Bare Bottom

[extremepb319]

I am getting a new tank soon and want to try a bare bottom tank. However is there anything i can put down so my rocks dont fall and break the glass? I hear of a thing called starboard and I believe mr_x used it on one if his tanks(dont quote me on this i cant remember well, but i saw it on somebodys here) however, I dont really get what starboard is and where i can get it because when i search for it i get results about ship floors and cutting boards and stuff...

any help would be great thanks

 

[Anonymous]

Just put them on the glass and be done with it. Starboard is just cutting board. usplastics.com carries it.

 

[Mthompson]

Most tanks have a tempered bottom, which is 4-5X stronger than regular glass. This is NOT to say it is unbreakable or that care should not be taken, just that it is less likely to break under normal conditions.

You can choose to get starboard if you want, or you could place the rock so they are less likely to fall. Either way, you should be fine.

 

[mr_X]

i am in agreement with placing the rock gently and making sure it is secure. no need for plastic on the bottom.
i used cutting boards as baffles in my sump, but i like a sand bottom.
Mthompson...why do your html enhancements never work? bold, smileys, all come out as script. :?

 

[Mthompson]

X - I have tried to figure that one out myself...so far I think I just need to uncheck the 'disable smilies in the post' option below. But for the bold and underline I don't get it. All I do is highlight what I want enhanced and then click on the enhancement (e.g. - bold). Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't...either way I do it the same.....Perhaps I will just stop trying to use them :roll:

 

[ChrisRD]

You had double HTML tags in that post (so it displays one set as text) - I fixed it for ya... :wink:

...and just so I'm not totally sidetracking the thread - to the OP, I've never put anything between the glass bottom and my rock in BB setups - never had a problem.

 

[Bojangles]

I am getting a new tank soon and want to try a bare bottom tank. However is there anything i can put down so my rocks dont fall and break the glass? I hear of a thing called starboard and I believe mr_x used it on one if his tanks(dont quote me on this i cant remember well, but i saw it on somebodys here) however, I dont really get what starboard is and where i can get it because when i search for it i get results about ship floors and cutting boards and stuff...

any help would be great thanks

Heres what you do. Go buy some 1" + pvp pipe, cut desired heigth and place under your live rock. It will provide movement all the way around your rock structures and keep your live rock from sitting on the glass.

 

[blackcloudmedia]

I would only be worried if you had a tall tank and were planning on stacking a TON of rocks atop each other...the whole psi deal. I have sand in my tank and the rocks still managed to settle on the glass. I can tell cause I can see the underside of my tank...cool for watching the little mysid shrimp that live under the rocks

 

[Rob Top]

I tried the starboard, actually HDPE which is the same, just it's industial and thus cheaper name. I hated the look and was concerned about the small layer of water between the board and glass going foul. A buddy has it on the bottom of his 500gal for 3 years, now it looks alright with natural colors, and no issue with the water layer.
I vote glass as well. Another guy I know used payls and zoas to cover the bottom of his tank and all I can say is WOW

 

[extremepb319]

alright so I think i will just go completely bare bottom. I was just wondering what the whole starboard thing was too. Does anybody have pictures of their bare bottom tank?

 

[Anonymous]

I have more pics in the members tank spec fourm

 

[extremepb319]

wow that looks great, ill have to go check out the other pics. Do you prefer bare bottom? would you recommend it?

 

[Anonymous]

I do prefer it. When I took down my old 110 that had a 6" deep sand bed I about barfed. It was the most foul thing I had ever smelled. I know that is how ther work, but I just could not knowingly keep that in my tank. Each system has it's own pros and cons. Here is my onld 110 with DSB at around 2 years old IIRC

 

[JKDMan]

HOLY CORALINE!!! those are some purple rocks man

 

[mr_X]

yours will be that way soon enough :wink:

 

[extremepb319]

Yea I changed tanks a while back and had a 4" sand bed, the smell was terrible, almost a sour smell kindof, especially when i stuck my head in the tank so i could see what i was doing. Wasnt fun...

I can still have some reef crabs and stuff in my tank right? just no snails really... And yea you have a ton of corraline. I have almost none in my 30 right now which has been up for about 9 monhts, like barely any. not sure why but O well. I will definately want it to grow on my bare bottom tho

 

[Anonymous]

I have about 24 snails in my tank, so that is not an issue. You just can not have any sand sifting ctitters. Crabs and all that are fine, I'm not a big fan of crabs but to each his own.

 

[extremepb319]

alright, well that means ill have to keep my old tank up for my snails and sand sifting star. Itll make a good QT tank too. And i think the crabs are cool. idk y, but i do lol. I can live without snails because i never even sea my nassarius snails anyways. O and how did you get so much coraline growth? i cant seem to get it to grow and i have plenty of rocks with it on my tank...

 

[Anonymous]

I like the Faux bed bb tanks.

 

[extremepb319]

whats that??