A Reef in the Sky

[n0rk]

Bare Bottom

What do you guys think?

Might use a finer grade of sand too... any recommendations of sand in the US?

What's your reasons for wanting to go BB, mate? Your reasoning will change the answer.

 

[gofor100]

+1 on not going bare bottom. But to each their own... if you like the look, then I'd say go for it.

The main positive is, of course, easier maintenance... but the one large drawback (also pretty obvious), is the aesthetic appeal of having sand in the tank.

Since you have a very open rock structure, I don't think that a barebottom would work that well since most of the barebottom tanks I've seen tend to be packed with rock, so your focus is on the big rock structure and not on the "openness" of the tank.

Interested to see how you proceed though... I'm sure you can make anything look good with this tank.

Good luck!

-Chad

 

[john90009]

i have special grade caribsea- the larger kind i think- and even by siphoning out the debris the wrasses and sand sifters still find the fine dust and my rocks get dusty : / i hate that so if i had the chance to not have my wrasses and sand sifters and to find a way to get the sand out without the rocks toppling down i would do it. there could potentially be less problems with bare bottom and sooner or later your sandbed will be filled with chalices and zoas that if you had a sand bed you wouldnt see it anyways : ).

 

[v1...rotate]

I've never liked the look of bare bottom tanks. I tried it before but it just didnt look as good to me. Very un-natural looking.

Thanks for you input.

Andrew, check out the Tropic Eden substrates from Premium Aquatics in the states. I Wish I knew about it when I got my tank started due to the look of it and the minimal rinsing necessary. Use caution using a fine grain with a shallow bed. You wont be able to aggressively siphon as you do now without removing your sand at the same time...bare bottom can be cool and definitely less the hassle. A great reason to go out and get more clams and lps

Hey Jon, sure did, thanks for the link.... That stuff looks great. Going BB would mean more LPS at the base of the rockwork for sure.

I use Tropic Eden and love it but it's one of the biggest they have. The main issue you will run into when using a finer sand is massive sand storms especially with all of that flow you have. Why are you unhappy with your current substrate?

Thanks Clint. Yeah a sand storm might be an issue especially if I get the MP40W. The reason I am not happy goes back a while. The sand is not a white as I had imagined it would be. Maybe I need to continually add some sand during the year.

I personally do not like the look of bare bottom tanks, and I also agree that really fine sand will get blown around by the pumps you have in that tank.

Thanks Alex... appreciate the input.

I use a 1-2" layer of this: http://premiumaquatics.com/aquatic-supplies/C-ARAG-L-IB.html
I like the mix of black and white and it doesn't get kicked up by high flow. I think it would look great in your tank!

Thank you Steve... that is certainly an interesting combo. If I did elect to replace the sand it would take a while as I have to bring back the sand with me.

i wish i had the money to have a setup like yours

I wish I had the money now...

I disagree with the fact that a barebottom tank will automatically destroy a beatiful tank. A great example is Gary Majchrzak. He has one of the most beatuiful tanks I have ever seen and it utilizes a bb. Here is a link to a great dicussion of bb vs dsb http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1964735&highlight=bare+bottom

Thanks for the link and input. Due to the open space in the middle, it would look unusual compared to having a wall of rocks but nothing some lovely LPS can't fix, heh?

Awesome setup! I've see BB tanks that weren't really BB in the sense that it was covered with Ricordias and zoas. Just imagine a tank with no sand bed but instead a bed of ricordias or zoas, which ever you like more but the tank I saw full of ricordias just too cool.

Very true Mike, but I would certainly need alot of Ricordias and zoas for the middle section.

What's your reasons for wanting to go BB, mate? Your reasoning will change the answer.

Thanks Ben.. the main reasons are the detritus that collects and the color that the sand is.

+1 on not going bare bottom. But to each their own... if you like the look, then I'd say go for it.

The main positive is, of course, easier maintenance... but the one large drawback (also pretty obvious), is the aesthetic appeal of having sand in the tank.

Since you have a very open rock structure, I don't think that a barebottom would work that well since most of the barebottom tanks I've seen tend to be packed with rock, so your focus is on the big rock structure and not on the "openness" of the tank.

Interested to see how you proceed though... I'm sure you can make anything look good with this tank.

Good luck!

-Chad

Cheers Chad and I would have to say that I agree with your reply. For me, aesthetic appearance is what I was after from the beginning. As long as feeding is kept under control, flow is adequate... then maintenance won't be too demanding.

i have special grade caribsea- the larger kind i think- and even by siphoning out the debris the wrasses and sand sifters still find the fine dust and my rocks get dusty : / i hate that so if i had the chance to not have my wrasses and sand sifters and to find a way to get the sand out without the rocks toppling down i would do it. there could potentially be less problems with bare bottom and sooner or later your sandbed will be filled with chalices and zoas that if you had a sand bed you wouldnt see it anyways : ).

I also siphon sections of the sand weekly and it is amazing the amount of dust that is removed. The large open middle section will be hard to fill in with zoas though.


