Bare Bottom Tanks
- Thread starter Doodles
- Start date
yep it does all seem to gather in one spot. We have all our bn fry in barebottom tanks as it makes for easier cleaning. You don't have to worry about sucking any up while cleaning the gravel.
I have no barebottom tanks now whatsoever.
I found keeping the bio balance stable just too hard. If I overfed or did too big of a water change I would get into trouble.
I now have undergravel filters, have retained the canisters up one end and the internal powerheads. I have also added much more dw and plants which seem to be fantastic for eating nitrates and keeping the water nicer.
I do have to gravel vac to some extent but not as much as you think as little corys and cherry shrimp do a pretty good job of cleaning up.
I found keeping the bio balance stable just too hard. If I overfed or did too big of a water change I would get into trouble.
I now have undergravel filters, have retained the canisters up one end and the internal powerheads. I have also added much more dw and plants which seem to be fantastic for eating nitrates and keeping the water nicer.
I do have to gravel vac to some extent but not as much as you think as little corys and cherry shrimp do a pretty good job of cleaning up.
I don't like the look of bare bottoms in tanks. I don't see it as being natural and I want my fish to feel as home as they could possibly feel. I put a thin layer of sand in each tank and it is not too much trouble to keep the tanks clean.
Hi
All my tanks are bare bottom.
6X2X2
I have never done anything about build up of bacteria as I have larger plecos that clean the bottom.So I treat the tank with Anti Internal Bacteria treatment Interpet No 9. every 3 months so far it works.
Small Breeding tank
I siphon every day and scour every month depending on what food is fed and if breeding or not .
Small grow on tank
I siphon every day scour every week.
Large grow on tank
I siphon 2 times a day and scour every week but as fish don't forage for food creates a problem so I use a 2 inch paint brush with extended handle and brush every 3 days or when needed and collect particles with a net.
I think bacterial slime is not a problem if you keep on top of it.
Hope it helps
Jerry
All my tanks are bare bottom.
6X2X2
I have never done anything about build up of bacteria as I have larger plecos that clean the bottom.So I treat the tank with Anti Internal Bacteria treatment Interpet No 9. every 3 months so far it works.
Small Breeding tank
I siphon every day and scour every month depending on what food is fed and if breeding or not .
Small grow on tank
I siphon every day scour every week.
Large grow on tank
I siphon 2 times a day and scour every week but as fish don't forage for food creates a problem so I use a 2 inch paint brush with extended handle and brush every 3 days or when needed and collect particles with a net.
I think bacterial slime is not a problem if you keep on top of it.
Hope it helps
Jerry
i wasn't aware that there may be a link between fry losses and BB tanks:dk:
if there is a link, i may change some of my tanks lol
I think alot of people put fry loss down to bacterial build on bb tanks but I have yet to lose any myself.
There was an interesting thread on another forum but I think its down at the moment
Cheers
thegeeman
There was an interesting thread on another forum but I think its down at the moment
Cheers
thegeeman
Hi all,
I don't like bare bottom tanks, it is certainly true you can go down the ultra clean route, and try to limit any bacteria other than those in the filter, but I think it makes it much more difficult to maintain stable water conditions, and you are very dependent upon your filter, and large water changes, with no back-up in emergency.
I know it sounds silly but a complex "dirty" tank with mulm, plants, substrate and biofilm will often have much better water parameters than an ultra clean one.
The other thing I'd say is that CUP likes a substrate, good enough for him, good enough for me, and I'd also refer people to Brett the "Skeptical Aquarist", as he is a lot more eloquent at explaining the reasons for having a substrate than I am.
