Bare bottem questions

[Antonias1391]

I would really like to go bare bottem as ive heard it can really help with sps growth and my current sandbed isnt deep enough to do what it needs to and just looks meh .

Are there any dangers with taking out an existing shallow bed?

how should the procedure go?

also what are the exact benefits of going barebottem? Ive read alot of varying things with no definitive answer so i would really love some. thanks alot r2r crew!

 

[Antonias1391]

Also will going BB not alow me to keep certain types of clams?

 

[Antonias1391]

bump

 

[clowns101]

I see only 1 danger going BB if you already have sand.

1)Your taking alot of bacteria away,by doing do this could cause problems in the nitrification process.So yo counteract that,remove 5 pounds of sand every week.

I think BB is great!

Clean bottom,no build up for gunk in the sand,the coraline alage grows great,allows all the detritus to be removed and into a skimmer or filter,helps the grows with SPS IMO,keeps tank stable to,Thats all I can think of!

I dont think it will limit you.I am going to pick up 2 clams in Springfeild next time Im up,maxima and corocea.Im putting them in a small dish of sand,and hiding it with rocks.

HTH!

 

[Troylee]

Agreed with clowns but i hat the look personally so I run a shallow sand bed 1"...
From what I have read and from my friends who run it they just say it's easier to clean... Just don't look natural to me...as for limiting livestock clams are fine in rocks or the bottom no biggie... Wrasses are another story....
My frag tank runs bare bottom and the bottom gets so nasty looking after awhile I could never do my display like that..."algae, coralline etc"

 

[clowns101]

I have alot of flow on the bottom of the tank,its really needed to keep the alage off of the bottom,so that it one downfall,that you have to have alot of flow.

I love the look...LOL,once the coraline covers it,it looks awesome!

 

[Antonias1391]

what types of wrasses pick at clams? i have a melanuras wrass. also thanks for the info on the clams troy i may eventualy go back to a sand bed but the sand i currently have is to chunky and large just didoes look right to me. also want to give bare bottom a try. will be another 2-3 weeks before i make the change. would love to hear others opinions as well !!

 

[Angels 2010]

i think he was saying wrasses like sand beds, not they pick on clams, since a majority of them like to sleep in the sand, melanurus included...

Wrasses actually protect clams from bad stuff like pyramidellid(sp?) snails and such...

 

[Acroholic]

Your bare bottom is best kept inside at home, along with your wrasse.:bigsmile:

 

[Antonias1391]

i think he was saying wrasses like sand beds, not they pick on clams, since a majority of them like to sleep in the sand, melanurus included...

Wrasses actually protect clams from bad stuff like pyramidellid(sp?) snails and such...

im planning on having a bed at least 3-6in for the wrass where he usual sleeps

 

[Antonias1391]

Your bare bottom is best kept inside at home, along with your wrasse.:bigsmile:

HAHAHA Acroholic, dont worry ill ware pants :xd:

 

[IHOP]

If you take the sand out slowly, over a few weeks, you should not have any problems.

 

[VegasRick]

The only problem I see with removing it is releasing toxins that have built up in anoxic areas in it. There should be more than enough nitrifying bacteria in the rock to take care of it. Everytime you do a water change, siphon some out. I actually prefer the detritus to accumulate on the bottom. This I remove by siphon with weekly water changes. I think with to much flow on the bottom the detritus tends more to get hung up in the rocks. Usually you can play with your flow alittle bit and it will all gather in one corner. If you are getting any algae growth on the bottom besides coraline then you need to adjust your nutrient import/export.

 

[clowns101]

When I say alot of flow,he knows what I mean,he has a SPS dom system,so he has alot of flow,if he has a SPS dom tank,there is enough flow to keep detritus off of the rocks no proble,he has 5500 GPH in his 75.

 

[Antonias1391]

Haha thanks for the input Vegasrick i do have alot of flow. a K4, quiet one 4000, and a Vortech MP40es reefcrest 100%. so im not worryed about detritus. if the sand bed is onlt 1.5-2 in deep do i need to worry about toxic spots??

 

[Angels 2010]

Haha thanks for the input Vegasrick i do have alot of flow. a K4, quiet one 4000, and a Vortech MP40es reefcrest 100%. so im not worryed about detritus. if the sand bed is onlt 1.5-2 in deep do i need to worry about toxic spots??

Yes, I thought when I removed my DSB, the 1-2" sandbed would need no maintenance, but detritus does build up in the sand and needs to be stirred occasionally. I do 10 gal WC weekly and stir about 1/4 of the sandbed when I do that to get the stuff into the water column and hopefully filtered out...

 

[Antonias1391]

cool thanks. im planning on removal here in about a week or so of the first bit of the sand gunna take it out every other week so things arent to unhappy. or should i do it quickly just to get it over?

 

[juicemonkey]

I was at LFS and they had mentioned something about the sump regarding the bare bottom tanks. They said the sump needs have more than normal sponges and traps for the nitrates. This is more a question then a statement. Can anyone elaborate?

 

[Angels 2010]

I was at LFS and they had mentioned something about the sump regarding the bare bottom tanks. They said the sump needs have more than normal sponges and traps for the nitrates. This is more a question then a statement. Can anyone elaborate?

If your sump is kept clean( I use a mj1600 and tunze 6045 to keep the detritus off the bottom) you should not have issues and if they are talking about manmade sponges like pump prefilters, and filter socks, unless you are ready to clean them a couple times a week, I would stay away from them. I only use a filter sock on my return for a couple days after I do a WC so as to catch the stuff that I stir up. HTH

IMHO, BB tanks and sandbeds have nothing to do with the sump...

 

[Red Planet]

I would really like to go bare bottem as ive heard it can really help with sps growth and my current sandbed isnt deep enough to do what it needs to and just looks meh .

Are there any dangers with taking out an existing shallow bed?

how should the procedure go?

also what are the exact benefits of going barebottem? Ive read alot of varying things with no definitive answer so i would really love some. thanks alot r2r crew!

I WOULD BE VERY VERY VERY CAREFUL!!! I took out all the livestock, then took out all the sand, then all the water. Moved my liverock around. Then I put everything back in with new fresh water. I lost $1500 worth of livestock in 12 hours! I didn't have a skimmer on it, which would have helped a bunch.

What happened you ask? Well when i took out the sand bed it released a ton of Nitrate directly to the water, even though I took out almost all the water, it caused a PH spike and that was that. I lost 7 LE chalice colonies, I lost my fairy wrasse, I lost all my LPS including my Meat Corals / and all my acans.

Moral of the story, Run Carbon, Run a Large Skimmer and do it slowly.

GOOD LUCK!