Pictures of Bomber's barebottom SPS tank and related equipment

[boxfishpooalot]

I want to do that no sand bed, but really im scared of any bad resuslts happening.Im not sure if I could take the risk on my tank now, somthing bad may happen.

I may just set up 2 experimental tanks, 1 with no sand and the other with sand. Stick a damsel in both tanks, and test the water quality over 2-3 months time.Both would have a skimmer.

What about all the worms and stuff in the sand. I guess they are there just to survive and eat detris? And if I syphon All that sand out, man we got a bunch of dead worms.

Does aragonite sand(surgar fine or any kind) trap detris in its pores like a sponge? Then just wait for the bacteria to decompose it, thus causing the main problem of a tank.(not being exported by a skimmer)

Man I just dont want to risk it without knowing the information first.

 

[Bomber]

Breathe between sentences box! LOL

Now try that again slowly. One question at a time.

 

[reefrubble]

Joe,how much L/R do you have in your tank? I can't see much rock for the coral.

 

[Bomber]

Somewhere there's a thread about taking the old tank with the sand bed down, cooking the rocks, starboard, etc etc you need to read all that first.

I had cooked all the rocks ahead of time and had them ready, so the day I took the tank apart, removed the sand bed, I put it all back in in one day.

 

[boxfishpooalot]

Breathe between sentences box! LOL

Now try that again slowly. One question at a time.

Sorry... I need to know the proper steps to take to safely remove the sand.

 

[Bomber]

I'm looking for those threads for you.

 

[Bomber]

ok, here they are. Weatherman had them stored.

Go to the bottom of the first page of each thread, there's a "show printable version" button. Print them out, read them, that should cover all the bases.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=223301

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/s...threadid=485572

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/s...threadid=157682

 

[tankslave]

Lowe's huh. Noticed they're starting to get an edge over home depot. Home depot seems to be run more and more by homies.

I want to do that no sand bed, but really im scared of any bad resuslts happening.Im not sure if I could take the risk on my tank now, somthing bad may happen.

Just siphon out the sand a little at a time...

I may just set up 2 experimental tanks, 1 with no sand and the other with sand. Stick a damsel in both tanks, and test the water quality over 2-3 months time.Both would have a skimmer.

that will definitely take a while, but whatever it takes to convince yourself...
Both damsels will be fine and happy, but the water quailty that your sps need is beyond the resolution of your test kits, I guarantee that.

What about all the worms and stuff in the sand. I guess they are there just to survive and eat detris? And if I syphon All that sand out, man we got a bunch of dead worms.

and dead sand...

Does aragonite sand(surgar fine or any kind) trap detris in its pores like a sponge? Then just wait for the bacteria to decompose it, thus causing the main problem of a tank.(not being exported by a skimmer)

yup, that's how it goes. Any DSB is going to trap detritus. So where is it going to go?....

Man I just dont want to risk it without knowing the information first.

Just try sucking out some of your sand each week and see what kinda crap you find in there. You'll wish you did it a long time ago.

 

[Bomber]

Steve, SPC, tried removing his a little at a time and killed off some of his tank.

I would feel better removing everything I wanted to keep to tubs of tank water, removing the sand bed all at one time, dunk and swish the rocks real good if you don't have time to cook them, and put it all back in one day.
Redo the pumps, plumbing, skimmer, etc if you need to do that too.

 

[Matthew A.]

DSB bad huh? That would explain not only the excess organics I keep finding in my sump but also why Aptasia has become so rampant in it as well. Looks like the train runs to Berlin once more.

 

[boxfishpooalot]

I think the biggest part would be convincing my girlfriend to enjoy no sand bed, and explain to her how much better the water would be.

 

[melev]

Hey Bomber, you have a PM awaiting you.

 

[joefish]

Just siphon out the sand a little at a time...

Noooooooooo ! that would just release what it's been hidding for all this time .:eek2:

On my 120 I removed all live stock , yanked the DSB and a 25% water change in one day by myself . Not one loss of life in the tank .

IMO this is the best way to go .

PS , grab some nose plugs for the sand removel .:lol:

 

[joefish]

I think the biggest part would be convincing my girlfriend to enjoy no sand bed, and explain to her how much better the water would be.

With thriving corals no one will be looking for sand . When corals are small and brown sand is very important , after all you need something to see .

 

[joefish]

DSB bad huh? That would explain not only the excess organics I keep finding in my sump but also why Aptasia has become so rampant in it as well. Looks like the train runs to Berlin once more.

Aiptaisia can run rampet anywhere , sand or not .

This new look BB is different from the berlin style . IMO this works much better .

 

[joefish]

Joe,how much L/R do you have in your tank? I can't see much rock for the coral.

Like Bomber , I don't believe in a lot of rock . The water needs room to flow and corals to grow .

Skimmer and flow are the biggest priorty in BB tanks .

 

[tankslave]

Well, I didn't feel like breaking down my whole system just to get the sand out. I did it over the course of a few months with no problem, but whatever you feel more comfortable with...

Bomber, do you get good polyp expansion with your SPS? I only see limited polyp expansion, and that's only when all the lights are out. Kinda discouraging, just wondering what factors could be influencing this. I know the plankton tends to bloom at night, but i'm still not seeing nearly the expansion I do in some other people's tanks.

 

[Flatlander]

He he ! Doug is getting so old his spikes are turning white .:lol:
Unfortunately I know how he feels .

Then it all fell out. :lol:

 

[MiddletonMark]

With thriving corals no one will be looking for sand .

My feelings exactly.

I also think of it like this ... do you spend all your time looking at your overflow? Yeah, it's there ... but when the tank looks good, I don't really notice it as the corals have my attention.

 

[joefish]

Then it all fell out. :lol:

your to funny !:lol:

I'm only working on the graying stage yet ,

So do you have the picture Bomber mentioned ?