sand or no sand

I'm switching over my tank into a new tank and will be washing out the old sand prior to using it in the new set up. I'm just wondering about going bare bottom or just doing a really thin layer of sand. I like the barebottom idea since it keeps the tank cleaner, but it doesn't look as night. Is there any reason I can't just use a thin sandbed? What are the pros and cons of a barebottom tank?
Thanks guys!

 

We just went barebottom and the only cons I can think of so far is that detritus is going to be a lot more noticeable. Also, we won't be able to keep any sandsifting fish which is kinda disappointing to me because I love gobies And I don't see any reason why you couldn't use just a thin layer of sand if you really want to.

 

after reading up and looking around i am in the process of going bare bottom. My starboard material comes in today to replace the sand and protect the bottom against rock slides. Since i never kept sand sift fish it wont really bother me. But after looking at japanese and european bare bottom tanks i figure why not give it a try.

 

Not a fan of the starboard bottom myself unless you totally seal it with silicone or you will develop and 100% anaerobic area and thats not good and you have to have a lot of skimmer and good bacteria laden aged rock work.. The skimmer and rock being the most important. I always simple paint my tanks black on the back and white on the bottom . And I run a coil denitrater for NO3 issues.. If you have the needed amount of rock in the tank then there is little room for it to fall I have about 300 Lbs in this newly set up 90 gal, a little over a 3rd of what I had in the 180 . In the Berlin system's Rock is a must..

 

Well.......the thin substrate is fine. Bare bottom does not give you the buffering and trace elements (although minor) that argonite does. 1" or so should help maintain bacteria and buffering capacity.

 

Thanks everyone, I think I will go with a thin layer of sand!

 

i use a thin layer too! its more of a 1" layer actually (90gal)

 

if you want bare bottom and gobies just build a sandbox, and put it at one end, then you can just pull the whole thing out when you need to replace the sand.