I have noticed while scanning pics that some people do no put substrate down in thier tanks. I was wondering if this was an asthetic thing and a way to cut costs in a large tank or if it was for some other reason I'm not privy to yet. Please let me know if for you its a choice or for a reason. And if you use substrate, let me know what your fav is. Thanks
Substrate vs None
- Thread starter lilith
- Start date
I'm going to move this to setup and filtration for you.
Bare bottom is an easier way to keep your TDS down, and your solid organic waste down. Without substrate the detritus will just be sitting there, and is easy to suck up with a siphon tube.
Bare bottom is an easier way to keep your TDS down, and your solid organic waste down. Without substrate the detritus will just be sitting there, and is easy to suck up with a siphon tube.
lilith;865596; said:
Bacteria still will colonize on the glass of your tank, same filtration works the same with bare bottoms and full substrates.
lilith;865529; said:
We went with a bare floor in our 300 gallon tank to have a minimum maintenance setup. With innovative plumbing and exceptional mechanical filtration we achieved our goal of an "easy maintenance" system. With six monster poop makers in the tank (two 20"+ pacu, two 12"+ pleco, two large oscars), in the 15 months the tank has been running, we have never had any debris or feces to vacuum out of the tank. For biological filtration we have a wet dry system rated for a 400 gallon system. However, we still have to change the water which consists of opening/closing valves and one faucet and adding conditioner. The hardest part is staying attentive enough to watch the water level while draining and refilling! We do not miss the many hours we used to spend vacuuming substrate.
I do both if you want a tank that looks great then substrate is a must if you have a grow tank or a feeder tank then its not needed. try it and see what you like.