Hey guys and gals, I'm having a tough decision here with setting up my new 450g with substrate or bare tank...Now I like having sand/gravel and with my new tank it has bottom braces with alot of silicone blasted everywhere for reinforcement which doesn't look appealing. On the other hand though I don't mind bare tank due to easier maintainence especially for such a large tank and it won't cost me an arm to fill up the 450g with gravel. I thought about cheaper playground box sand from home depot but would it clog my FX5's? Tough decision. What would u do?
Substrate or Bare on large tank?
- Thread starter Crazyfish88
- Start date
For some reason, tanks with no substrate and no backing (with wires showing through) look very unfinished to me. They look like temporary holding tanks. Just my personal opinion, hopefully still worth 2 cents. 
No way, bare is fugly 
I voted sand, but instead of playsand I'd get get pool filter sand from a local pool supply store, wayyyyy easier to clean. It's also heavier than playsand so it shouldn't get into your filters. What's your tank's footprint? In my tank I bought 100lbs of sand and it's more than enough (footprint is 9 sq. ft). Figure 10lbs/sq. ft. roughly. If you don't have it really deep you can treat it like barebottom, just go over it with a siphon when you do water changes. I just think it looks nicer with something on the bottom and some kind of background, even painted.
I voted sand, but instead of playsand I'd get get pool filter sand from a local pool supply store, wayyyyy easier to clean. It's also heavier than playsand so it shouldn't get into your filters. What's your tank's footprint? In my tank I bought 100lbs of sand and it's more than enough (footprint is 9 sq. ft). Figure 10lbs/sq. ft. roughly. If you don't have it really deep you can treat it like barebottom, just go over it with a siphon when you do water changes. I just think it looks nicer with something on the bottom and some kind of background, even painted.
I cant stand barebottom tanks (though I have about 10 that are hidden away in basement for only me to see). Anything that is in main living areas that people see I just think it looks horrible.
Cost should not be much of an issue as long as you not too picky on your gravel/sand. I dont like sand personally, but that is very cheap for pool or playground sand. Or for gravel you can get 50# bags for just a few dollars at the big box home improvement stores or landscaping centers. As long as you not looking for artificial colors or specialty substrate (like the African cichlid substrates or special planted aquarium substrates they sell) there is no reason why the pet store gravel is any better than the stuff you get in landscaping areas (other than may need more rinsing).
Cost should not be much of an issue as long as you not too picky on your gravel/sand. I dont like sand personally, but that is very cheap for pool or playground sand. Or for gravel you can get 50# bags for just a few dollars at the big box home improvement stores or landscaping centers. As long as you not looking for artificial colors or specialty substrate (like the African cichlid substrates or special planted aquarium substrates they sell) there is no reason why the pet store gravel is any better than the stuff you get in landscaping areas (other than may need more rinsing).
I bought over 360 pounds of 1' native river rock for 10$ from a local landscaping store. They sell it by the ton so it was super cheap. Try that, because to me nothing looks more tacky and unfinished than a bare bottom tank... again, this is my own opinion