there are an awful lot of fish that don't need sand , so i guess it depends on whether you "have" to have fish that dig up sand .

[Geoff]

the only fish i would not keep in a BB tank are: garden eels, jawfish, and anything that depends on sand sifting to feed itself. everything else is fair game. i have several wrasses in my tank now, no problem. i keep clams no problem. i have kept conchs on a BB tank no problem. there is actually very few critters that NEED sand. most those have a horrible track record in the aquarium anyway.

G~

[pito]

What about engineer gobies?

[Geoff]

Engineer gobies do just fine hiding in the LR, that is if you want the goby because of what it is or for what it does.

G~

[pito]

I'd want it because of what it is

[Geoff]

as long as it is not for its ability to dig tunnels and pop its head out of the sand than it will do fine as long as you have plenty of nooks and crannies in the LR. if you have very little LR and it is all wide open, then i would suggest against getting one.

G~