sherm71tank
Premium Member
I try to change every 3 days but often it goes longer up to a week.
The "How to go Barebottom thread."
- Thread starter SeanT
- Start date
annamarie421
New member
I'm in the process of cooking some "new" live rock (fresh, just purchased). I've had it for a week and a half now, and have done two 100% water changes, dunking & swishing to remove detritus. The first water change, and dunk/swish I got a small amount of detritus off, but the second time I didn't get a noticeable amount. The rock came in very clean, very little sponge, macro algae, etc on it, and the detritus was minimal when I dunked/swished prior to placing in the cooking container. Can anybody recommend how long to continue the cooking process?
The rock will be replacing the current rock in my 20g. I plan to remove all the rock and sand, and put in a piece of starboard and the new rock once it is ready.
Thanks,
Anna
Edit: I do NOT want to rush the process in any way - I'd like to give it 4-6 weeks minimum, from everything I've read - just looking for some input...
The rock will be replacing the current rock in my 20g. I plan to remove all the rock and sand, and put in a piece of starboard and the new rock once it is ready.
Thanks,
Anna
Edit: I do NOT want to rush the process in any way - I'd like to give it 4-6 weeks minimum, from everything I've read - just looking for some input...
sherm71tank
Premium Member
Ideally until it stops shedding. Which it should when it's clean.
agsansoo
Premium Member
Hello everyone,
I've been BB for around two months now. First let me say I did not cook my live rock. I also didn't think I needed a large clean-up crew. Now I have fuzzy live rocks ! Can somebody suggest the right amount of snails I need ? One more thing. The bottom is starting to get coraline algae on the starboard. The problem is, it's the green variety not the purple color I was hoping for. Any ideas how to change this. Other than that, I'm loving my barebottom tank !
MY PARAMS:
Temp: 79°
SG: 1.025
nitrate:<20
calc: 475
Alk: 11.2 dKH
PH: 8.2
Phos: <0.0
Mag: 1500
MY SYSTEM:
65 gallon BBT, 10 sump, 10 gal. fuge with cheato (no more RDSB, I removed that last weekend)
1x250watt MH 12k Reeflux CoralVue, 4x96watt PC Actinic, 2x Maxi-Jet Mods, 2x Koralia 3's, Phosbane Reactor, Return Pump Rio1700, CSS-65 Protein Skimmer (I'm replacing this ASAP, looking at the Xtreme 160)
I've been BB for around two months now. First let me say I did not cook my live rock. I also didn't think I needed a large clean-up crew. Now I have fuzzy live rocks ! Can somebody suggest the right amount of snails I need ? One more thing. The bottom is starting to get coraline algae on the starboard. The problem is, it's the green variety not the purple color I was hoping for. Any ideas how to change this. Other than that, I'm loving my barebottom tank !
MY PARAMS:
Temp: 79°
SG: 1.025
nitrate:<20
calc: 475
Alk: 11.2 dKH
PH: 8.2
Phos: <0.0
Mag: 1500
MY SYSTEM:
65 gallon BBT, 10 sump, 10 gal. fuge with cheato (no more RDSB, I removed that last weekend)
1x250watt MH 12k Reeflux CoralVue, 4x96watt PC Actinic, 2x Maxi-Jet Mods, 2x Koralia 3's, Phosbane Reactor, Return Pump Rio1700, CSS-65 Protein Skimmer (I'm replacing this ASAP, looking at the Xtreme 160)
agsansoo
Premium Member
SeanT,
Your advise has been spot on ! Thanks again. I have since removed all the sand in my refuguim. I vacuum twice a week, or as needed. I also change my filter sock media twice a day. I'm proud to report zero nitrates !
I also have noticed no growth in my chaeto macro algae. My question is, "what should I do with my fuge " ? Here's a pic.
MY PARAMS:
Temp: 78°
SG: 1.025
nitrate: 0
calc: 460
Alk: 9.3 dKH
PH: 8.2
Phos: <0.0
Mag: 1400
Your advise has been spot on ! Thanks again. I have since removed all the sand in my refuguim. I vacuum twice a week, or as needed. I also change my filter sock media twice a day. I'm proud to report zero nitrates !
I also have noticed no growth in my chaeto macro algae. My question is, "what should I do with my fuge " ? Here's a pic.
MY PARAMS:
Temp: 78°
SG: 1.025
nitrate: 0
calc: 460
Alk: 9.3 dKH
PH: 8.2
Phos: <0.0
Mag: 1400
agsansoo
Premium Member
Yeah ... If you look on the left side of the sump, I have a 4" x 4" acrylic intake box with a 100 micron sock pad, blue filter floss and Seachem Matrix filter media. The filter sock pad get very dirty. I think it's due the all the detritus not settling in the tank, (due to the flow in the tank) and being removed via the overflow box. Which is a good thing !
mattsilvester
Team RC
Hey guys.....
I'm about half way through this thread right now..... and reading still reading
I am currently embarking on a 6 weeks cooking class and have been gradually removing sand.....
2 questions:
1. "Star Board" or similar CANNOT be bought in Ireland. I have been searching for it for over a year...... and I am not putting an 8'x2' sheet of egg crate on the bottom - it will look crap! Do I absolutely need it? I'm going to use rods and milliput to stick it all together, so rickslides are very unlikely!
2. PVC racks...... if I manage to arrange rocks so it only touches in a few places, will that be good enough? I wll have 2 no. tunze streams on the bottom of the tank, blowing along the bottom, and another two on a controller keeping the main water column moving.
cheers,
Matt
I'm about half way through this thread right now..... and reading still reading
I am currently embarking on a 6 weeks cooking class
and have been gradually removing sand..... 2 questions:
1. "Star Board" or similar CANNOT be bought in Ireland. I have been searching for it for over a year...... and I am not putting an 8'x2' sheet of egg crate on the bottom - it will look crap! Do I absolutely need it? I'm going to use rods and milliput to stick it all together, so rickslides are very unlikely!
