Moved and went bare bottom, what to expect.

[Badguy]

So, I moved last weekend about 54 miles from my old house. Did the move in two days. So first day everything meant for humans.. and then last day I did the Tank. Let me tell you, I almost called it quits, right then and there. Man was I over my head. did the move just two people. I thought it would have been a lot easier. Thank God for the glass suction handle thingy's from Amazon and deciding to too split 100g into 5 g home depot buckets really made everything so much more manageable.I did loss some colonies my favorite Blasto and a couple of SPS that I foolishly bought close to the move. No fish or invert loss, that I could tell.

I took the opportunity to dump my whole sand bed. I was feed up with my Green Cori Wrasse just making it rain on top of all my corals every day.Also the horror stories of old tank syndrome and kitty litter effect of the sand bed.

So I've only had the tank running for 5 days and here's what I have been able to see. No sand every where! My skimmer seems to be working a lot more efficiently. Especially after every feeding.Socks are getting dirtier quicker, so I'm assuming that there's less detritus seeking into the bottom.

Now, I don't like the look but I'm excited of the prospect of being able to care for more delicate and progressively more expensive SPS in the future. Here's the before and after pictures. Rock work isn't done lol obviously. Quick question, any possibility of there not being a tank cycle? tank was 1.5 years old before move.

 

[Katrina71]

@Scurvy runs a bare bottom

 

[Badguy]

Sorry Upload failed on the 2nd picture.

 

[Ben little79]

I went bb.. Had to rehome my wrasse.. It absolutely did not enjoy the change.. Other than now having an extra Paine of glass to clean basically.. It went smoothly the transfer.. But i removed my bed over an extended period of time.. Small amounts weekly.. Now my new task of vacuuming the bottom of tank is so much fun.. I need to figure out a fast simple way to vaccum more often.. Also with more ease..

 

[Ben little79]

Also i should state my aquarium had 150 pounds of Sand in it.. Removing it was a task.. no choice but to remove in sections..

 

[Badguy]

I went bb.. Had to rehome my wrasse.. It absolutely did not enjoy the change.. Other than now having an extra Paine of glass to clean basically.. It went smoothly the transfer.. But i removed my bed over an extended period of time.. Small amounts weekly.. Now my new task of vacuuming the bottom of tank is so much fun.. I need to figure out a fast simple way to vaccum more often.. Also with more ease..

Well, geeze lol I didn't think about that one Having another glass to clea. lol. Hopefully my 30 snails can keep up. My wrasse seems to be adapting, he definitely wakes up earlier and goes to bed later but I dare to say his put on some wait. He usually was always asleep in the morning before there first meal of the day.

 

[Badguy]

Well, geeze lol I didn't think about that one Having another glass to clea. lol. Hopefully my 30 snails can keep up. My wrasse seems to be adapting, he definitely wakes up earlier and goes to bed later but I dare to say his put on some wait. He usually was always asleep in the morning before there first meal of the day.

Also I thought doing a quick run with a MJ1200 over everything would be sufficient to sweep everything into the water column and then to the socks before a water change.

 

[Ben little79]

My wrasse loved the sand.. I gave him to a great home with enough sand to forget i existed.. Train those snails well. If i see mine on rocks i put them right down on the bottom glass.. They will catch on i hope..

 

[Ben little79]

I just vaccum it out so pumps dont chop it up even more.. Also then no build up in sump.. Or aio.. I wont lie when i dont want to vaccum i blast it everywhere.. Run skimmer and throw in a sock.. Takes it a few hours to clear up again.. And be removed from the column

 

[Badguy]

.. Train those snails well. If i see mine on rocks i put them right down on the bottom glass.. They will catch on i hope..

lol, I died. Of course now I'm looking to see the snail interaction with the bottom.

 

[Ben little79]

Lol...

 

[Ben little79]

Your options are vast now.. Not locked into the sand trap for only aqua scape look.. You can grow coral across that new real estate.. I saw bb and sand tank side by side once.. That was the straw for me.. The bb was by far the attention graber.. It stole the show.. I dont miss my sand ..

 

[Jinko]

It's always best to remove in sections unless you are moving the tank.
I have removed the majority of sand, just have a very fine layer covering the bottom. (just don't like the look of BB)
There's no way I would rip down my tank to get it all out though, I don't think my brain could deal with the stress.

If I was setting up a tank again I would prob cover the tank bottom with sand/resin mix and let it set.

 

[Ben little79]

I have heard of people using stat board in bottom..

 

[Ben little79]

Star.. Not stat i apologize..

 

[vangvace]

Short term the tank will be less stable with some bacteria blooms and things like that, but after 9-18 months it should be more stable than a tank with a sandbed. You could get some 1/8 inch black PVC sheeting local if you wanted to put it on the bottom of the tank, but you encrusting corals will take car of that over time as well.