Thinking about going BB

[heartbreak77]

Heres the situation, my 90 gallon tank has been set up for 5 years with a 6"+ deep sand bed throughout. The sandbed has always been full of life and the tank has done very well. The problem is for the last 6 months the rocks have been covered in what looks like a green fuzz, most likely short filaments of hair algae. I can't seem to get rid of this problem whatsoever, the tank is probably 75% sps at this point and they seem relatively unaffected, but the algae is such an eyesore. The algae has also begun to choke out corralline algae growth on the rocks, and prevented it from coming back.

I am thinking at this point the sandbed has reached its maximum capacity, and I am worried about a full out crash. I may just go ahead and purchase a 120 gallon and convert everything over to the new tank, and just keep it BB. Problem is this conversion would have to happen in a day = a lot of stress for tank inhabitants and myself.

I am just looking for suggestions/opinions on my situation and what would you do in it?

Thanks

 

[twon8]

i took the contents out of a dsb 120 a state away and moved it to a bb 180 in the same day. I had no losses except for one of the yellow tang's eyes, which got infected a few days later and is now not there anymore. just get a good amount of new water, like 80 gallons, and go for it. it will suck and be dirty, but when you have it done and the extra depth you will love it.

and welcome to reef central

 

[jer77]

Ditto, I had to go BB in my frag tank one night when one of my bulkheads started to leak. I took all of the coral out and put it in separate containers then took out all the water then all of the sand. I fixed the bulkhead and put all of the water beck into the tank and just added my rock and coral. I lost nothing so far, but some of the sps did bleach so be careful of this. I believe they bleahced from the drastic loss of nutrients. Overall though if you get your new tank set up first and just siphon all the water into it and make some new water, and put your corals in the tank immediately you shouldn't have any problems. My tank looks much clearer and healthier now that its BB.

 

[heartbreak77]

Thanks for the quick reply's guys. I plan on using all of the old water/rock, plus probably about 40+ gallons of new water due to the increased tank size. I'm hoping it will only seem like a large water change to the inhabitants and won't affect them too much. I just think that the sand is no longer effective.

 

[Feerlaroc]

IMO you might want to look into cooking some or all of your rocks. or you may have problems with them shedding. Just do it a few at a time.

 

[heartbreak77]

Do you think these rocks will shed significantly? They are about 5-6 years old.

 

[Wiskey]

Oh yes, I think they will shead allot, especially comming from a DSB tank. If I were you I would look into cooking very seriousally.

Whiskey

 

[heartbreak77]

Well at this point I don't believe "cooking" is an option, I don't really have the space or the time to cook my rocks up to a month, this transfer would have to take place over a weekend.

Thanks again for all of the responses

 

[twon8]

i didn't cook my rocks and they do shed some, but get enough flow in the tank and the sheddings should get cleaned out. running a filter sock may help for a time, and i would stir up the bottom often for a while. i used almost all new salt water and everything was fine.

 

[heartbreak77]

Thanks Anthony.

Another reason I like the idea of the BB tank is the fact that I can increase my flow exponentially without the large amount of sand in the tank. It looks to be a long process, but I'm sure it will be worth it in the long run.

 

[Feerlaroc]

You can cook a few at a time, it doesen't have to be done all at once. I'd do like a five gallon bucketful, I think you will find it worthwhile. If they shed too much without the safety net of a sandbed you could have problems. I read a thread on here where someone had problems with excessive shedding.

 

[heartbreak7]

Thanks feerlaroc, I just don't think cooking will be possible. I don't understand the fact that the sandbed is a safety net when it is so old and seems to have lost its processing ability, if anything it seems like a liability rather than a safety net.

 

[143gadgets]

I first drained the majority of the tank water into two vats. One was for corals and the other was for the live rock. I then removed the corals and placed them into the first vat. I removed the rock and made sure that I swished it as much as possible to remove any detritus. Then I placed each one into the second vat. I used a scooper and a couple of buckets to drain the rest of the water and sand. I then took down the tank and cleaned it completely out and also painted the bottom black. This was a perfect time to clean up everything sdso I did. I cleaned the sump, skimmer, and powerheads. After all of that was done, I replaced the rock and aquascaped it to my satisfaction. Then the corals and water were placed back into the tank. It took a total of 8 hours, but it was worth it. I could of done it quicker, but I never like to rush things when it comes to my tank. HTH.

 

[xtrstangx]

You could go out to Lowes and get a 32g trash can.. Go to the LFS and get a few Maxi-jets or Seios for the bucket. Put all your rock in there and atleast cook it some (even if you only halfway cook it, its better than nothing).

IMO, you may not get the new tank for a week or two. Thats a week or two you could be cooking rock and saving yourself a headache once the new tank is setup.

Problem is this conversion would have to happen in a day = a lot of stress for tank inhabitants and myself.

Imagine having to deal with your shedding rocks for a month after you switch? That'd be major stress, IMO.

 

[DitchPlains2]

shedding?

shedding?

I had a dsb, and switched there is minor shedding, I have a quiet one 4400HH on return at full blast, two seio 1100's in a 55g, there are a few pockets of sheddings now and again, but you can always vaccum.


btw BB is very simple to use, for a simpleton like me.
David

 

[smatter]

What the hell is shedding? Die off?

 

[MiddletonMark]

Shedding would be the crud that has built up in the rocks slowly falling out - becoming regular detritus piles that require siphoning every few days for a few months.

If you set the tank up with flow just right - it should collect in an easily siphonable place. But IME, without `cooking' it took a few months for the rock to quit shedding/dropping detritus so much - and thus a few months for BB to really start `working'.

Or so my experience was. I'd do any removal all in one shot.

But do realize you may have to alter the flow, aquascape, and be on top of maintenance, skimmer tweaking, etc. There's more to it than just substrate removal.

 

[heartbreak7]

Hmm, all of these replies are making the switch to BB sound very undesirable, but this algae is hideous. This tank has been setup for a long time so I don't want to ruin it with massive changes. I also have some sand dwelling critters that would have to hit the road.

Decisions Decisions

 

[kirstenk]

all of these replies are making the switch to BB sound very undesirable, but this algae is hideous.

Whats your cleanup crew like? Lots and lots of snails are good. Ya also might want to check into the probiotic methods. Zeo, Prodibio, Reefresh, Vodka.........the "snake oils". I started them when I had cyano that would not end. The cyano is under control now.

 

[MiddletonMark]

Heartbreak - no method is perfect.

I'd be sure you have tweaked export before going BB, if you do [skimming mainly, but can also include PO4 removers, w/c, skimming-affectors (ozone, uv, bacterial-systems), siphoning, filter socks, etc etc].

I've enjoyed my BB tank over the last two years - but did have periods where I struggled a bit, took a while to really take off, and has taught me quite a bit about how to keep my tank. I'm glad I did it, but I also went from a Remora on my 58 to a Bullet2 on my 58 ... be sure to have good export in place, and you can have success.

But for some folks setup, equipment, habits, available time, livestock ... it just doesn't work right. Same as all methods, not everything works great for everybody. Thus I'd speak honest issues with any method you suggest :lmao:

Just my opinion ... read as much as you can. I learned much of what I needed to run a successful BB method here on this board - just requires some digging, lots and lots of reading.