hmm... so i was just wondering... is it ok to go barebottom for a tropical tank?

i know that it's most common to have substrate and plants, but i've gotten use to the barebottom look and it's so much easier to maintain...
so would it be weird for the fish to have a bare bottom tank? i'd probably be getting a variety of tetras, mountain cloud minnows, etc. and i'd probably just use those silk leaf plants and silcone glue them to rocks so they'd sink and i wouldn't need substrate to keep them down.

what do y'all think? would fake plants, no substrate, and a barebottom freak out the fish?

You can go barebottom in a tropical tank. But if you want tetras i would stick to a substrate as they like lots of real plants to swim in. WCMM and other fish like that are not tetra compatible since WCMM are really cold water fish.

hmm ok... i'll put them in the 29 gal then. :-D

On a side note, big tropicals like arowanas and the bigger cichlids, as well as stingrays, tigerfish and the rest of the "tankbuster" group are best maintained in a barebottom setup. Basically, the barebottom tank is the best choice for fish that produce a lot of waste.

Black ghost knifefish would also enjoy a barebottomtank with lots of acrylic or PVC tubes for them to hide in.

I agree with Dan... I think that the tetras would benefit from having substrate. They like to have more cover (plants, caves, etc), in general.

Other tropicals would probably be just fine with barebottom.

well i would be putting silk plants in.

i was wondering if i needed a substrate on the bottom or if weighted down silk plants and such would be ok.
i mean the 29 i currently have already has a substrate and i'm planning on planting that tank.

i was wondering for the 55 that the pleco is currently in. the pleco poops a lot, so it's so much easier to get all the poop if i don't have a substrate, but i had also wanted to put some tropicals in there too.