Show us your (bare) bottom!

[I'm a natural blue]

Loving that sea fan

Thank you! Send me good seaworthy vibes it opens and thrives!

 

[I'm a natural blue]

seahorse stable

• Justin84
• Aug 26, 2017

65 gallon seahorse stable

seahorses

• Justin84
• Aug 26, 2017

bare bottom tank

Nice, Justin! How old is your tank? How many pony's? What kind? Is that a Maxspect? I'm full of questions!

 

[I'm a natural blue]

Well, well, well...lookie here! Lights out and this is what I spy.

I see polyps! Marine snow and DT,s Premium Reef blend live phyto tonight and reefbugs last night.

 

[I'm a natural blue]

You couldn't see the "bare bottom" well in my old h. erectus display, but boy did I love it!

View attachment 559398

I just can't get over how exquisite this tank is! Is that red grape caulerpa? Looks to be feathery and dominant? I love the color and texture of that.

 

[Justin84]

This tank is only a month old, yet this is the second home for my 5 ponies! I started out with a 40 gal Red Sea tank but being messy eaters and with a heavy sand bed it was just too much for me to deal with so this is a 65 tall with a 15 gal sump! Yes it is a maxspect gyre 130! I have 3 tanks and they are in everyone of em! They are captive-bred from Alyssa's Seahorse Savvy! I had 6 but one of my males got GBD and I lost him. So this new tank is completely monitored with my apex and a lot better filteration set-up! I've had these guys for just over a year and a half and they are a blast to have!

 

[I'm a natural blue]

@Justin84 are you loving the bb? A 65 is what I'm looking at next. I have a Maxspect in my 90. I've been contemplating one for my horse tank when I upgrade. I can not wait to get Clyde a new buddy. Almost ready. I am now waiting until I have fully transitioned to bb and give the tank extra time to populate more bacteria since removing some in the sand bed. Your tank looks like its off to a great start!

 

[Justin84]

I absolutely love having a bare bottom! Best decision I could of made! The maxspect does an incredible job of drawing up any leftover food and waste up from the bottom and it's set at a very low setting! I didn't have to wait long since all my live rock was already established in my larger setup sump, I was able to transfer them in about a week after setting up and since the rock was established and since I added about 80 lbs of live rock in the tank (80lbs dry weight) I wasn't afraid to add the ponies a little friend as well! There's an awesome mandarin in there that just picks and picks all day! I do supplement his pod habit about once every two weeks with bottled pods but the ponies seem to enjoy his company! I'll call this tank my "budget build" as the tank, stand, sump, rock, light, gyre pump, skimmer were all used that I picked up from my lfs! I just added a jeabo dc pump and 2 Walmart fans to ensure the tank stays at a comfy 72-72.5 degrees

 

[I'm a natural blue]

So I did it. I decided to upgrade my tank. I found a used 60g rimless cube that came with the stand, sump and a return pump. However, after getting it home and cleaning it up I discovered the tank had major issues that were not apparent when I went to look at it. I was crushed. I will be ordering a brand new one today. The good news is the stand and sump will work great. I decided to upgrade the return pump as well.
So....this will be a bare bottom tank. My question. What, if anything, did you do with the bottom of your tank? Did you paint the exterior to give it a more natural look? If so, what did you use? Leave it as is? The stand for my new tank is not a solid piece of material meaning when the tank is on the stand I can see through the bottom of the tank into the cabinet. It is only a framed outline of the tank shape. Because it is rimless it sits flush on the stand. Do you think I can still paint it? Think it will hold up?

 

[I'm a natural blue]

@Critterheaven What is on the bottom of your tank? Is it something placed under the tank between the stand and glass?

 

[vlangel]

I can see how a rimless tank differs from a rimmed tank. Since the tank should never move on the stand once it is set up I would expect that the paint would hold up but I am not sure since I have no experience with that. To be safe, perhaps it would be better to put something between the glass and stand that looks like sand.

 

[I'm a natural blue]

To be safe, perhaps it would be better to put something between the glass and stand that looks like sand.

That is what I am wondering too. Looks like Critterheaven did that. If you go to page one of this thread you can see her tank.

 

[needbiggertanks]

Hey, so i had the same situation, what i did was cut a black plastic garbage bag along the sides to make it longer and a single thickness, then placed the tank on top of it, then carefully trimmed it with an exacto knife. It worked for me, no light penetrates from the tank into the sump during the day, and no light from the refugium to the tank at night.

Just a cheap, easy suggestion

 

[vlangel]

That is what I am wondering too. Looks like Critterheaven did that. If you go to page one of this thread you can see her tank.

Yes, I see what you mean about Critter's tank.

 

[I'm a natural blue]

Hey, so i had the same situation, what i did was cut a black plastic garbage bag along the sides to make it longer and a single thickness, then placed the tank on top of it, then carefully trimmed it with an exacto knife. It worked for me, no light penetrates from the tank into the sump during the day, and no light from the refugium to the tank at night.

Just a cheap, easy suggestion

Thank you for the suggestion! My issue is not so much the light coming through but more aesthetics. I would like to make the bottom light in color to resemble sand as much as possible.

 

[vlangel]

Thank you for the suggestion! My issue is not so much the light coming through but more aesthetics. I would like to make the bottom light in color to resemble sand as much as possible.

Could you get a poster or foam board, paint it and then laminate it so the paint could not be scraped or scratched while you are setting the tank and leveling it?

 

[needbiggertanks]

Thank you for the suggestion! My issue is not so much the light coming through but more aesthetics. I would like to make the bottom light in color to resemble sand as much as possible.

Oh ok. I see. Sounds awesome.

 

[I'm a natural blue]

Could you get a poster or foam board, paint it and then laminate it so the paint could not be scraped or scratched while you are setting the tank and leveling it?

That sounds like it might work. Thank you for the suggestion!

 

[I'm a natural blue]

In other exciting news. I ordered my tank and return pump yesterday! I ordered a brand new 60g rimless Marineland Reef Ready cube and I went with a Reef Octopus VarioS-6! Woop!

 

[needbiggertanks]

Nice

 

[I'm a natural blue]

My pump arrived yesterday! Can. Not. Wait to get it all together with the chiller. Now if only I could make up my mind on powerheads/wavemakers and an ATO.

Jebao/Jecod Cp-25 or 2 pp8 4th gens. Thoughts?