I have always been that way myself. It was a big decision for me to even try it bare bottom.
Last weekend my daughter came over and the first thing she said was "Oh! I love your aquarium"
She has never commented on my aquariums. She is young 30's and a Gen-X'er.
I asked why she liked it and she said "Because it is so clean and minimalist."
Made my day, but I do like the look of substrate. Always have. This is new to me!
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Good job Johnnymax, like your daughter I'm digging on this set-up -- a 'hybrid' tank (mostly bare bottom but with some decorations and a bit of substrate or rocks) is arguably the best of both worlds.
Of course it ultimately comes down to personal preference, but imho most (though of course not all) peeps who don't like bare bottom tanks either a) never actually tried one and/or b) likely haven't kept really big fish in larger tanks (or an aggro showpiece fish like a valuable and higher grade Flowerhorn).
Pretty easy to maintain a small or medium sized tank with substrate and lots of decoration; in larger tanks (e.g. 300g +) though it can be a different story. Even Joey King of DIY (love him or hate him) recently changed his 2,000 gallon Arowana/Stingray tank to bare bottom for the reasons we've discussed. Definitely an acquired taste for some, but personally I try not to knock something until I've tried it myself.
