Sand only, no liverock?

[samtheman]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7709858#post7709858 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by firefishbrain
I personally think it can't be done at an efficient level. Liverock is a crucial part of the bacterial process, it holds the bacteria.

Live sand has thousands of times more sites and capacity for both arobic and anarobic bacteria than live rock. Please, give advice only if you know what you are talking about.

 

[Cody Ray]

Lots of great replies, I have been pondering the idea of going way out there and setting up a 29 gallon infront of my window, using a plenum system, and growing some seagrasses and other sandbed dwelling organisms.

 

[edwar050]

I wonder if you could eggcrate the top and then glue a faux sandbed to the top center brace and run the metal halides under the tank. It would be a totally inverted reef-

 

[Cody Ray]

How would you access the aquarium?

 

[vest0830]

Ive seen a clam tank in a sand only tank.

 

[bguile]

this sounds like a really cool idea. I'm thinking a 55g with a couple pics of LR about 3.5-4 inches high and having about 3 inches of sand on the bottom so that it only exposes about .5 to 1 inch of the LR. Start with small frag colonys and let them grow over the exposed rock. Maybe a single goby or two and a pistol shrimp. I'm thinking white argonite sand and T5's.

 

[MrZ]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7806036#post7806036 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by edwar050
I wonder if you could eggcrate the top and then glue a faux sandbed to the top center brace and run the metal halides under the tank. It would be a totally inverted reef-

Yeah, and fill it with Blastomusso Wellsi! Get it?

:rollface: A pineapple upside-down tank! :rollface:

 

[Cody Ray]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7836152#post7836152 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MrZ
Yeah, and fill it with Blastomusso Wellsi! Get it?

:rollface: A pineapple upside-down tank! :rollface:

Good one

 

[MJAnderson]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7749122#post7749122 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by samtheman
Live sand has thousands of times more sites and capacity for both arobic and anarobic bacteria than live rock. Please, give advice only if you know what you are talking about.

So if my sand has thousands of more sites, can I just remove the 140lbs of LR I have and replace it with 2 cups of sand?

 

[Aquaduck]

One thing about live rock is it has anoxic areas deep inside that provide nitrate reduction. The bacteria don't just grow on the surface. To do that with live sand you need a large deep sandbed. I'm not saying it won't work, I think you'll need to figure out how much sand will be needed to replace the live rock. It's a great idea and I'm considering doing something similar with my next tank. I'm guilty of building the perverbial "wall of rock" and cementing corals all over it. It doesn't really look natural like that. I'm thinking I have enough live rock in my 90 gallon to do a 300 gallon sand lagoon. I'll keep some of the large colonies and let them grow to massive size in the lagoon. Another not so normal thing to do would be to keep a large school of damsel fish in this tank. In the ocean they will school and use the corals to hide in when threatened. It's really amazing to see. Damsels are so cheap too.

 

[Aquaduck]

Another thing, you can use lower Kelvin, higher par lamps. The common trend, to light our tanks with 20K bulbs to get the "day-glo" pimped out colors from corals, is far from natural too.

 

[Cody Ray]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7856040#post7856040 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Aquaduck
One thing about live rock is it has anoxic areas deep inside that provide nitrate reduction. The bacteria don't just grow on the surface. To do that with live sand you need a large deep sandbed. I'm not saying it won't work, I think you'll need to figure out how much sand will be needed to replace the live rock. It's a great idea and I'm considering doing something similar with my next tank. I'm guilty of building the perverbial "wall of rock" and cementing corals all over it. It doesn't really look natural like that. I'm thinking I have enough live rock in my 90 gallon to do a 300 gallon sand lagoon. I'll keep some of the large colonies and let them grow to massive size in the lagoon. Another not so normal thing to do would be to keep a large school of damsel fish in this tank. In the ocean they will school and use the corals to hide in when threatened. It's really amazing to see. Damsels are so cheap too.

I have actually seen some recent articles that suggest denitrification can occur within a centimeter of the surface (using sugar fine sand). Once I get my stand plans all settled in the DIY form I will be set to start construcition on a 90 gallon. My current liverock is fairly coralline-lacking so the plan is to place it on the bottom, fill in around it with sand so that only small portions are exposed. and buy a couple newer pieces that will sit on top of the old liverock (to create more surface area on the sand).

 

[Aquaduck]

Within a centimeter, that's amazing. I didn't think it would be possible at such a shallow depth. Your plan with the live rock should work. The new rock will seed the old with critters as well. I have always placed my rock directly on the glass. You should have no problems.

 

[Cody Ray]

Well here are some photos (finally )