240 GALLON....BARE BOTTOM OR GRAVEL?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
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Candiru
MFK Member
Sep 3, 2008
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hawaii
Im finally on the filtration part of my plywood tank build and started wondering what type of bottom would keep my tank the cleanest and easiest to maintain, BB or gravel. The tank is an 8-2-2ft, and the stock is one oscar, one silver aro, couple of pbass, a jag, and temporarily a pacu. My filtration is a DIY 6-10 gallon Bucket type filter filled with scrubbies, and bio balls that sits above the tank (above because i have no room under the tank), and a couple of power heads. The pump powering the filter will be around 1000gph or more. Im wondering if the tank would stay cleaner if its a bare bottom with a powerhead/submerged pump pushing the waste on the bottom towards the intake pump or the same setup with gravel.
 
Thanks for the info, thats what i thought about the bare bottom too. I dont mind no gravel so bare is fine. Anyone else?
 
Yea bare bottom is easier to maintain. I'd pick gravel for asthetic purposes, but if you like bare-bottom, go with that.
 
bare bottom is easier for clean up but gravel add's a nice decorative touch to the setup. So I guess it's all in what you like best good luck and can't wait to see some pic's

mr.reef24
 
How about sand? Most waste will sit on top of it (same basic benefit as BB), but it looks better than a BB
 
I'm with Andy-go for sand. I know some people think BB looks good but I don't. I've got a tank that size also with dark brown sand. Get a good active bottom feeder (like a FeatherFin cat) and you'll find sand is super easy to keep clean. I syphon the bottom of mine every week with the water change but it literally never looks dirty. The poo always gathers in the same 3 or 4 spots. Gravel only hides the gunk and turns the tank into a nitrate factory :(
 
None of the fish you have can utilize the substrate much but if you are looking into aesthetic reasons, then stick to sand rather than gravel. Keep at least one inch thick of sand only if you don't plan to make your tank planted (which I doubt anyway with all those fish of yours particularly oscars and jags). An inch thick sand should not easily get anaerobic pockets but it doesn't hurt to rake the areas with a chopstick or fork anyway everytime you change the water.

If you opt to go with a barebottom setup, it will work just fine.
 
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