The "How to go Barebottom thread."

[smokez01]

One question

i remember when i was just geting into reefing a few years ago, and people said not to use cerith snails because they eat corraline algae

i was wondering if this is true?

p.s., my 25g is doing great, i almost dont want to put the rock back in the tank, and the bin that the rock is cooking in doesnt smell at all

my 75g, however, has 1/2" fiji pink sand bed, i have one baby naso tang, and one turbo snail as the live critters in that tank, and holly crap, you should see the SH!T that accumulates on the top of the sand bed, all of the diatoms are going NUTS, I am thinking about taking the sand out of my 75g, as well

 

[SeanT]

I do not believe Cerith's eat coraline.
Many urchins will.

 

[Ky_Yaker]

WOW, I just finished reading this entire thread in one sitting (another slow day at work!) Great thread, I wasn't sure about the whole rock cooking thing before, but I believe in it a whole lot more now. My system isn't set up yet, I was hoping to have it up and running in the next few weeks, but I guess I'll have to put it off awhile longer so I can go ahead and order my rock and start cooking it. I have been purchasing everything slowly over the past year(before I read about BB tanks) I just hope the Euro Reef ES5-3 will be sufficient to support a 75 BB tank. I had also purchased 2 Seio 1100's and a mag 7 for my return pump. Do you think this will provide enough flow? I'm interested in the eductors(sp?), will they work with a mag 7 or do I need to get a larger return pump? Thanks for all that made this such an informative thread!!!!!

 

[REEF-DADDY]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6531027#post6531027 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Ky_Yaker
WOW, I just finished reading this entire thread in one sitting (another slow day at work!) Great thread, I wasn't sure about the whole rock cooking thing before, but I believe in it a whole lot more now. My system isn't set up yet, I was hoping to have it up and running in the next few weeks, but I guess I'll have to put it off awhile longer so I can go ahead and order my rock and start cooking it. I have been purchasing everything slowly over the past year(before I read about BB tanks) I just hope the Euro Reef ES5-3 will be sufficient to support a 75 BB tank. I had also purchased 2 Seio 1100's and a mag 7 for my return pump. Do you think this will provide enough flow? I'm interested in the eductors(sp?), will they work with a mag 7 or do I need to get a larger return pump? Thanks for all that made this such an informative thread!!!!!

www.kthsales.com in short no they will not work with a mag7

 

[smokez01]

hey Schwag, i was planning on getting a g3 for my 75g, but since you said it didnt work well on your 120, should i go for the g2?

 

[GROSSR]

I am going for a Deltec AP600. Anyone got one cheap?

rich

 

[causeofhim]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6533295#post6533295 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by smokez01
hey Schwag, i was planning on getting a g3 for my 75g, but since you said it didnt work well on your 120, should i go for the g2?

Why go smaller?

 

[NoSchwag]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6533295#post6533295 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by smokez01
hey Schwag, i was planning on getting a g3 for my 75g, but since you said it didnt work well on your 120, should i go for the g2?

I don't know man.. I am kind of bias when it comes to my skimmer because the needle wheel is the only thing I felt I wasted money on. But to be honest I didn't know how much I didn't like it until I got a beckett.

For one the thing would overflow on me if I tried to run it wet. I had the gate valve installed correctly and everything. It was real touchy because I ran it wet. If I wanted a good protein skimmer, I would still be using the g3. But to run a BB tank you shouldn't be concerned too much with skimming proteins, you should be worried about getting the solids out with flow,sump design, and skimming.

Also by trying to run it wet I would have to jack the water wayyy up, by doing this it would let too much water bypass the bubbles. Not only that, but the pumps weren't strong enough to create a thick and powerful enough column of bubbles needed for proper foam fractionalization.

If you really want to know about selecting a skimmer, do a search here and at thereeftank for post by bomber with the terms "beckett" or "wet". You'll see exactly how he feels about skimmers and the importance of choosing one for the type of system you was setting up. He put's it all out there and it's hard to argue with the guy.

 

[twokayaks]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6533866#post6533866 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GROSSR
I am going for a Deltec AP600. Anyone got one cheap?

rich

Check the Richmond Reef Club site here on RC. Someone was selling a deltec ap600.

 

[smokez01]

thanks schwag

and for the snails that i bought, i accidentaly got margarita snails, i thought they were ceriths,

oops

 

[reefsociety101]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6499690#post6499690 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GROSSR
No, it is not. Just the rocks are getting a greenish color. I do see some green coralinge growing, it's almost as it the rock is colored green.

I do have a rock with hair algea on it, I scrubbed it last time, and saw it again, and scrubbed it again. So I know what you mean about slimy.

All three tubs have this going on with the rocks. I am using ro water with a TDS of zero. Salt is 1.21.

rich

I've been cooking my rock for the past 5 weeks also. The same thing is happening The rock looks green but is not slimmy. It just looks like all the coraline is turning green. Light green.

