The "How to go Barebottom thread."

I didn't have any of them that I know of when I cooked my rock. I had them once but I bought about 50 peppermints and haven't seen them since.
 
Doing this on mine will be interesting because the tank is 270 gallons and I ahve to buy a few (lol) vessels to hold most of the water I need to drain out :) and then climb in it to scoop the sand and then try to get enough flow in there to lift what remains into the sump to siphon out or catch in filter socks :)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13144068#post13144068 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by skippyreef
Doing this on mine will be interesting because the tank is 270 gallons and I ahve to buy a few (lol) vessels to hold most of the water I need to drain out :) and then climb in it to scoop the sand and then try to get enough flow in there to lift what remains into the sump to siphon out or catch in filter socks :)
Click to expand...

This will be the easy part IMO. What the real problem will be is getting sufficient flow in the tank and in the right direction to make sure the detritus gets to your filtration to be removed. Remember, without the sandbed to absorb these nutrients your filter system has to be top notch or you will have problems very fast.
 
I have two 6100 streams on the tank and two vortec pumps on the way. I have thought about changing out the return to a pressure rated pump for penductors from the Red Dragon I have on the tank.....or just buy more vortechs :)
 
I figure if I go ahead and get a total of four vortechs I can run them in reef crest mode and use the Streams to "Mop the Top" to keep the surface stirred up :)
 
I am going to go some vessels today for the process. It occured to me that I can start cooking the rock even before I get all the sand out of the tank this morning LOL. I am taking most of it out to start it cooking.

I have some cinder blocks to place the totes on to make siphoning and changing easier on myself and plan on doing it in the utility room behind the tank. This takes up to two months to complete (this is usual estimates right) so I want to get on this now.
 
I am going to go some vessels today for the process. It occured to me that I can start cooking the rock even before I get all the sand out of the tank this morning LOL. I am taking most of it out to start it cooking.

I have some cinder blocks to place the totes on to make siphoning and changing easier on myself and plan on doing it in the utility room behind the tank. This takes up to two months to complete (this is usual estimates right) so I want to get on this now.
 
I would like to go bare bottom but I have a few questions. I will not be just scooping the sand out of my tank. I am upgrading from a 46 bowfront to a 36x18x25 70 gallon with a 29 gallon sump. My rock is covered in coral including zoas, ricordea, LPS, and SPS and it would be impossible to remove all this in order to cook the rock. How bad off would I be to just put some starboard down in the new tank and transfer over all the rock coral and all? What problems should I expect from doing this?
 
Just save the rock with the corals on it and cook the rest. You shouldn't have any problems so long as you seal the starboard so nothing can get under it and you have strong flow and filtration.
 
Well its been 5 weeks since I started to cook the partially cooked rock. @ 3 weeks in I had noticed some algae still present. I also realized some light may have been penetrating the rubbermaid's so I covered them with cardboard. Its been two weeks with the cardboard on and the algae seems to be less but its still present. Also at this point the tub is clean after rock has been in for a week. I think the rocks a getting really clean. Should I wait until I can see no sign of algae? And if so how long should that take?
Thanks
 
Sean, Great info in this thread. I have a 220 that I emptied a year ago do to major aptisia and phosphate issues causing havoc with my tank.

Got rid of alot and moved the rest to a 90. Still have phosphate and aptisia issues as well as mojano. Phosphates under some control with GFO- Phosar HC. Have not atempted peppermint shrimp.

I went bare bottom a year ago when I switched. Have had same minimual success keeping sps & lps. Leathers still grow like crazy.
Zoos not doing as well. Really want aspectacular lps/sps tank with bright colors. Thinking of redoing 90 to see if I can succeed before I convert back to 220.

Uisng 2 Tunze 6100 w/ controller. Ocean runner 2500 as return pump. 2 14k Phoenix 250 DE in lumenix3 reflectors. Octo NS150 skimmer with mesh mod. Phosban reactor. If i go and cook rock, will this eliminate need for phosban reactor or will phosphates and aptisias come back?

If I remove all rock @110 lbs, dos this not effect the biology? How will the fish & corals survive? Do I need to add something during this period? Additive etc? I am really confused. I also have lr in sump.

I am trying to have sucess in this system so I can justify going back to my 220.
 
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