Thhinking bout going barebottom.. Lets talk bout it??

Why not paint the outside bottom of the tank, similar to the background? Then you no longer see the "ugly underneaths" of the tank?

I think a coralline encrused BB tank would be kick-***!

 

BB tanks are a trade off as pointed out by the posters. You should decide what your inhabitants will be then decide to go BB if the inhabitants are able to deal with it. You can always place the rock on pvc pipe to elevate them above the sand or BB to get circulation around all of the rock. I have about 1" of sand on average around the bottom of my tank. My wrasse sleeps in the sand that is piled higher due to the flow in the tank.

The Nassarius snails will most likely hide under the rocks if they can survive in there.

 

Because of the way salt water and glass bend light in a tank, you never actually see the underside of the tank unless you look directly down. You stop seeing that 6 months into the tank's life. I throw zoa's about on the bottom and hope to see a rich field of color down there some day.

 

Personally not a fan of BB tanks, but thats my stocking choices. The whole family loves our goby and I personally am a fan of wrasse'.

 

My LFS has a 700gal BB tank that is amazing the bottom is covered mostly in coralline looks pretty sick but I like sand sifting fish and verts to much to go BB.

 

In my recent tank move last weekend I removed and threw out my Sand bed. I switched to BB and am not adding sand. I also have halichoeres genus wrasses which burrow. For them I have filled a tuberware container with sand for them to sleep in and it works nicely.

I don't think I will go back to sand... But I do love the look! To try and replicate the look I put some white styrofoam under the glass and it gives a white look while viewing but doesn't have the texture of sand.
If your sps dominant I really would not say to keep a sandbed... Unless your going to put in a cucumber, but that is a whole different story

 

I like BTowned's BB system, it's not mature yet, but looks great. Personally I like the look, it sets off the sps nicely as well as chalice, and some lps.

I have only used BB in breeding tanks, and an old frag tank.

My dream tank does not have sand, so I may be a tad partial to the look.

 

I can't really add to the pros/cons, but I would like to weigh in on the wrasse subject that's come up here.

Not all genus of wrasses require a sand bed. Just something to consider. Genus such as Cirrhilabrus and Paracheilinus will be fine without sand. These genus sleep within the rock work.

And for those that do require sand:

Exactly.

 

I went BB on my 28 a few weeks ago and did not like the look, I ended up putting white sand back into the tank and I think it looks much better.

 

Everything has it's pros/cons and the choice of substrate is no different. You might want to read this thread. Covey and I duked it out and there's a lot of info there. http://www.3reef.com/forums/sand/bb-vs-dsb-34593.html

That's exactly what I did at the store.