Substrate....to be or not to be...This is the question?

[HiImSean]

i prefer sand. gives it a natural look, especially if you use pool filter sand or play sand

 

[FSM]

Without substrate its harder if not impossible to keep beneficial bacteria.
And im sure its had to keep all levels right.
IMO.

I have rocks and or sand in all of my tanks

thats not true. Many people with very large messy fish have bare bottom tanks; the bacteria doesn't have to live on the substrate, thats what filters are for. without water flow through it, I doubt there is very much bacteria living on the substrate anyway.

Not if you have a wet/dry filter

not if you have any filter



I personally think bare-bottom tanks look like crap. I have sand in all my tanks, which is easy enough to clean for me and looks great. It seems to me that it would be easy to compromise though by putting some tiles on the bottom of the tank so it looks nice and is still very easy to clean.

 

[hybridtheoryd16]

The first time i seen a bare bottom tank, i asked the owner when they were going to finish the set-up. So to me bare looks like something is missing. -------------------------Also i have heard many times that bare bottom tanks are more prone to fish loss during power outages, or filter stopping because most if not all of the bacteria are in the filters and they die quickly with no flow and very little water. But the bacteria in a substrate still get a decent amount of food (ammonia) and can keep fish safe for longer.