Habitat - Indoor :: Bare Bottom Question

[joeybsmooth]

I was wondering people that have nothing on the bottom of their tanks. Does those help keep it cleaner ?

[worldpeace]

I can tell you that it really does. Because of that my tank is clean all the time. I spend 5 minutes every week to take out the poop that collects on the bottom, but it's nothing compared to the water changes I used to do when I had rocks in there. And I found that with with gravel and even river rocks, you can never completely clean the bottom because something is always hiding underneath a rock or whatnot. I even changed my fish tank into a bare bottom.

[Seroster]

Heh, I haven't tried anything other than bare bottom yet, but imagining the hassle of having to pick out and clean river rocks frequently seems like a big chore. Sand might be OK since I hear it doesn't trap debri, but then you have to deal with straining it and the cloudy water after you put it in and, and have it get cloudy again every time you do a full water change... just seems a bit too much hassle for a pretty much purely cosmetic effect.

[aal]

It does keep the tank cleaner but it leaves the tank unattractive. Try getting big rocks. A couple of bigger rocks with some aquatic plants in between them is an easy way to have a cleaner and at the same time attractive tank. Small rocks and sand will always trap some crap inside.

[Diamondbacks4Life]

The only down side is that bare bottom tanks dont dull down there nails as much compared to someone with something on the bottom.

I always notice this when i bring my turtles inside for the winter.

[raptr20]

i used to have a bare bottom but i didnt like the looks of it so i put some ceriamic tiles down now it looks like sand

[Seroster]

I was thinking about doing the ceramic tile thing, what does one need to consider when making them prepaired to be underwater and turtle-safe? Anything special?

[aal]

Just do a couple of rinses. Make sure when you put it in a tub the water doesn't cloud up. That's about it.

[Abomb]

i dont know if this is true, but ceramic tiles i have heard also provide biomedia for helpful bacteria to grow?

[SpenceMasta]

anything you put in the tank will become biomedia, the more surface area you have to cover the more beneficial bacteria you have growing on those surfaces

[bradmeisel]

i had a barebottom and my turtle started biting its feet because I think she was bored. It definitely stays cleaner tho.

I keep about 8 -10 bigger rocks on the bottom and it is a good compromise. I pull them out and run them thru my dishwasher when I clean the tank. It is a little bit of a pain but not to bad and my turtles definitely like having something on the bottom.

She doesn't bite her feet anymore. I also put in a few golf balls. It is funny watching them try to bite it and then seeing it roll away from them.

[pbullblue]

To make bare bottoms look less boring, I spray paint the bottom of the tank a sand color. I think the turtle may benefit from not being able to see below his floor. Here are pics of Henry Winklers feeding tank.


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[akaghettoraver]

golf balls I like that idea.

[freshprince2146]

pbullblue^^ That actually looks pretty great!!