is sand really necessary in a tank

[ml708]

apart from keeping bottom dwelling fish and jawfish of course.

some people frown upon keeping fishes without sand but I don't understand the reason

[tofubox]

If u are keeping fishes that don't require sand, than no issue, personal preference.

[ml708]

If u are keeping fishes that don't require sand, than no issue, personal preference.

I see, so sand does not have much use in buffering KH or as a substrate for facultative anaerobes?

[xiggie]

Yes they do .. That have surface area which holds beneficial bacteria .

[magical26]

To me its more of aesthetics... Bare bottom tanks dont really look as realistic as the ocean. Sand does hold beneficial bacteria, but accumulates detritus in it (that are not easy to spot as compared to bare bottom). Thus, some people might feel the cons of nitrates in the long run out-weight the benefit of sand. Thats why some very serious SPS keepers prefer no sand, plus they can increase wave flow without the fear of a sandstorm. Just my 2 cents only...

[ml708]

anyone with bare bottom tanks with moderate fish stocking able to achieve close to zero nitrates?

[xiggie]

Me

[ml708]

nice, how do you do it?

[asg]

If go bb your tang dragonnet hermit snail etc will have less feeding ground.

Go look at a bb tank and one with sand, it is easy to judge which is more natural.

[xiggie]

Live rocks , cheato, mangrove, upflow scrubber ,biosphere and phosguard.

Bioload

Yellow tang

Tomini tang

2 clown

damsel

Sixline

Hermit

10+ snails

3,2,2 display with sump

[ml708]

that looks impressive. I guess my problem was that I had dirt stuck in my sump. When I switched off a return pump and switched it on again, loads of stuff flew out from the water outlet into the tank. in the process of cleaning it now.

[Nox]

Ever since I removed the sand, I realize there is no difference for me. When I sit down and look at my tank I can't even see the bottom, only when standing in front of it then you notice it . Much easier to keep clean !

[dreamscape]

Any easy way to remove the sand without stirring up all the build up detritus ? Thinking of clearing the sand to ease my maintenance and to keep the nutrient low

[ml708]

Any easy way to remove the sand without stirring up all the build up detritus ? Thinking of clearing the sand to ease my maintenance and to keep the nutrient low

for me I blow at the sand with my wave maker

[dreamscape]

Blowing at the sand will indeed prevent detritus from settling on it. I will probably need to add wave maker to create more current. I only have less than one inch of sand hence thinking of removing it since it is not contributing much to the biological filtration