BB SPS TANK vs SAND SUBSTRATE

[ray22]

I am very close to the stocking process and i know there are some very smart people on here when it comes to this topic . can you tell me which you think would work the best for a sps tank and why . I really appreciate your advice and your time to let me know the pro's and con's .. than you !!

 

[N-A-S-O]

please use the search button..there are several threads discussing this topic. I did that and found enough info to make my head spin

 

[Qwiv]

If you are looking for opinions, you need to give people more information that you just have to get an logical answer. Without more information, you will start a DSB vs. BB debate which RC doesn't need more of.

What size tank?
Lights?
Flow?
Goals for tank?
Do you like the look of a DSB or BB?
Other filtration?
Fish Stocking?
What types of SPS?
How much maintenance you willing to do?
How much experience do you have?
Any other information about your tank, we wouldn't know?

For the record, it helps if you put most of this info in youe signature.

 

[G-money]

Success requires knowing how to maintain the system of choice. There really is no best, as should be so evident from the diversity of methods employed by all the members of this board.

Sure, we all have our preferred method(s) along with reasons why we think it's best, but there is no substitute for knowing how to maintain your system. The requirements of SPS (or most all other commonly kept stony corals) are not all that complicated.

Give them:

enough light
sufficient water movement
calcium
a source of carbonate
proper temperature/water chemistry
low nutrient water
stability

That's really all you need with food being another variable, but since many folks don't "feed their corals", I won't count it.

All these factors can be achieved any number of ways and will allow you to keep 99% of the stony corals out there. I'd also encourage some searching on this site. There is more than enough information to point you in your right direction. We definitely don't need another "vs." debate.

 

[mntl]

If either are run optimally you will get good results. We do not know how to achieve optimum so we are all still learning. There are highly successful tanks in both camps as well as absolute falures in both camps. One system relies more heavily on the equipement and not as much on the biological aspect of waiste removal (BB). the other system relies more heavily on the biological and not as much on the mechanical aspect of waiste removal (DSB). Both rely partly on biological and partly on mechanical when it comes to keeping sps.

Which system sounds more interesting to you? If you go BB be ready to invest in a skimmer that is over-rated for your system and very good flow along with good/well cured-cooked live rock(equipement heavy), If you cannot afford to do it right you will be fighting an uphill battle because the lack of the biological aspect of the system will not be able to bind/use the nitrates/phoshates and over time you will have a mess or will have to starve your inhabitants to a point that it is not healthy or fair to the critters. If you go DSB be ready to invest in the proper amount of sand/good live-rock/good flow/reasonable skimmer and the research involved to balance all of these and know when things are going south.

When you decide what way sounds better to you, then come back and get recommendations on a specific system. Asking our opinion is difficult because we do not know your income/dedication/mechanical know-how/preference to biological or mechanical/etc. etc. etc........

I like BB, I prefer a sterile look, more sterile than most of my other sps friends. I have recommended more DSB tanks to new people than BB, it tends to fill most people's visions of a "reef" and I find that it has less initial start-up cost.

And anytime you start a DSB/BB thread, it is always recommended a quick prayer as these things can get a little ugly Ahem:

"Our Mod, who art in reefcentral.com forums, Hallowed be thy ban stick. Thy forum come. Thy will be done, On sps forum as it is in marine-fish forum. Give us this day our daily threads. And forgive us our flames, As we forgive those who flame against us. And lead us not into temp bans, but deliver us from perm bans. For thine is the forum, and the ban stick, and the mod privileges, for ever and ever. 4m3n!!!1!!"



-John-

 

[ray22]

her is my updated signiture . hope this helps

 

[MiddletonMark]

With enough of a skimmer - IMO you can choose either.

However, these guys couldn't have nailed things better. IMO, the whole decision should be on which system suits your livestock best, and which you can run best.

People have used most of the choices, and have proven them successful. IME, it's not the method, but what one does with it, that determines success/failure.

 

[chrisaggie]

mntl, I usually cringe when I hear the BB vs. DSB debate coming into a forum, but you gave a wonderful desciption of both! Thank you for making it so nice to read.

 

[MCsaxmaster]

People have used most of the choices, and have proven them successful. IME, it's not the method, but what one does with it, that determines success/failure. [/B]

Hit the nail on the head. Lots of different systems can and do work, but it's the aquarist that determines whether a system works in each case or not.

cj

 

[RichConley]

FWIW, a lot of us DSB guys are running just as big skimmers as the BB guys. SO be prepared to buy a Ginormous skimmer either way.

 

[RichConley]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6951634#post6951634 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MiddletonMark
People have used most of the choices, and have proven them successful. IME, it's not the method, but what one does with it, that determines success/failure.

to that, I think emeril would say BAAAAAM

 

[Qwiv]

Most true BB reefs tanks do not run refugiums. A refugium will allow waste to settle which is what you do not want. PlusI am sure there are people that try to add them, but it goes against the BB philosophy.

If you added a refugium, I would think you are looking at the more "natural" or "biological" set-up and would choose a sand bed.

 

[RichConley]

I think philosophies need to be kept out of this. Some BB tanks would be MUCH better off with refugiums, some not. We need to get away from saying what goes with what, and using these thigns when theyre needed.

Saying a refugium leaves area for waste to settle is a blanket statement, and is untrue in some cases. My fuge is barebottom (tanks is DSB) and has a ton of flow. Nothing settles in there.

 

[MCsaxmaster]

Very much agreed with Rich. Why would a refugium in-and-of-itself be beneficial to a tank with a sand bed yet detrimental to a tank without one? Are they not doing the same things in both cases?

cj

 

[JMBoehling]

I run a 90 gallon BB Reef with a 20 Gallon BB Refugium. The refugium holds Chaeto which, in my opinion, adds to the biological diversity of my reef.

All of my water changes are done from my fuge. When I do them I remove all the Chaeto, cull a good gallon or two of it and clean a handful to be put back in the fuge in the bucket of removed water. The stuff is a detris magnet, so it must be cleaned regularly. It must be removing something because it grows like mad, and growth requires nutrients.

 

[JMBoehling]

Failed to mention in my previous post, I have 0 Nitrates and undetectable Phosphates using Salifert test kit... This was not always the case in the past

 

[Qwiv]

A bunch of cheato in a sump with a light over it is a bit of a stretch for the definition of refugium.

 

[JMBoehling]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6954694#post6954694 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Qwiv
A bunch of cheato in a sump with a light over it is a bit of a stretch for the definition of refugium.

Full of pods, mysid shrimp, baby Peppermint shrimp.... I think not.

 

[ray22]

I have sunk quite a bit of money into the tank already and there are no sps in it yet.. lol.. i think i am going to be in trouble because i like the sps soo much . i do like the look of the bb tank and the skimmer i have is enough for a 200 gallon tank so i think i will be ok there . my refugium will only have cheato growing in it . i feel that should be ok. other than dosing kalk will a bb tank need anyother additions ?

 

[JMBoehling]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6954861#post6954861 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ray22
my refugium will only have cheato growing in it . i feel that should be ok. ?

So do I

Lots of flow and steady water parameters and you should be money!