Thank you all for the replies, ideas and suggestions. I will be electing to stay with what I currently have and trying a few Zeovit combo mixes to whiten the sand. Will keep you all updated on this...

Also, I just remembered that... the 1 year anniversary is approaching :dance:

 

[fishypets]

Thanks Clint. Yeah a sand storm might be an issue especially if I get the MP40W. The reason I am not happy goes back a while. The sand is not a white as I had imagined it would be. Maybe I need to continually add some sand during the year.

Also, I just remembered that... the 1 year anniversary is approaching :dance:

A little OCD are we Andrew? haha

What a year it's been man! Did you ever dream you'd have a tank this nice? And after only one year! You my friend have the Midas touch.

 

[eniram78]

Hi andrew, not sure if you can help me. I'll be in hkg for afew nights and would like to know if you know any LFS at the Gold fish market that carries ceramic frag plugs.

If not do you know any LFS in SFO area that carries something similar to Boston frag plugs.

jeremy

 

[gofor100]

Andrew...

I sure hope you and your family (and your beautiful tank of course) are okay after the earthquake! Please let us all know that you're safe when you have access to the internet.

-Chad

 

[gofor100]

Whoops... looks like I'm geographically challenged (I thought Hong Kong was closer to Japan than it is). I sure hope Hong Kong wasn't affected by any tsunamis. Luckily it doesn't look like you were affected by the actual earthquake itself.

A quick shout-out to our Japanese Reefers out there... everyone say a little prayer for those guys. It looks pretty bad (the understatement of the day).

Sorry for the tangent.

-Chad

 

[meinestrasse]

Drew, just finished reading the entire thread. Took me like four hours. Sorry if I missed it, but can you tell us more about the man behind all this? Like, where are you from, where do work that allows you to travel, wife and kids? How about some pics?

 

[fishypets]

Drew, just finished reading the entire thread. Took me like four hours. Sorry if I missed it, but can you tell us more about the man behind all this? Like, where are you from, where do work that allows you to travel, wife and kids? How about some pics?

I'll handle this question.

He is a freight pilot by trade, super-model by hobby. His wife is also a super-model.. No kids yet, but loves his cat. See Tom Cruise only taller if you want pics.:beachbum:

 

[fishypets]

Whoops... looks like I'm geographically challenged (I thought Hong Kong was closer to Japan than it is). I sure hope Hong Kong wasn't affected by any tsunamis. Luckily it doesn't look like you were affected by the actual earthquake itself.


It's okay Chad, you're from Cali we forgive you.:hammer:
A quick shout-out to our Japanese Reefers out there... everyone say a little prayer for those guys. It looks pretty bad (the understatement of the day).

Sorry for the tangent.

-Chad

 

[zaheda]

I pray that your family and stunning tank ok after the massive earthquake. Im following the news closely and this quake was a bad one which have left millions without homes. Its going to take years to rebuild again and going to cost billions.

 

[meinestrasse]

I pray that your family and stunning tank ok after the massive earthquake. Im following the news closely and this quake was a bad one which have left millions without homes. Its going to take years to rebuild again and going to cost billions.

Hong Kong is like 1000 miles from the quake in Japan.

 

[n0rk]

Thanks Ben.. the main reasons are the detritus that collects and the color that the sand is.

I've personally always found that a sandbed of a larger grain size is much harder to keep a pristine white, they seemingly always fade to a bone/tan. As you mentioned, detritus is also an issue... I'm convinced there's correlation between the two. Of the sands I've used, Caribsea Bahamas Oolite definitely seemed to respond the best to not shifting colour. Being smaller it does take a while to bed down... but once it does it stays put very well. If the KZ remedies don't pay off, might be worth mixing some into your bed?

As for the KZ stuff, what ones are you trying?

 

[zaheda]

O, mistake dont know why I was thinking he was in Japan. Speed reading does this.

 

[papare]

great thread

great thread

a real work of art,congrats

 

[f UNit]

I've just spent hours reading this thread from start to finish, and have to say this is an incredible tank Andrew - amazing stuff!

I'm also in hk, and have been out of the hobby for a few years, and stumbled across this the other day as I'm keen on building a tank later in the year- your tank has made me want to get started even sooner!

Would be keen to find out who your tank builder is- am heading up to mongkok on Sunday to window shop..

Will keep a close eye on the thread, again, awesome work!

 

[powder blue]

Awesome. I watch your three part videos at least once a week. Coll, clean and perfect.

 

[JG1]

Do you have any problems maintaining potassium levels?

I checked my K levels about two weeks ago and I was low 200's. 750ml of K-Strong added since and I'm only up to 330ppm.

They tell me on the zeo forum this is because of my skimmer. You're running a needle wheel skimmer also, thats why I ask

 

[tntneon]

-Why K depletion with needle wheel skimmer ?
due to better skimming performances ?
or only in combination with the zeo system ?

greetingzz tntneon