Anyone Here Have Barebottom Tanks?

[guppy_man]

hi, ive had my 39gal tank setup for a while now and i was thinking of taking all the gravel out of it and just having a bare bottom.
What i wanted to know is, is there anyone here that has tanks over 30gallons, that have no substrate, and is it easier to clean, and how does it look?
if you can, can you post a couple of pics.

thanx

 

[saboy]

I think it looks boring, thought it is easier to clean, but it just doesnt look natural, but then if all you care about is the fish, then its fine

 

[Tolak]

13 ot of my 16 tanks are bare bottom. It's much easier to keep clean, you can see exactly what you are dealing with. Check out http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=138615&hl= for some pics.

 

[Chri$]

I'd stick with gravel, looks much better

 

[catfish_mad]

I'd go with sand mate. its just as easy to clean as bare bottom as the dirt sits on top of the sand

 

[Qays]

theres no doubt about it, bare bottom tanks are sooo much easier to clean.

With gravel: You cant see dirt or debris and it can travel too the bottom

With sand:You can see the dirt, but if some gets wedged between the sand and goes to the bottom, you may develop anaerobic pockets of death. its also hard to clean

Go for it if you dont care about the look of your tank. Generally, fish feel safer with substrate, but if you have a dark wooden surface under the tank, then its fine.

Also, dont keep bottom dwellers, im sure they wouldnt feel at home.

 

[Teelie]

Anaerobic pockets are only a problem with sand 2+" deep. Anything below that is fine. I've had sand in all my tanks for years with no troubles.

 

[cane76]

try it out and see if you like it i dont think it makes any difference if you maintain the tank properly.i keep my piranha tank bare bottom

 

[Tolak]

I don't see any way you could keep a tank with substrate of any sort as clean as a tank with none at all. You can use a straight siphon tube with a bare tank, the water flow into that sucks up everything, including gravel. The lesser water flow with a vac leaves some debris. I've used a straight hose to remove gravel from a tank, it gives you a bucket full of gravel & filthy water. This unseen filth is in the substrate.

When breeding or keeping more sensitive fish you have to wipe the bottom & sides of the tank, paper towels work best for this. Good luck wiping the bottom of a tank with substrate, I have no idea how you would pull this off.

As far as bottom feeders such as cory are concerned, they do great in a bare tank. The bottom is totally smooth, no damage to the barbels is possible. The get big quick, they don't have to work for the food, it's right there. Breeders keep them in bare tanks, if a tank with substrate worked better, they would put in substrate in a heartbeat.

As far as looks, bare tanks take some getting used to. Even with my bare tanks, I toss in a weighted or floating plant or two, and usually a piece of driftwood.

 

[guppymonkey]

Barebottom tanks are really hard to keep clean. Anything shows. They look horrible if you don't clean them constantly, otherwise there is always little piles of rotting stuff all over the bottom. Most fish don't like being in a bare bottomed tank also. Some large cichlids will basically just freak out in such a situation. Without gravel to move around large cichlids are more prone to breaking tank equipment like heaters and intake tubes for filters.

 

[Tolak]

Barebottom tanks are really hard to keep clean. Anything shows. They look horrible if you don't clean them constantly, otherwise there is always little piles of rotting stuff all over the bottom. Most fish don't like being in a bare bottomed tank also. Some large cichlids will basically just freak out in such a situation. Without gravel to move around large cichlids are more prone to breaking tank equipment like heaters and intake tubes for filters.

Actually bare tanks are easier to keep clean, it takes less time to siphon the bare bottom than to work on the gravel in a tank with substrate. I have a couple of 55's one bare, one with substrate next to each other. It takes half the time to clean the bottom of the bare tank.

Of course everything shows, that's what makes them easier to clean. You are only siphoning a few select spots, rather than the whole bottom. If you clean them weekly they look the same as a tank with substrate. If you have piles of rotting stuff all over the bottom you are either overfeeding, have inadequate filtration, or are really skimping on maintenance.

It is generally accepted that breeding fish are happy fish. Every breeder I know of uses bare tanks, with the exception of those breeding egg scatterers. This covers many cichlids, livebearers, cats, and some oddballs. It comes close to most fish. If they weren't happy, they wouldn't be breeding.

I've seen many breeders & shops with large cichlids in bare tanks, these fish weren't freaking out. Some do like to have some gravel to move around, most all like to break heaters, filters, thermometers, you name it. Some pieces of pvc pipe, and a few weighted plants give them the diversion they need & saves wear & tear on the hardware. With your really large aggressive cichlids you are dealing with a sump filtration system, leaving no heater of filter intakes in the tank to worry about. I have never heard of anyone's fish snapping off an overflow. I have seen large aggressive cichlids claim territory outside of the tank as theirs, if you get too close to the tank, they get territorial. Sometimes ramming the glass on the sides is involved, I've never seen one ram the bottom. They are freaking out because you are an invader to their territory, not because of the bottom.

 

[Tommy Gunnz]

Just wondering one thing...doesnt having a substrate help with the growth of the benificial bacteria that tanks need? I had a barebottom tank for about two weeks, but that was because I was waiting to decide what decorations and background I wanted. I had four small fish in there to help the tank cycle but then I was told that the tank would cycle faster and better if I had some sort of substrate in there. I would also have to agree that with a barebottom tank, every single time a fish would create waste, it would be immediately visable.

