The "How to go Barebottom thread."
- Thread starter SeanT
- Start date
tsquad
Premium Member
NoSchwag said:
1. Right now it's just my skimmer and the Mag18, but I'm going to change it when I go BB. There definitely is a spot where a lot detritus accumulates.
2. Most likely, but if not, I can change it, nothing's permanent.
3. Yes, right after my drain, but if that's bad, I can change it too. Again nothing's permanent.
4. I think on Thursdays there are two girls working the cash register.
causeofhim
New member
I had a baby snail crawl into my Sedra and shred my needlewheel.
Ereefic
In Memoriam
shutiny said:
Define 'clean up crew'.
In our 110, I have probably 10 cerith snails, 5 micro blue leg hermits, about 5 astrea snails and maybe 3 of the big turbo snails. Along with a small population of stomatella snails, that the trigger keeps in check.
I don't think i'd classify that as a clean up crew, but some might.
Just be aware that although it may sound easy, going BB is not at all a simple task. There is a significant amount of poop and other waste that builds up on the bottom of your tank that you have to remove. When you have a lot of rock, removing it is not always easy. It could be in our that are very difficult or impossible to get to with a siphon unless you move everything. I got desperate after cyano and diatom breakouts that covered my whole tank that I just went nuts and siphoned all the sand out of my tank. Now I constantly worry about how to remove the buildup. Now I know that an experienced BB person may say, relax, its only a matter of positioning your pwerheads properly but again I say, not so easy.
Then again, you may already have a BB and I am just rambling about my situation...but in any case, I still have serious diatoms and cyano issues...so whoever wants to go BB, I'm not saying its wrong, I'm just saying its not as easy as it sounds...
Then again, you may already have a BB and I am just rambling about my situation...but in any case, I still have serious diatoms and cyano issues...so whoever wants to go BB, I'm not saying its wrong, I'm just saying its not as easy as it sounds...
Weatherman
New member
Agreed. Itââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s not easy, especially when we are talking about tank retrofits (removing sand from an existing tank).
Disrupting the entire tank to remove the sand bed. Cooking rocks. It often takes a long time (months) to complete the transition, and is very painful for both the reefkeeper and the animals. Thatââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s one of the main reasons why I set up a third tank (my 120) to get all my most delicate animals out of the way before I started to retrofit my 180.
I had enough space and resources to make the transition relatively easy, but I still never want to have to go through it again.
Setting up from scratch, on the other hand, is very simple.
Disrupting the entire tank to remove the sand bed. Cooking rocks. It often takes a long time (months) to complete the transition, and is very painful for both the reefkeeper and the animals. Thatââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s one of the main reasons why I set up a third tank (my 120) to get all my most delicate animals out of the way before I started to retrofit my 180.
I had enough space and resources to make the transition relatively easy, but I still never want to have to go through it again.
Setting up from scratch, on the other hand, is very simple.
Weatherman
New member
topmav1 said:
They are little versions of eductors:
http://www.filterpump.com/binn/products.taf?function=series&category_id=108
Not quite as efficient as eductors (due to the smaller cone), but they use up less space.
Hereââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s one of the first threads on eductors:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=157682
This one goes into the theory of how they work:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=577498
causeofhim
New member
Eductors are GREAT!
Weatherman
New member
topmav1 said:
I don't have any experience with using eductors or penductors in a small tank. Maybe someone else can chime in.
Here's what eductors look like in a 120 (the eductors are driven by a single Iwaki MD55-RLT:
causeofhim
New member
In my 55 I have one eductor running off a pressure rated Iwaki 30RLT. I have it located behing my rock about 1/2 way down my tank. I definetly have current. I have my Quiet One 4000 running from my sump blowing in the opposite direction to create a little random turbulence but doesn't help too much. It really doesn't let things settle. It is a mixed tank and just put the SPS and other high flow corals in the high flow and place low flow corals in sheltered areas. It works well and the best thing, no powerheads!
jugger
New member
Im sure this question has been asked before but, im thinking of starting another small 20 gallon tank up for SPS only and was thinking about putting in 60lbs of large size live rock for the usual rock structuresââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦.but then I was wondering if I could just cover the rest of the bottom of the tank (where the sand would be in the front) with 2-3ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ pieces of live rock. So basically it would be a rock bed instead of a sand bedââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦.
Like I said im sure this idea has already been brought up but I wanted to know what you thought of it and are there any advantages or disadvantages to it?
thanks
Like I said im sure this idea has already been brought up but I wanted to know what you thought of it and are there any advantages or disadvantages to it?
thanks
SeanT
Premium Member
60+ lbs of LR may be a bit much for a 20 gallon tank.
As for the rock bed idea I would say that the inherent problems are twofold.
1. The ability to get flow down low to sweep the detritus up and to the skimmer would be hindered by all the rock.
2. The ability to siphon detritus out would be hindered by all the rock.
hth,
Sean
As for the rock bed idea I would say that the inherent problems are twofold.
1. The ability to get flow down low to sweep the detritus up and to the skimmer would be hindered by all the rock.
2. The ability to siphon detritus out would be hindered by all the rock.
hth,
Sean
