The BB movement
- Thread starter thefuture
- Start date
Wiskey
New member
A 2" coating of sand traps deatris, in BB you have flow sweeping along the bottom to lift that deatris up and over your overflows, then to your skimmer where it is removed.
You see mostly SPSers with BB tanks because sps require a lot cleaner water, and are less tolerent of phospate than most other types of coral.
HTH,
Whiskey
You see mostly SPSers with BB tanks because sps require a lot cleaner water, and are less tolerent of phospate than most other types of coral.
HTH,
Whiskey
jackson6745
Yeah Yeah
future, I had both BB and DSB. In the BB tank I have a HUGE bio load (23 fish in a 120G) and I feed everyday, and I have no nusciance algae an no dectable nitrates and phosphates (.02 po4 on a hanna meter)
In the BB tank i can feed as much as I want and not have a nutrient problem....this wasn't the case in my old DSB tank. There are a few pics in my gallery.
In the BB tank i can feed as much as I want and not have a nutrient problem....this wasn't the case in my old DSB tank. There are a few pics in my gallery.
Chaotic Reefer4u
♥Acropora Aficionado♥
ONE WORD>BB'S ROCK!
Cody Ray
New member
I personally enjoy a thin layer of sand. I recently began siphonning my sand bed with each water change (5 gallons every week on a 29 gallon). IMO if you just want the look of sand but are not relying on it for biological filtration it works just as well if not better than a filter sock 
Of course there are reefers that don't even like filter socks.
Of course there are reefers that don't even like filter socks.that doesnt hold to be so true because i was doing a research on this board and it sounds liek some people are having problems with keeping thier levels stabilized or close to natural levels. some are having no growth with corals and etc. what is up with this when having BB?
JMBoehling
Premium Member
Here's what I like about my BB setup:
1.) "0" Nitrates
2.) Great water Movement
3.) PH, ALK, Calcium and Magnesium stay right in check just by dripping Kalk 24/7 as my makeup water. NJo need for expensive Calcium reactors and Kalk Stirrers.
I've got some pics in my gallery as well.
Not sure why people are having problems with their BB setups. BB is as KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) as it comes.
1.) "0" Nitrates
2.) Great water Movement
3.) PH, ALK, Calcium and Magnesium stay right in check just by dripping Kalk 24/7 as my makeup water. NJo need for expensive Calcium reactors and Kalk Stirrers.
I've got some pics in my gallery as well.
Not sure why people are having problems with their BB setups. BB is as KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) as it comes.
jackson6745
Yeah Yeah
There are a few guys having probems but it is not proven to be directly linked to BB's. Many more have a positive experince going BB.
PS..try to remain objective if you want to find out which one is really better. It kind of seems like your mind is made up already.
JMBoehling
Premium Member
Forgot to mention what I have in my 90 gallon reef:
Fish:
Naso Tang
Yellow Tang
Purple Tang
Maroon Clown
(02) Percula Clown
Algae Blenny
Lunar Wrasse
Marine Beta
Green Chromis
Over 30 SPS
15 Ricordea
Huge LT Anemone
Some Zoos, GSP, etc...
Get my point... HUGE bioload
Fish:
Naso Tang
Yellow Tang
Purple Tang
Maroon Clown
(02) Percula Clown
Algae Blenny
Lunar Wrasse
Marine Beta
Green Chromis
Over 30 SPS
15 Ricordea
Huge LT Anemone
Some Zoos, GSP, etc...
Get my point... HUGE bioload
LobsterOfJustice
Recovering Detritophobe
This sounds like exactly what happened with DSB's. A few people started blaming tank crashes on DSBs, then everyone freaked out.
I dont go either way: I have a ssb but try to follow bb methods. I have always had undetectable nitrates and phosphates, and have a ton of flow (two tunze 6000 plug mag 7 return in a 75). I also have a fairly large bioload of 10 fish, fed twice daily. My point is, success can be achieved either way. People will tend to blame their problems on their substrate (or lack thereof). I would tend to agree that with a BB setup you have more control of what goes on in your tank.
no i actually havnt made up my mind. i asked because most of the threads that i read on this sps keepers forum were negative on BB and i read them after i posted this thread and my opinion kind of shifted. but it is true like LobsterOfJustice not every one can achieve success with what some1 else achieved it with. and it is true that there are also many other factors that lead to a tank disolving away apart from its substrate. BB sounds like a win win because i can drip kalk and not spend money on sand and have my parameters in check. YAY. but i still want to know the cons of it so i dont just jump into it.
JMBoehling
Premium Member
PHOSPHATES.. I don't care if it's DSB, SSB or BB, if you have PO4 you will fail at keeping SPS.
MiddletonMark
Premium Member
You are in charge.
Let the skimmer get coated + inefficient, feed heavy ... and the next morning you have a healthy film on your glass and well fed algae.
Also easy to clean up, IMO, with dedication ... but with a BB, you have a little less `cushion' if you slack on necessary upkeep.
Also, some livestock [fish, perhaps coral, some inverts] are not well suited to a BB tank and need substrate for food, sleeping/hiding, etc. A few have taken to containers of sand for wrasses to sleep/etc ... but do check to be sure none of your livestock will suffer.
IMO, some folks will find good success with this method, some with others ... but IMO much of keeping a thriving SPS tank is independent of substrate.
If it fits your livestock, your equipment, and your husbandry ... then you'll probably have good long-term results. Just realize, like with every method - it might not fit what you want it to do, or may not work well with your livestock.
I'm happy with mine, also well aware that it forced me to learn to keep much better husbandry habits, tweak my flow much more, and to keep my skimmer highly tweaked at all times.
That said, I may not always have a bare bottom tank. I tend to think that what I've learned about keeping a tank when BB would have me do much better with substrate, too. Not looking to change anything at present ... stability seems to be working
RCS
In Memoriam
Since skimmers are chemical filtration, and not mechanical, this statement makes no sense. If you meant that the detritus is removed by a mechanical filter along the way somewhere (ie: filter pad of floss on the tank's overflow outlet) then I would agree.
Speaking as someone who keeps SPS along with a 2" sandbed, decent fish load, consistent feeding and NO water changes, I don't see a reason to ever change the way I do things. Not that both ways can't be successful, but you can check some of the pictures in my gallery to see the color most of my SPS have. Phosphates and nitrates also test at zero, mostly due to heavy skimming and a good growth of caulerpa and chaeto in the sump/refugium.
I also have baby maxima clams and baby Banggai cardinals that grow well despite not being feed at all aside from whatever infauna is naturally in the tank. As I said, both ways can be done successfully, but you'd have a heck of a time convincing me to switch.
Weatherman
New member
Having a tank without substrate doesn't magically give you the ability to grow forests of multi-colored acropora with no effort at all.
You introduce a parasite (red bugs, flatworms, nudis, pyramellidids), you are going to have problems.
You introduce a low-nutrient-tolerant algae (rhodophytes), you are going to have problems.
You don't change your water often enough, you are going to have problems.
Having a tank without sand is not going to solve these problems. But, it does make the tank easier to manage if you wish to solve nutrient overload problems quickly.
JmLee
New member
id prob do BB if it wasnt so much work to pull my rock out and my fish out. Take the tank off the stand. Empty out all the sand. Clean the tank, and then making sure my corals and fish dont die from the stress. And then doing water changes and etc..... Man... making me sweat just thinking about it.
