The "How to go Barebottom thread."

would nassarius vibex snails be ok to add to help with eating the decaying food and such or are ceriths and astreas all you really need?
 
Well, you shouldn't be overfeeding, so the Nassarius should starve ;)
IMO why buy something that will die from lack of food if you do it right? If you have a couple already ... no sweat. But unless you're getting just a few - I guess it seems like money you don't have to spend.
That's just my sole take on it, take it for that. Just because my post count hit 5 figures recently doesn't mean I'm smarter. It just means I'm good at babbling, and bored at work sometimes :D


Hermits, emeralds also eat that same stuff. If you have either of those, IMO they'll go running for it too.
If you're providing a regular excess of food ... IMO BB may be problematic.
 
Great thread. One question--Why do you recommend removing the sandbed while the LR is cooking. Before reading this thread, I had thought I would first remove and cook the liverock. Then, after the rock was ready, I'd remove the sandbed, clean the tank and set it all back up.
 
Okay I gotta question, how the hell are you supposed to cook your rocks if you have nice large colonys of sps attached to the rock?

Thanks!
 
ezhoops said:
Sean, can you tell me before I buy a UV sterilizer if and why I should run one with my BB tank?
Click to expand...

UV's help in several ways.
First is to kill pathogens which effect livestock negatively.
But...we aren't concerned with that here.
UV's are very efficient at breaking down the organics that are accumulating for more efficient export.
UV's do this by breaking down long molecules by ionzation
UV's are great at breaking down coral warfare chemicals and good at breaking organic bonds that would discolor water.
Sean
 
Maybe they skipped cooking those rocks with large corals and just used a powerhead/turkey baster to blow off the detritus and then vaccuum it up over a period of time.
 
10" Red Devil said:
I really wanna know how those who have established coral heads have gone bb without damaging the corals attached to their rock?
Click to expand...

RD, cooking the rocks is just a short cut for people that wanted to strip their tanks and start over - all in one day.

If you don't cook the rocks, you need to stay on top of removing detritus from the system until the rocks clean up. I would keep a eye on any hard corals attacked to rocks while you do that. As phosphate migrates out of the rock, it can also wick up into coral skeletons. That causes RTN, STN etc. Keep a lot of flow around the base of the corals and blast the pores of the rocks to get the detritus out around them too. You don't want it to clog up and create a anoxic area to release more P.

Also, I would add a ton of astreas and ceriths to harvest any algae and detritus, making it easier to skim out.
 
Okay so lets say I have a 20Long connected to a 10 gallon what would be the perfect setup as far as powerhead pump combo?

Right now I have about a 1" layer of sand that I vaccum every week when doing my 20% water change. The sand is a mixture of fine and coarse sand.

I have a Catalina return pump that is pumping 900 or slightly more gph and it is plumbed through a SCWD. I have a Remora Pro for skimming and it has a mJ1200 powerhead. I have a heat issue right now with the pumps I have submersed which when the lights are off heat up the tank to 84F without a 6" fan blowing across the display, when the fan is on it brings it back down to 81-82. This is with a Ambient temp of 74-73F.

Thanks.
 
I have a question regarding live rock (actually now quiet dead!). I am starting a new 30 gal. cube and planning to go bare bottom. I plan on using rock that I have had out of my main aquarium for over a year. It is very dry and actually set out in the sun and rain for several months. Is there any problems I should be aware of from using this rock?
Thanks
Don
 
Bomber said:
RD, cooking the rocks is just a short cut for people that wanted to strip their tanks and start over - all in one day.
Click to expand...
Hey Old Man...I don't consider 'cooking' rock a shortcut...I consider it a long cut. ;)
 
10" Red Devil said:
I really wanna know how those who have established coral heads have gone bb without damaging the corals attached to their rock?
Click to expand...
To be honest...if you put. say, an encrusted blue tort in a 'cooking' tub it would die.
Some of the hardier, nutrient dependant corals will survive like 'shrooms, but even the Montipora difitata's that encrusted some of my rocks I 'cooked' bit the bullet in a week or two.
This is just MY experience though.

Sean
 
king1522 said:
Is there any problems I should be aware of from using this rock?
Thanks
Don
Click to expand...
Yes.
The rock is still full of nutrients.
Since it has been out of your tank for so long you aren't missing it that badly.
So I would suggest setting up a cooking tub, seed it with a small piece of LR from your main system and let the bacteria go to work.

The benefits are two-fold.
First and foremost you won't cause a cycle.
And secondly, you won't be releasing organics into your main tank.

Sean
 
Bomber said:
RD, cooking the rocks is just a short cut for people that wanted to strip their tanks and start over - all in one day.

If you don't cook the rocks, you need to stay on top of removing detritus from the system until the rocks clean up. I would keep a eye on any hard corals attacked to rocks while you do that. As phosphate migrates out of the rock, it can also wick up into coral skeletons. That causes RTN, STN etc. Keep a lot of flow around the base of the corals and blast the pores of the rocks to get the detritus out around them too. You don't want it to clog up and create a anoxic area to release more P.

Also, I would add a ton of astreas and ceriths to harvest any algae and detritus, making it easier to skim out.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the great information.

Just wondering how does phosphate wick up into the skeletons of sps as you say?
 
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