Modern thoughts on live rock rubble bottom

[killinit123]

in my 75g i have sand on bottom and crushed aggregate on top of that and i must say it is working very well. it does trap detritus but is very easy to vacuum out IMO because the aggregate is too heavy to be siphoned. so when i vacuum i do not have to worry about taking sand up with it all of the detritus comes out easily and rubble stays in the tank with ease. some sand may come through depending on how deep i put the vacuum but this is no big deal also having 2 mp40's makes it so most detritus stays suspended and either gets taken up by my skimmer or settles in the fuge. either way i find it to be very easy to vacuum out the detritus from course aggregate than having fine sand.

 

[toothybugs]

used a bunch of epoxy to make a mat of sand to put in the bottom of the tank.

Exactly what my desktop system is having. Only I put down the epoxy first to seal out any void between the sand mat and the glass bottom.

 

[BeanMachine]

How about doing travertine tile across the bottom....its great as it will perform jus like rock work but give u a different look.

Travertine tile isn't very porous at all so highly doubt it would perform similar to live rock.

 

[wetWolger]

How long was it set up?
I've had sand beds for a few years with no algae issues and I've never siphoned.

At least 5 years.

 

[R1ant04]

Travertine tile isn't very porous at all so highly doubt it would perform similar to live rock.

I beg to differ with u on that...... and so does my tank. I did not say u can replace all of ur rock and jus use travertine, jus said it performs similar in the fact that it provides a place for bacteria to grow/cultivate jus like your rock work, it also provides copepods/amphipods, snails a place to thrive. Also coraline grows on it just like on your live rock.....so....basically wat I said. Similar. Oh and u can also attach coral to it jus like live rock.

 

[whosurcaddie]

Have you seen this? You can cut this stuff to fit.http://www.designsbynature.net/products-page/background-panels/

Here is a thread with a guy using it in his tank.http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2291647