 

[Feerlaroc]

Ok I'm starting to cook my old live rock from my 75 gal. tank tonight (just got the first batch started) and I have a few questions for the experts. First, instead of making up 5-7 buckets of RO saltwater to swish & dunk my LR into I just swished & dunked in my tank (no need to cringe only 2 damsels in there) & the rocks had recently been cleaned & scrubbed & swished in fresh water so they weren't particualrly dirty on the surface. Did I make a mistake by doing this ? I didn't think it would set me back too far if it was a mistake anyway. My second question is can I use the old RO saltwater I mixed to cook my rocks in to do a water change in my other tank ? It's a 55 gal. mixed reef with a underpowered skimmer & not enough flow as it is. I don't think it would do any harm as long as the water chemistry isn't altered in any way by the rocks cooking in it. I know to add a shrimp to the tubs as they are cooking, and I need to seed the LR as well just in case. Does anyone have any suggestions Or do I sound like I'm pretty much on track with things so far ? Thank you all for sharing your experiences, I love to lurk in these forums & absorb what I can.

 

[sig226]

Actually I posted this question in general discussions. I hope that nobody takes offense if I post it here.

I will be going barebottom on 120g after getting discouraged/frustrated with a sanded tank. I understand that detritus removal (among other things) is crucial to be successful in this setup. While my rocks are cooking I will be rebuilding my horizontal overflow so that it will be coast to coast on the left side of the tank.

Question: What if I make another drain? Drill a hole for a 3/4" bulkhead 2 inches from the top of the tank. Then screw a pvc with a strainer at the end pointing down to the middle of tank. This should help in removing floating detritus that may have difficulty reaching the horizontal overflows. Also when I do my regular rock/bottom blowing in the various places in the tank I can probably manipulate it towards this second drain.

Is this a bad idea? Aesthetically, this should'nt be uglier than powerheads in the tank. After all its just a 3/4" black pvc running down the tank. I will try to hide the siphon break somewhere. As for controlling the ball valves for each drain, I would open up one all the way and manipulate the water level with the other one. Which one? try and find the best combination. I will also find a way to shield anemones from straying in this area.

To Sean and Bomber: Like everyone else, when I started cooking my rocks it was plain disgusting to see/smell all that crud come out. Never mind the sand bed. Now is about the 2nd month. I am willing to wait this out as long as it takes. Thanks for your posts regarding this.

-----
Sig

 

[GROSSR]

I feel better that I have company.

I don't have anything in my tubs but a heater and a powerhead. Of course the rock. I am using old tank water to rinse the rocks and I create new clean water to put in the tubs and let the rocks soak.

I don't think there is anything wrong in using old RO water. The point is the water will become more "polluted", if you can say that. Starting with clean water allows more "polluted" water tp be removed from the vat. In summary I would think you would have to cook your rock slightly longer than say someone who uses clean water.

rich

 

[sig226]

This is what I mean by the midtank drain.

 

[NoSchwag]

sig I'm not seant or bomber but I personally think it's a bad idea. ANYTHING you have to add to your system to reduce nitrates and remove detritus is. (IMO)

If your flow isn't getting the detritus to the skimmer, and the skimmer isn't removing it from the system, then somethings not right.

That being said it would make a nice closed loop.

 

[sig226]

To NoSchwag:

That's exactly the purpose of the mid drain. To help remove detritus before it becomes nitrates.

All those drains go to the sump where my skimmer is. The mid drain will remove the floating detritus. When I had sand and I basted my rocks, not a lot of them went to the overflow so I had to siphon the top of the sand bed.

With this setup and lots of flow, some( I hope most) of those detritus will end up sucked by that mid drain and goes to my skimmer.

I know this will not eliminate the siphoning process, but I hope this will reduce it.

Thanks

 

[NoSchwag]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6564462#post6564462 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sig226
not a lot of them went to the overflow so I had to siphon the top of the sand bed.

So then you don't have enough flow to get detritus over the overflow, this is an issue.

I would use it as a closed loop with a pressure rated pump and eductors. That will make the detritus get over the overflow as long as you have enough flow thru the sump.

 

[sig226]

That may be so. But I still have to see fish poop go over an overflow. Especially astrae poop.

But as an aid in removing detritus, do you think it will help?

I will have flow in my tank as is the case with BB. I was just thinking that maybe this additional drain will help.

thanks

 

[sig226]

The reason I am asking this is because I am building an external DIY airstone skimmer with fine pore stones from aquatico. All the drains will go directly to this skimmer via gravity then to the sump.

Thus I have to recalculate the volume of the water this skimmer will hold to accomodate this additional drain. With the additional water volume comes the sizing/quantity of the stones and the airpump that goes with it.

Thanks

Sig