2. PVC racks...... if I manage to arrange rocks so it only touches in a few places, will that be good enough? I wll have 2 no. tunze streams on the bottom of the tank, blowing along the bottom, and another two on a controller keeping the main water column moving.
cheers,
Matt
TCU Reefer
Premium Member
Starboard is not necessary. PVC rock structures on glass will be perfectly fine. Glass is stronger than people think and the force and weight of a rock falling in water has to be pretty strong to do damage.
You should be fine without starboard. If I could do my setup over again, I would have not gone with starboard. Too much detritus that gets caught underneath. With your streams, you should be able to blow out all the detritus off the glass bottom and keep your tank nice and clean.
HTH.
You should be fine without starboard. If I could do my setup over again, I would have not gone with starboard. Too much detritus that gets caught underneath. With your streams, you should be able to blow out all the detritus off the glass bottom and keep your tank nice and clean.
HTH.
mattsilvester
Team RC
Thanks TCU - off to find some acrylic rod suppliers in Ireland
sherm71tank
Premium Member
I use the glass bottom of my tank (it's at least 3/4" thick) and I have no concern of it breaking.
FranktheTankTx
New member
This is a great thread!! I have to be honest, I did not read every post... I skipped a few pages here and there. But I got the jist of this thread... which I read thru over a dozen pages easily.
So I've been bouncing back and forth on going BB or 2" sand bed in my 36g corner tank. Of course the sand bed is natural looking, however I've actually had some thoughts of covering the bottom with zoo's. I don't know if I will keep any SPS in this tank. At this point, I really have been thinking about doing zoo's and rics only. But, again undecided.
So like some others... it's difficult to completely rid yourself of the DSB and macro algae. If I did go BB, I intended to do a "display" fuge with 4-5" DSB with some cheato. But, I continue to read that a refugium is just not necessary. My cabinet space under the 36g was only 16"x11" which I made a custom sump w/ a skimmer and return section only. I'm running a Bermuda 3C w/ a Quiet One 3000 on it (780gph). Operational volume of the sump is about 7.5g giving me a total of 43.5g including the DT.
So I do not have to have a refugium? Really??? What if I'm not doing SPS? Would I need a remote DSB for a zoo and ric tank? I just have this vision of some day having a bed of zoo's on the bottom of the glass. I won't do starboard. I will stabilize the LR very well before hand.
Also, why do some say no hermits? I mean, inverts are one of my favorite parts to a reef tank. Personally, I plan on having a few hermits (electric blue, scarlet and blue leg). Nothing overkill just 10 or so. I was going small... and as they grow, trade them in for small ones again.
So tell me about this refugium (DSB & cheato) idea. Is it just not necessary, or does the fact I plan on doing zoo's and rics make it a possible need?
So I've been bouncing back and forth on going BB or 2" sand bed in my 36g corner tank. Of course the sand bed is natural looking, however I've actually had some thoughts of covering the bottom with zoo's. I don't know if I will keep any SPS in this tank. At this point, I really have been thinking about doing zoo's and rics only. But, again undecided.
So like some others... it's difficult to completely rid yourself of the DSB and macro algae. If I did go BB, I intended to do a "display" fuge with 4-5" DSB with some cheato. But, I continue to read that a refugium is just not necessary. My cabinet space under the 36g was only 16"x11" which I made a custom sump w/ a skimmer and return section only. I'm running a Bermuda 3C w/ a Quiet One 3000 on it (780gph). Operational volume of the sump is about 7.5g giving me a total of 43.5g including the DT.
So I do not have to have a refugium? Really??? What if I'm not doing SPS? Would I need a remote DSB for a zoo and ric tank? I just have this vision of some day having a bed of zoo's on the bottom of the glass. I won't do starboard. I will stabilize the LR very well before hand.
Also, why do some say no hermits? I mean, inverts are one of my favorite parts to a reef tank. Personally, I plan on having a few hermits (electric blue, scarlet and blue leg). Nothing overkill just 10 or so. I was going small... and as they grow, trade them in for small ones again.
So tell me about this refugium (DSB & cheato) idea. Is it just not necessary, or does the fact I plan on doing zoo's and rics make it a possible need?
FranktheTankTx
New member
Oh, P.S. I planned on 2-Koralia 3's & abotu 350gph return. Should be about 57x flow. Good for BB or need more? I could go with a #4 and #3 w/ my return giving me a 66x flow. What do you think?
Three things:
First, great thread.
Second, is there a black starboard? Or perhaps you could use black acrylic.
Third, they sell a kind of weatherstripping that some have used to adhere and seal baffles in home built refugiums. I wonder, if you could put this (or a thinner variant) along the bottom edges of your starboard (or black acrylic) and prevent detritis build up under the board (assuming it seals the space under it)?
Just a little brainstorm as I mull over this bare bottom stuff
Thanks for reading.
First, great thread.
Second, is there a black starboard? Or perhaps you could use black acrylic.
Third, they sell a kind of weatherstripping that some have used to adhere and seal baffles in home built refugiums. I wonder, if you could put this (or a thinner variant) along the bottom edges of your starboard (or black acrylic) and prevent detritis build up under the board (assuming it seals the space under it)?
Just a little brainstorm as I mull over this bare bottom stuff
Thanks for reading.
SeanT
Premium Member
cl2ysta1, the tank looks great. :thumbsup:
Ã" onic, they do make black Starboard.
Available here http://www.cuttingboardcompany.com/ and other places as well.
Sean
Ã" onic, they do make black Starboard.
Available here http://www.cuttingboardcompany.com/ and other places as well.
Sean
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