My thinking as to what a fish tank should be is that it is something created to not only keep fish in, but also to look at. So, I think a barebottom tank would just detract from the fish. Also, isn't it not important to keep fish in an environment which is at least somewhat stimulating? I mean, think about it, keeping a fish in a tank with nothing in it would be equal to keeping you in a prison cell! I dont mean to be really judgemental here, but you are not keeping pictures of fish, you are keeping living things. Put yourself into the fish's shoes (pardon the expression) for a minute and THEN decorate your tank the way you want. If you dont have time to clean up some gravel once a week, then maybe you should collect art instead.

 

[starrynightxxi]

the waste being visible is no different than in a tank with sand. and substrate does not necessarily make a tank more or less stimulating. Only bottom dwellers who like to burrow would really be affected by it, and there are a few ways ways around that.

i can see how a bare bottom tank might be attractive in a clean contemporary sort of way, but it would take meticulous care with decorations. I personally prefer tanks with substrate, but if someone did an excellent job with their aquascaping, then i would have no problem with bare bottom.

 

[andywg]

My thinking as to what a fish tank should be is that it is something created to not only keep fish in, but also to look at. So, I think a barebottom tank would just detract from the fish. Also, isn't it not important to keep fish in an environment which is at least somewhat stimulating? I mean, think about it, keeping a fish in a tank with nothing in it would be equal to keeping you in a prison cell! I dont mean to be really judgemental here, but you are not keeping pictures of fish, you are keeping living things. Put yourself into the fish's shoes (pardon the expression) for a minute and THEN decorate your tank the way you want. If you dont have time to clean up some gravel once a week, then maybe you should collect art instead.

My first desire would be a clean environment without debris rotting under my "feet" so gravel would be out straight away. The only way to keep gravel free of detritus would be to vigorously vac the whole bottom (moving all things inside it) frequently, so gravel is out as an ideal substrate for fish without causing some fair distrubance of all fish in the maintenance.

Now, how many fish find sand stimulating? How often are they sitting there appreciating the wondrous nature of sand? Some pick at it looking for food, though without the sand they can find the food quicker. What does the average snakehead or bala shark care if the bogwood he swims over is on bare glass or sand? Some of my tanks have areas where the sand is so thin the glass is showing, I don't notice the fish finding those areas uninspiring, in fact that is where the fish tend to hang out most the time.

Those that actively bury in sand would likely be having problems, but anything else is not going to have much trouble. No matter how often you clean any tank with a substrate, you will not get it as clean as bare bottom (which is why a fair few marine keepers use bare bottom on larger pred tanks).

As to your last statement, most people who keep bare bottom tanks are obsessively cleaning their tanks, and doing it far more thoroughly than those who view the aquarium as an overall art picture to be asthetically pleasing as much as having the best conditions for the fish. Barebottom is rarely empty, there will still be some fake (and some real) plants and bogwood, just without sand or gravel.

 

[Tolak]

Just wondering one thing...doesnt having a substrate help with the growth of the benificial bacteria that tanks need? I had a barebottom tank for about two weeks, but that was because I was waiting to decide what decorations and background I wanted. I had four small fish in there to help the tank cycle but then I was told that the tank would cycle faster and better if I had some sort of substrate in there. I would also have to agree that with a barebottom tank, every single time a fish would create waste, it would be immediately visable.

My thinking as to what a fish tank should be is that it is something created to not only keep fish in, but also to look at. So, I think a barebottom tank would just detract from the fish. Also, isn't it not important to keep fish in an environment which is at least somewhat stimulating? I mean, think about it, keeping a fish in a tank with nothing in it would be equal to keeping you in a prison cell! I dont mean to be really judgemental here, but you are not keeping pictures of fish, you are keeping living things. Put yourself into the fish's shoes (pardon the expression) for a minute and THEN decorate your tank the way you want. If you dont have time to clean up some gravel once a week, then maybe you should collect art instead.

Substrate does little for the growth of nitrifying bacteria unless you have an ugf. The majority of your nitrifying bacteria are contained in the filter media. I’ve siphoned gravel out of a fully stocked mature tank, leaving it bare, with no ammo or nitrite spike.

If every piece of debris is visible on the bottom of a tank, you have a circulation and/or a filtration problem. This will do unnoticed in a tank with gravel. Powerheads are a great thing for bare tanks. Drop one on the bottom, and let your filter do its thing.

If you’ve ever seen fish being judged at a show, you will see nothing but fish. There are no plants, no driftwood, no substrate, nothing, just water, fish, and necessary equipment for the well being of the fish. The reason is that decorations detract from viewing the fish, not enhance it.

If you really cared about your fish being in a more natural environment, you would pack them up, and send them back to South America, Africa, or wherever they originated from. That would be their most natural environment. I’m sure they will appreciate the native diseases, as well as the stress from aquatic & land borne predators. The lack of food will also help to cull the weak.

Once again, keeping a bare tank doesn’t necessarily mean keeping nothing in it. If you check the link I posted previously, you will see bare tanks with plants, driftwood, a couple rocks, PVC, all sorts of things. These things are there to provide a little stimulation, make certain fish feel more comfortable, and to make the tanks a little easier on the eyes. They are not there to make my wallet lighter; they are there for the benefit of the fish.

Like I stated before, I have a 55 with substrate next to a bare 55. They are stocked about the same, the bare tank has produced several pairs of angels, the one with gravel has just recently produced one pair. Unless you have taken the time to set up a couple of tanks to do a comparison, you never will know. If you don’t have the time to do such a comparison, perhaps you should turn off the computer & get such a setup going instead of lipping off about art.