Bare bottom vs sand

[xraycer]

the sand I got with the fish tank is very fine and I'm afraid of anaerobic bacteria forming if its too deep. plus finding a cheap (affordable) aquarium sand where I live its like trying to buy an elephant!

IMHO anaerobic activity is over rated. I've seen so many tanks with a deep layer of substrate that's been running for years with no anaerobic issues.....including my 3 year old 75gal set-up.

In regards to sand, don't you guys have pool filter sand in the UK? They are super cheap over here in the USA

You shouldn't need too much. Just enough to cover the bottom and a little extra should be good. You don't have to have sand, but I think that having sand is better for the fish and makes the tank more pleasant to look at

+1.

Do what you want to do, whether it be bare or substrate, and don't let what's "popular" influence you.....its your tank

 

[Justynkak]

Hmm ok guys thank you for your replies I'll add enough sand to cover the bottom, loads of bog wood and stones and some plants that I can stick to the bog wood and the glass jars for bigger plants like Amazon sword they are really cool like that, believe me!

 

[SawickiB]

Yea, i prefer sand and lot of decorations, i dont get to see my fish as much, but when i do its much more memorable, and i know if they arent hiding normally then theres something wrong, I have about a 4-5" deep sand bed lol with no plants, i may be asking for trouble but its been set up for about a year now with no issues. Well i do have geos and a L25 that moves sand all the time though haha.

I have a mix of pool filter sand and black sand, looks great, has big grains and even though i never see poop because of my excessive cleaning it would usually sit on top anyway.