Are Fish Particularly Bothered If.........

[Shelster]

There is no substrate?


In a couple of months time I'm going to be setting up tank #4

Only this weekend I did some tank swapping for my plakat and black neons, during the swap I put them in a hospital tank, as I also managed to sell their old tank, and kept the bacteria viable for the person who took tank on. Anyway..... Basically I hadn't bothered with a substrate, and to be honest, it looked good!

My 4th tank is a 35 litre arc which I have been patiently waiting for permission to set up somewhere in the house - and it's been granted I of course am going to get betta #3 yep I bloomin love them!

My plan is some lovely pieces of bogwood with Anubias attached, therefore a substrate wouldn't be necessary for planting.

Would this bother the betta? It's going to be only him in there.

Any thoughts?

Have any of you done this before?

All opinions welcome

 

[fluttermoth]

I've found that fish tend to be paler in colour and more nervous with no substrate.
 
I always have something on the tank base; even in fry tanks. Even a thin sprinkle of sand makes lot of difference IME.

 

[Meeresstille]

Is it that you like the look of the glass or is it that it is easier to clean? Was just thinking that if it is the idea of debris hiding in the substrate that is bothering you if some kind of background that is used inside the tank (3D?) could be used as the bottom?

 

[Shelster]

Thanks for the replies guys.

It's a bit of both really, I thought faeces would be super easy to siphon out each water change, rather than swirl over the surface of the sand to suck it up.

But a sprinkling of sand is no trouble either - the other reason was prevention of scratches on the glass - my nano 40 already has one

 

[Starletta]

I have just a very light sprinkling of gravel on the bottom of my tank and my fish don't seem bothered by it. Some areas it it piled up a bit, some areas are totally void of it.  Find it much easier to vacuum.  I have my plants in small Terra Cotta flower pots and use gravel, like you would use soil if you planted flowers.

 

[Skies]

As long as the fish you keep aren't burrowing fish, then having a bare bottom tank shouldn't be a problem at all, as long as you provide lot of hiding places for your betta. I love bare bottom tanks, WAY easier to clean, and you can make them look pretty with simplicity.