DSB or bare bottom?

I'm getting my new tank and sump on Sunday. Hooray!
I'm not sure if to go with a DSB or bare bottom (with live rock rubble). Ideally I would like to grow pods there and of course some chaeto.

I would love to hear your opinions on the subject ;D

 

I saw plenty of successful tanks with any possible configurations.
Myself I run 1" sand bed in DT and 5" DSB in refugium in the sump.

I like the looks of sand bed in DT better. But there's something to be said about how easy it's to vacuum detritus from bare bottom tank.

I don't think there's one clear way to go, I am torn myself.

 

depends if you want to keep certain gobys... personally i love my dsb.

and though jbraslins right in terms of ease of cleaning, its worth noting that once you have a dsb you do not clean it....technically making it even easier BOOYA!!!!

 

can you please elaborate further on this?

 

I vote neither, shallow sand bed

 

well for example if ever you plan to keep the duo orange stripe goby, pistol shrimp you will definitely need a sand bed for them to build their home under.

if you take the example of the diamond goby then they require an old deep sand bed in order to have a constant source of food as they "filter feed" the organisms out of the sand.

young systems or system with a light sand bed can't keep up with the feeding habit of this fish, depleting the sand bed and eventually starving the fish (but don't quote me on this)

and if I'm not mistaken, sand beds (if deep enough), act as a further natural filter with both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria present underneath it….

….

marshall o whaaaat!? why?

 

To get the advantages you discussed about being able to house sand dwelling/sleeping fish (don't forget certain wrasses!), all the critters that come along with it providing a food source, plus the natural look (BB is unnatural IMO) all while avoiding the dangers of having an established deep sand bed nuke a tank. If anything, I would run a remote deep sand bed and do whatever you please in the DT as far as looks go. This allows you to take it offline for cleaning/maintenance without the fear of releasing toxins into the tank.

 

so what would you consider a "shallow" sand bed as opposed to "deep" one? sorry max if we are going a little off topic.

 

Swisswiss - I am going to have a sand bed of about 2" in my DT, not DSB but definitely not shallow. I don't plan at the moment to have any sand sifter gobies but I do plan to own a six-line wrasse and a mandarin goby this is why I need a "pod factory" in my refugium. I'm afraid that a DSB in my fuge will accumulate deterius. I'm trying to understand the pros in having a DSB in the refugium. So far the only pro I see is additional filtration that between regular WC and maintnance, a good skimmer, LR and chaeto i'm not gonna need. And yet, many people seem to have a DSB in their fuges. My question is - why?

 

oh right, i miss understood what you wrote, thought you were talking about your display tank.

i had a shallow sand bed in my sump on my old set up, if i had to do it again then i would go bare bottom for the reason marshall o mentioned in terms of ease of maintenance.