<http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/nutrient/nitcyc.shtml>
Particularly this bit:
"All surfaces in the aquarium offer a potential home to the community of aerobic bacterial that metabolize ammonia finally to nitrate. The uppermost surfaces of the substrate are a prime location for these populations, as you know. The nitrification process demands a lot of oxygen, more than familiar cellular respiration. Only a few centimeters below the substrate's surface, the diffusion of oxygen can't keep up with demand. As oxygen levels drop, facultative anaerobic bacteria find their niche. "Facultative" in this sense merely means "opportunistic." Many ordinary bacteria are facultative anaerobes; when oxygen is in short supply, these kinds of bacteria are able to switch to a metabolism that doesn't require oxygen. Instead, they use nitrate. The familiar nitrating bacteria provide the nitrate, and their high oxygen demands also tend to exhaust the limited supply. So besides providing the nitrate, a thriving microzone of aerobic nitrifiers provide the low-oxygen conditions too. You can visualize a mutually beneficial exchange between the two types of bacteria across a fluctuating boundary lying not far beneath the surface of the substrate. If there were no other reason not to disturb the substrate in an aquarium, this would be enough for me."
cheers Darrel
I don't like bare bottom tanks, it is certainly true you can go down the ultra clean route, and try to limit any bacteria other than those in the filter, but I think it makes it much more difficult to maintain stable water conditions, and you are very dependent upon your filter, and large water changes, with no back-up in emergency.
I know it sounds silly but a complex "dirty" tank with mulm, plants, substrate and biofilm will often have much better water parameters than an ultra clean one.
The other thing I'd say is that CUP likes a substrate, good enough for him, good enough for me, and I'd also refer people to Brett the "Skeptical Aquarist", as he is a lot more eloquent at explaining the reasons for having a substrate than I am.
<http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/nutrient/nitcyc.shtml>
Particularly this bit:
"All surfaces in the aquarium offer a potential home to the community of aerobic bacterial that metabolize ammonia finally to nitrate. The uppermost surfaces of the substrate are a prime location for these populations, as you know. The nitrification process demands a lot of oxygen, more than familiar cellular respiration. Only a few centimeters below the substrate's surface, the diffusion of oxygen can't keep up with demand. As oxygen levels drop, facultative anaerobic bacteria find their niche. "Facultative" in this sense merely means "opportunistic." Many ordinary bacteria are facultative anaerobes; when oxygen is in short supply, these kinds of bacteria are able to switch to a metabolism that doesn't require oxygen. Instead, they use nitrate. The familiar nitrating bacteria provide the nitrate, and their high oxygen demands also tend to exhaust the limited supply. So besides providing the nitrate, a thriving microzone of aerobic nitrifiers provide the low-oxygen conditions too. You can visualize a mutually beneficial exchange between the two types of bacteria across a fluctuating boundary lying not far beneath the surface of the substrate. If there were no other reason not to disturb the substrate in an aquarium, this would be enough for me."
cheers Darrel
All my pleco breeding tanks are practically bare bottom I sypon out solid waste and wipe the bottom and the sides of the tanks with a pan cleaner sponge weekly to remove any bactiria film before it starts cant say I have ever had a problem maintain stable water conditions or fry losses in any of the bare bottom tanks I think water conditions are down to filtration and regular water changes more than anything else, cory tanks I use sand as they love rooting around all day long, shrimp tanks I use gravel for ease with plants but in these tanks I also wipe all the glass down weekly.
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Aye there was a discussion elsewhere plus elsewhere before that, it was mainly to do with zebra fry but has also been suggested for other fry that either bloat or just mysteriously die off. Darkstar would probably remember more.
Thanks for all the info guys, very helpful.
Hi all,
Jo wrote "I syphon out solid waste and wipe the bottom and the sides of the tanks with a pan cleaner sponge weekly to remove any bacteria film before it starts cant say I have ever had a problem maintain stable water conditions or fry losses in any of the bare bottom tanks I think water conditions are down to filtration and regular water changes more than anything else".
Jo is a very successful breeder of Plecs, and this method obviously works, because she is both an experienced aquarist and putting in that amount of time and effort, I'm not sure personally I'd be as successful with this approach.
cheers Darrel
Jo wrote "I syphon out solid waste and wipe the bottom and the sides of the tanks with a pan cleaner sponge weekly to remove any bacteria film before it starts cant say I have ever had a problem maintain stable water conditions or fry losses in any of the bare bottom tanks I think water conditions are down to filtration and regular water changes more than anything else".
Jo is a very successful breeder of Plecs, and this method obviously works, because she is both an experienced aquarist and putting in that amount of time and effort, I'm not sure personally I'd be as successful with this approach.
cheers Darrel