Substrate or BB??

[JR719]

I'll bring the debate here.

I like the look of substrate on the bottom of tanks. I currently have either crushed coral or aragonite, can't remember. On the new tank, I kinda want to go BB, but not real big on the look. I am worried the flow will blow the substrate and give me large areas of bare glass.
I have also thought of pouring epoxy on the bottom, just a thin layer, and adding enough substrate to cover the bottom and stick to the epoxy. The problem I see with that is there wont be any "critters" that can sift thru it and keep it clean. That would lead to a very ugly base and place for detrus to collect.
If I cover the substrate with epoxy, I think that would just look bad and definately not very natural.
If I go BB and add Starboard, I've read where water will get under the board (eventually even if glued down). This would be a problem as it will get gunked up and cause all kinds of problems. And there is no way to put a single sheet of Starboard in there unless it is really flexible.

So, I guess to summerize....
I like the look of substrate, but like bare bottom for cleaning, detrus removal with high flow, etc etc.
What would you do?

JR

 

[dustin Combs]

faux sand bed

faux sand bed

Jeff,

You may want to check this out. On our next build this is what Debbie and I are going to do.
faux thread

 

[dugg]

I have ran tanks both ways, and i like the DSB best. When i went to BB, it was to try and fix an algae problem at the time. I think the BB made the problm worse. Sure you can clean the bottom better, butt there is no longer a DSB to keep the water balanced, so it takes far less detris in the system to cause a problem. I would look more towards the placement of you rocks and powerheads to keep the sand from blowing around. Plus the sand looks sooooo much better and more natural than starboard or glass.

 

[JR719]

Thanks for the input guys. I like the thread Dustin. The look of the sandbed without the mess. I wonder how difficult it is to keep clean. Guess I'll read the rest of the post.

 

[dustin Combs]

Jeff,

when the wife and I set up the next tank we are going with the faux look with the tunze wave box and the extension to keep the sediment off the bottom. I currently run the wave box and if you aren't careful it will turn your sand bed with the wave action. One of the better investments I have made.

dustin

 

[JR719]

Dustin,

I'm still debating on 2 tunze with the multicontroller. Tunze's will be very close if not on the bottom. An oceansmotions 4 way split into an 8 at the top of the tank.

Jeff

 

[dustin Combs]

I don't think you can go wrong with the 6200's on a controller.

 

[dugg]

Wow, i was just reading through the faux thread, did you see what it did to that 240 gallon tank. I would dehydrate myself crying over that lol. How big is the tank you are considering doing this to?

 

[dustin Combs]

I think he is going to do this on his 300. Why would you cry? I think it is a better idea than running a bb. He is going to run a big fuge I with deep sand bed I think?

 

[captbunzo]

I'd cry because I think it is a shame to waste such a big tank on such a silly idea. But that is just my opinion, and one that should probably get me slapped as is.

Really, I think that the biggest problem with sand beds and DEEP sand beds is a lack of understanding about how to create proper flow within tanks. My current favorite theory (which might change next month) is the idea of a closed loop return manifold.

I guess we'll see - I just finishing building one of these on a 90G tank for my sister. The closed loop input includes two 1.5 inch holes drilled in the back panel around 8 inches up from the bottom of the tank. They feed into a Sequence Reeflo Dart, which should provide somewhere between 3000-3600 GPH of flow. The output is distributed into a return manifold around the top of the tank which includes 10 3/4" lockline outputs.

Furthermore, when we setup the rock, we'll (attempt) to follow rules such as leaving some flow area between the rocks and the side glass walls of the tank, etc.

In about 4 days, I'd guess, we'll be filling the tank. Give it a week later and I can give an idea as for whether this will "stir up the sand" too much. If all of this theory works, then hopefully we'll have plenty of flow that keeps dissolved organics suspended, but is sufficiently non-laminar as to not stir up the sand, beat corals, etc.

Who knows. And JUST MY TWO CENTS!!! I'm not trying to start a flame war, just tossing out my thoughts. We're just hoping this all works, after all.

Oh yeah. And btw, we'll are aiming at around three inches of sand. The sand is sold by Seachem. It is part of their "Tidal Marine Substrates" line of products and is called Grey Coast Calcite. It wouldn't have been my first choice as I would have aimed for a fine grained oolitic aragonite. But my sister REALLY wanted some black sand.

 

[Russ Braaten]

That would be a real B***h to break your 240 tank just because you wanted a BB that didn't look like a BB.

I would figure out a way to make a removable or temporary fake sand bottom.

Me, I prefer the sand bottom.

Charlie! Are you reading this thread? How is your BB doing?

 

[dustin Combs]

faux bed

faux bed

It would suck if a tank is broken. one of the guys let the epoxy set in the tank and the heat from the epoxy curing broke the bottom. eek!! Some of the other people who have added faux sand beds have done it outside the tank on precut star board. I also read where someone placed plastic wrap inside the tank to get the perfect match with the faux bed. This allowed them to remove the bad when cleaning or moving. He had to use separate sections to accommodate the size of the tank. All great ideas.

dustin

 

[kpk]

I love my barebottom, but other than that I have only had a 2" sandbed and wouldn't do that again. Just not enough to help with filtration and gets full of crap in a hurry...

Kyle

 

[dugg]

Dustin would it not bother you to break a 240 gallon tank? I have priced them a few times, and trust me, breaking one would be good reason for a few tears lol.

 

[dustin Combs]

cry no be p#$*#& off yes. Non tempered glass?

 

[Deacon]

Hi, a search on "faux sand bed" brought me to this thread. Thought you folks might be interested in the link below. It's another method of faux sand bottom.

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66246

 

[MyMonkey]

I have the 2 inch sand bed now. I have nasty hair algae. However, not sure it has anything to do with the sand. I like sand, I like the look of it. I also like the animals that live in the sand. Without that, I think the tank would only be half as interesting. Just my opinion.

 

[JR719]

Dugg,
It is a 300 tank and will have a 120 sump/fuge. The main problem problem with Starboard now is the tank itself. Meaning, the bottom is not 1 nice flat sheet. There is a strip of glass about 2 or 2 1/2" wide and 1/4" thick that I guess are for support, that are placed along the front/back and sides on the bottom. I would have to get something to fill the center void that is 1/4" tall, then add the starboard. I could use a router I suppose to "carve" out the area on thicker starboard. If I went with the epoxy/sand, that would be an enormous amount just for coverage.
I actually want something easy to clean (figuratively speaking) and looks good.
Just for curiosity.... I know styrofoam will break down under UV. However... If that was used as a "base", covered with the epoxy/sand mix would that work? It should not get any UV because of the sand, it would cushion any falling rocks, and easy to work with. Would it break down in salt water and pollute? On the link Deacon gave, the guy uses HDPE, what is that?
And for the record, I like the look of a sandbed. I just don't want to blow the sand away from having Tunze's on the bottom of the tank.

Jeff

 

[MyMonkey]

What foam would you use? I like that epoxy/sand look too, but there is no way I am pooring that right on the glass.

 

[VCoo71]

HDPE= high density polyethylene (spelling?) the same as cutting board basicaly

Jeff i would router out around the braces if you get the thicker cutting board

charlie