Barebottom?

[jamlo]

Hi All.

I'm toying with the idea of going bare-bottom and removing my gravel in my fully cycled 55g fancy goldfish tank.

Has anyone else gone bare-bottom and could share how to go about it and if it's worth it?

I've read several articles saying about how goldfish can swallow their gravel which could indeed kill them, this worries me so I'm contemplating removing it.

What's everyone's views on this?

If someone has done this can I just remove my fish and place in a bucket whilst I remove the gravel?

Thanks.

 

[Cactuspixie]

I did it when I was upgrading my comet's tank, so he was in a large tub with a hob filter while I switched the tanks over. It was so easy to keep on top of the water quality without the substrate!
I like to have natural set ups for my tropicals, but goldfish really don't seem to care much about it, and as you say, you eliminate the hazard of swallowing the gravel. I still did large pwc every 2 days, but the difference was it was CLEAN. I actually think he liked being able to glide along the glass instead of getting scraped by gravel.
Now that I think about it, I also did it in a 40g grow out tank. That time I just scooped out some gravel at each pwc so as not to disrupt the chemistry too much. I have seen others suggest putting some substrate in a mesh bag for the same purpose.

 

[jlk]

Just make sure you have lots of hefty filtration with plenty of media for your bacteria. You either remove everything at once or gradually- whichever works best for you. Just keep an eye on your parameters.

 

[rbeland]

I saw a cool youtube vid of a 55g bowfront bare bottom. It had 5 small potted plants in a row along the bottom. Very clean looking and w the gravel in the pots very easy to maintain. I would think the plants could be artificial and look better than real plants. I think just google bare bottom goldfish tank.

 

[gordy6040]

Bare bottom tanks remind me of the pet shop, I guess they do it for cleanliness.
Not sure how much mine would fancy it, they seem to play with picking up the gravel and spitting it out. I think if done right it could look very avant-garde. Not sure I gave the style to pull it off though.

 

[jamlo]

Thanks for the comments guys. I haven't took the gravel out yet. Going to pluck up the courage to do it first. Jlk have you got bare bottom tanks?

 

[jlk]

Thanks for the comments guys. I haven't took the gravel out yet. Going to pluck up the courage to do it first. Jlk have you got bare bottom tanks?

Both of main/display tanks have been barebottom in the past (pfs right now because they are planted again with nonfloating plants) and all of my 'alternative' tanks are barebottom.

 

[mentalpaws]

Ok so now i am totally and completely confused. I thought, that, in a goldfish tank especially, it is essential to have proper beneficial bacteria growing to eliminate disease/illness and that this BB lives in the substrate (or under it in the case of gravel) ....so how is bare bottomed a good thing for goldies?

I do have three HOB filters that are far more than enough filtration for my 55G tank. They each have bio filters in them. And more. bio rings, stars, activated carbon, crushed coral, zeolite, etc....

Please advise. I too would like to go bare bottomed- even though I don't like how it looks, then again I am afraid of a gravel getting lodged in my prized goldies intestines.

 

[Sauroposeidon]

Ok so now i am totally and completely confused. I thought, that, in a goldfish tank especially, it is essential to have proper beneficial bacteria growing to eliminate disease/illness and that this BB lives in the substrate (or under it in the case of gravel) ....so how is bare bottomed a good thing for goldies?

I do have three HOB filters that are far more than enough filtration for my 55G tank. They each have bio filters in them. And more. bio rings, stars, activated carbon, crushed coral, zeolite, etc....

Please advise. I too would like to go bare bottomed- even though I don't like how it looks, then again I am afraid of a gravel getting lodged in my prized goldies intestines.

The bacteria will grow in your filters. It attaches itself to plants, decor, gravel, etc., but mostly, the filter is where it's at.

 

[jamlo]

Ok so now i am totally and completely confused. I thought, that, in a goldfish tank especially, it is essential to have proper beneficial bacteria growing to eliminate disease/illness and that this BB lives in the substrate (or under it in the case of gravel) ....so how is bare bottomed a good thing for goldies? I do have three HOB filters that are far more than enough filtration for my 55G tank. They each have bio filters in them. And more. bio rings, stars, activated carbon, crushed coral, zeolite, etc.... Please advise. I too would like to go bare bottomed- even though I don't like how it looks, then again I am afraid of a gravel getting lodged in my prized goldies intestines.

The BB will grow perfectly fine in your filter set up. Especially if you have a few sponges and bio rings etc. Just make sure you carry out maintenance on the sponges etc from time to time. If they clog up too much it can reduce water flow. I have a bare bottom Goldie tank and couldn't be happier with it. My water is crystal clear, and it's so easy to do your weekly maintenance! Personally I like the look more than if I had gravel, my bare bottom tank gives the effect of glass which I think looks pretty neat. And of course you don't have to worry about pieces of substrate getting lodged in the fish's throat. I had a goldfish die due to this. With my weekly maintenance I use a Python water changer and using this makes the cleaning even easier!

 

[jamlo]

I meant gives the effect of mirrored glass*

 

[mentalpaws]

I just removed all the gravel. I LOVE IT.

OMGosh what a HuGe difference. It looks awesome. Much cleaner and simple looking. Now its just fish and plants. I have mine in a corner of a dark wood paneled room. I have a dark ocean scene backdrop on the back of my tank. The clear bottom makes things look alot brighter. Your'e right it does look like glass or a mirror.

WOW i am going to love maintaining this now. My water parameters are also much better since doing so. thank you!

 

[jlk]

The mirrored glass effect is pretty neat!! And cleaning is a breeze! Love to see a pic!

 

[jamlo]

Glad our advice helped. Here's a pic of my tank. I love my tank after I went bare bottom. I had white gravel before and algae kept on settling on it and it looked very un-slightly, went bare bottom and made all the difference!