# Bare bottom ... cruel & unusual, or happy/healthy fish?



## Hanafuda (Mar 31, 2010)

Just wondering if you guys think substrate in a tank is something new world cichlids need for psychological well-being? I'm not speaking of tanks where the substrate might serve a practical purpose, such as a planted tank, or use as pH buffer, or even when keeping geophagus for their culinary happiness. I mean in your typical oscar, or jag, or JD tank, could those fish thrive and be "happy" with a bare bottom, or do they need the gravel or sand to pick up and spit about?

I got curious about this after researching discus a bit. Bare bottoms are common for discus keepers, and in my browsing about I've even run across bare bottoms in use for large CA and SA cichlids. I've also run across a few tile-bottomed tanks which is an intriguing aesthetic compromise. And of course the bare-bottom idea doesn't mean you can't have 'furniture' or driftwood in the tank, or even a few 'toys' ... just no crud-trapping gravel or sand.

I'm so used to seeing large cichlids spend much of their time messing about with the gravel that I'm not sure I could deprive them of this pasttime. But assuming there's proper filtration, a regularly cleaned bare bottom is as good as it gets for water quality and disease prevention.

So, is a healthy fish also a happy fish?


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

*typical oscar, or jag, or JD tank, could those fish thrive and be "happy" with a bare bottom*

Yes to both, happy and thrive.
Can`t help but feel a bit silly when laying our conception of happy on an animal.
Mental picture of an Oscar with a big, toothy grinÃ¢â‚¬Â¦.
I know what you mean though.


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## John27 (Jun 6, 2010)

I don't keep SA Cichlids but my Africans dig for food. With a bare bottom tank, he won't need to dig because any leftover food he can scoop up!

The only disadvantage I see with Oscars and a bare bottom tank, is what decoration your adding. I forsee lots of scratches on the bottom and maybe even front class from things being bumped and scooted around, whereas if they were anchored in the substrate he might not do as much damage. This is based on speculation, not experience, but something to think about!


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

I find small fish in bare bottom tanks that are not painted have a bit of trouble. It looks like they have a problem with depth perception as they often go down and bump off the shiny bottom. Would your tank be shiny if no substrate was used? It seemed to disorient them when I tried it in a QT/fry tank. Maybe I ju[/u]st had nearsighted fish???


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## aspen (Jun 15, 2004)

i think the health benefits of a bb tank far out- weigh any questionable 'psychological' beneifts.


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

*Hanafuda*
there was a study published somewhere that actually realized that fish raised in bare bottom tanks with NO decorations of any kind had parts of their brain smaller than their counterparts that were raised more normally.

There was NO discernible difference between tanks with proper substrate/ decorations vs plastic brightly colored junk.

You decide what that means to you... :thumb:


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

I can see no health benefits of a bare bottom tank. I think the theory of gas bubbles building up in a 1/2-1 inch of sand are way, way overhyped. As for cleaning, that is only for the eyes of the people and lessening the bio-load. If the filtering is good, the load should be handled anyway.


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