Bare bottom tank???

[kclinton]

Right now my Axie tank has sand , I was think about change it to a bare bottom tank. Is it really easier to clean? Also if I do change it can I take all the sand out at once, or do I need to to do a little at a time? I do not wnat to cause it to recycle. Any thought would be great, pros or cons.

 

[Daniel]

To me it is really easier to clean a tank with bare bottom (I have bare bottom tanks and tanks with fine gravel as well).

Considering the bacteria: Bacteria cling to the plants, the sides of the tank, any decoration, the filter and the bottom (mainly the first 2 cm of the bottom where enough oxygen is available).

Do you have a filter running? And can you give any additional information on the tank - do you have plants in it, any decorations (hideaways etc.), how many Axolotls.

I think if you remove the sand at the bottom, the bacteria won't go to another part of the tank (even if you remove it partly). Their only chance would be to move to the bare bottom and there is not so much surface on that compared to any decoration).
So in my opinion you can remove all the sand at once but I would be happy to have another opinion on that.

 

[kclinton]

At the moment I have one Axie in the tanks. The tank is about a 40 gal. I think . I have live plants and hiding places and a food dish. The filter is a Fluval 2 plus, the tank is running over a year.

 

[Jacquie]

Hi KClinton,

I agree with Daniel. As long as the filter, ornaments, plants and other surfaces that the bacteria have collonised are not disturbed it should be fine to remove all sand at the one time.

The tank may possibly go through a 'mini cycle' as when you remove the sand substrate, the beneficial bacteria that was on that surface needs to recollonise on the new surface.

The tank is much easier to clean with a bare bottom floor. The only cons I think is that it is not as 'aesthetically' pleasing as sand substrate and some axolotls I understand have trouble gripping the glass floor.

Cheers Jacq.

 

[Bellabelloo]

I started with sand in my aquarium and now over time I have removed about half so some of the tank is bare bottomed, in time the sand will eventually go.
I noticed with my axolotl that they had no problem moving across the glass. Having watched them I saw that the tips of some of their toes seem to have 'extra skin' that appears to act a bit like a suction pad and this seems to assist them somewhat in their movement.:wacko:

 

[sambee nz]

hi there, i have small stones in my tank at the moment and an under gravel filter..if i change to sand what type of filter will i need.. i really have no idea...thanks for any help

 

[Kaysie]

Undergravel filters are crud anyway. Take out the small stones, and the undergravel filter. Then invest in either a waterfall type filter, or an external canister filter. Both of these are excellent choices.

 

[kclinton]

Ok then I will go with a bare tank. I would like to put a few rocks or larger stones in. How can you tell which ones are safe to use???

 

[disc444]

Rocks purchased from an Aquatic store should be safe but If you want to be certain of the effects before introducing new rocks to your tank you could always test them first. Just put your rocks in a water bucket and test the pH level. Leave the rock(s) in the bucket and after a week test the pH level again. If there is a change in the pH level, you should reconsider adding it/them to your tank.

 

[ianclick]

Hi Karrie,

I am a no substrate advocate as well and it is way easier to clean and still looks acceptable. Slate slabs are good and are available at most pet stores.

Call me pedantic but I still boiled mine before adding them to the tank

 

[little high]

I am new to this so don't qoute me, but volcanic rock and non porous rocks are fine for tanks. To clean scrub them with straight chlorine (one with no extra additives) then rinse thoroughly with boiling water and soak in water treated with dechloranator for 24hrs before adding to tank. Especially if they have come from pet stores and other aquariums to kill of any bacteria and funguses. And agree with other posters from my very recent experience small stones trap way to much debri's and are very hard to clean. I'm going to go for a sand bottom though atm I have 50/50 stones and bare bottom. Good Luck and someone please correct me if i'm wrong nat

 

[kclinton]

I thought about volcanic rock but I thought it would be to ruff for their skin. He started to have a real fit when I was taking out the sand. Even after I was done. He was hitting the top of the tank so hard it was going to pop off . So I put a very small amount of sand back in. Just enough to cover the bottom. When that gets all sucked up that will be it. On a bare bottom tank how do you guys get your live plants to stay down?

 

[ianclick]

Hi Karrie,

I have stuck small stones to the base of the plants with blobs of silicone and they do get moved around. I also leave some floating on the top of the tank as the axolotls seem to like it