Thinking of Ditching the Sandbed..

matt b

matt b

Active Member
Originally Posted by COWFISHRULE
http:///forum/post/2695131
Yep.
Really. My sand bed is maybe 1". All i've noticed it doing is padding the rocks, and annoying the ---- out of my corals. I was thinking of removing it (in stages, of course).
I do a 1-gal w/c ever 2-3 days. My thought was to lose the sandbed and increase my flow, thus not worrying about a sandstorm.
---- on the bottom of the tank would be shot around by the increased flow, so im not worried about that.
Quick concerns. How do you place the rockwork on the bottom of the tank if there is no sand? Is it ok for the rocks to be on the bottom of the tank with nothing padding them? They are currently stable and stacked so they cannot fall.
I did the same in my 75 SPS reef. I just syphoned it out over a few times and did big water changes. I love not having sand! I have set up two tanks since then and have not used any sand. You can add soooo much more flow and extra food dosent get stuck in places. I dont think I will ever use sand again. BB FTW
edit// And the rock, I did not have any problems. Just make sure it is really sturdy.
 
cowfishrule

cowfishrule

Active Member
question, as i was going to start this tonite.
i've read some stuff about my ph not holding up. i have yet to have a ph problem with my tank, and i'd rather not start.
would a cup of sand in a media bag in chamber 1 help keep some buffer? perhaps some crushed coral in a bag?
answers, people.
 
cowfishrule

cowfishrule

Active Member
so now im having another thought.
i plan on losing the sandbed slowly over the next couple of weeks. i also plan on losing some of the rock that is in my tank. i thought about crushing some of it up into rubble to occupy the back chambers of my tank. this will allow it to still do its thing without me having to see it. of course, i'd also be taking out my bio balls and using this in place of it.
yea ? ney ?
 
coral keeper

coral keeper

Active Member
Originally Posted by COWFISHRULE
http:///forum/post/2731154
so now im having another thought.
i plan on losing the sandbed slowly over the next couple of weeks. i also plan on losing some of the rock that is in my tank. i thought about crushing some of it up into rubble to occupy the back chambers of my tank. this will allow it to still do its thing without me having to see it. of course, i'd also be taking out my bio balls and using this in place of it.
yea ? ney ?
Yea.
 
cowfishrule

cowfishrule

Active Member
another thing i am concerned about is recently, i've been getting some diatoms on my sand. the tank is almost a year old, and the sand/rock is about 4 years old.
i've got some hair algae growing here and there, and some red bubble algae.
i was also thinking of doing a pd for pd swap with my lfs just to get some new rock....
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
I would not put rock rubble in the back chambers. But if you feel the need to do that don't break it up. Put in the largest piece(s) you can to maintain some of the anaerobic area in the rock. In my 29 bio cube I took out the balls and added a bag of purigen a bag of chemipure and some chaetomorph. I have about 35-40 lbs of rock in the display. Have not had detectable nitrates at all. Have no algae in the display except for the green stuff on the glass that you clean off with the mag float and coralline. Coralline is growing on the bottom now and helps to make the tank look more natural.
Here is a drawing of my back chambers.
 
ozymandias

ozymandias

New Member
Dump it. You'll have no regrets. I'm running a BB on my 29 and the water is so clean and clear and there's no detritus anywhere to be seen because it all gets blasted into the skimmer.
One thing to think about when you remove the sand is this...did you put the sand in first or the rocks? If you put the sand in first and the rocks are sitting on it then make sure they are still stable when you remove the sand from under them.
Good luck and please share pics.
 
cowfishrule

cowfishrule

Active Member
well, i did put the sand in there first, but i have 4 pieces in my tank. they are configured in a way so that they are not stacked up on each other. 1 piece lay across the 2 side pieces, and the last piece leans up against on of the side pieces, so nothing will shift when i yank out the sand.
if i have enough movement in there, detritus will get blown up into the water column, or if it collects somewhere, that will be my starting point when i siphon out.
im just nervous about stability, which is why i keep posting here, and digging around looking for answers. i just havent found one yet that has made me all warm and fuzzy.
 
zilly

zilly

Member
Jesus! The more i read the more confused I become!! What happend to 'LR & LS - essential for any tank!' ?
lol. BTW sweet tank Spanky! (... or was it spanko?.... damn! )
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Originally Posted by Zilly
http:///forum/post/2735552
Jesus! The more i read the more confused I become!! What happend to 'LR & LS - essential for any tank!' ?
lol. BTW sweet tank Spanky! (... or was it spanko?.... damn! )
In the display a shallow sand be, one 2" or less, only has bacteria residing in the top about 1/8". So the amount of bacteria in the sand has a minimal effect on the overall biofiltration of the tank. A few additional pc.s of rock will easily make up the loss from the sand. What is a loss is the potential fauna loss from removing sand.. There are detritus eating critters in there constantly cleaning the sand. However no sand, no detritus accumulation, no real need for those critters. With and increase amount of flow in the tank any detritus that would have accumulated in the sand is now "free" to be suspended in the water column for removal by mechanical or chemical filtration and by a goo husbandry schedule of water changes at which time the detritus is siphoned out along with the water for the change.
Thank you for the comment on the tank Silly (... or was it Zilly?.... damn! )
 
salt210

salt210

Active Member
CFR
go for it man. if it doesn't work the way you want put the sand back or keep trying different setups till it does work
 
kandiman1224

kandiman1224

New Member


[hr]
I'm thinking about starting a saltwater tank and need advice.......
i would like to know the basic equipment i will need.
i know that clown fish live in temps of 75-80 farehnheit
and some guy said i would need a chiller 600$ dollar lol no way
because the tank i have is one im using for breeding my cichlids plus the temp of my water is always below 80 degrees so i dont need a chiller
my tank is 30 gallons a hexagon and im not planning on going all out on it until i can have a basic clown fish in it for a while
im going to buy equipment little by little
can anyone give me a guestimate of what i will need i will try to give pics.......anyone wanna see my cichlid....lol off topic
 
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