Sand or Bare

[Whynot91]

I'v been pondering over this for a while now and i thought i'd get some feedback

I got sand for my 180 gallon specifically for ray's. I have noticed however that the more experienced ray keepers have bare tank bottoms. I have actually not seen anyone who has sand.

Is this more a preference thing or is bare better for the rays? I heard with sand ray's can choke easy which is strange because in the wild thier natural habitat has sand

Thanks in advance.

 

[johno27]

I think bare bottom is easier to maintain both in appearance and water quality. I have seen plenty of experienced ray keepers that use sand though. I have black sand right now and lets just say my next tank will be tiled because its a pain. It always gets in my filters and it is very challenging to clean without it all ending up in my sink

 

[T1KARMANN]

Lazy fishkeepers don't have sand
If you have good filteration active happy rays and a good clean up crew you will NEVER need to vac the sand

I have a large shoal of tinfoil barbs that eat ray crap as well

A tank with substrate is more stable than a bare tank as good bacteria has the substrate to grow on and with the rays kicking the sand up all the time it's like a giant sand filter

Ray love sand and that's all that matters

 

[bcarlos]

Yeah I keep mine with sand and they are happy as can be. I personally prefer the look of it to bare bottom. The only real downside is that rays love to throw it around and typically your sand ends up at the back of the tank.

End of the day, if you're investing the time and money into rays, you want to do what keeps them happiest, and that's a bottom with sand.

 

[Just Toby]

SAND

 

[johno27]

How do you guys keep the sand out of your filter that is my main problem.

Do you just have your intakes high up?

MY fx5 intake is around mid tank and I still get a layer of sand in the bottom of it when i clean it

I am concerned that I will be replacing a lot of pumps with the filtration I have planned for my new tank if i use sand

 

[keepinfish]

Lazy fishkeepers don't have sand
If you have good filteration active happy rays and a good clean up crew you will NEVER need to vac the sand

I have a large shoal of tinfoil barbs that eat ray crap as well

A tank with substrate is more stable than a bare tank as good bacteria has the substrate to grow on and with the rays kicking the sand up all the time it's like a giant sand filter

Ray love sand and that's all that matters

bare

because i like the way it looks

 

[Cajun]

Bare bottom. Easier to maintain.

 

[Just Toby]

I do not get massive amounts of sand in the filters, my intake for the external is drilled just below 50% height and the weir draws right from the bottom as well as the top with siphon break.

I have kept Africans for over 20 years with coral sand and tufa or ocean rock and the tufa used to fill the filters all the time, I have never had to ever replace a pump or impeller.

 

[T1KARMANN]

Bare bottom. Easier to maintain.

A lazy ray keeper then lol

How anyone can say bare looks better I will never understand