Rock will not be ready for some time. Why not start my sand?

[Mark Novack]

Hello,
After fighting a losing battle, I'm starting over. The rock needs acid and bleaching. Its nasty outside and I'm not starting that until I can enjoy myself outside. So is there a reason I should not go ahead and fill it up and start feeding a new sandbed? Its easy enough to siphon some out and brush aside the rest when I place the base rock. The sump media can profit and it can even host its first couple of fish. The final prep for the rock could be done with tank water from a water change. Let it sit with a pump and a bottle of bacterias for a week or two or even give it the Red Sea starter treatment as I will do for the sand and marine pure.

Any reasons not to do that? Sand, water, and a fish or two would get the wife off of my back a bit. I could have it turning in about 10 days or in late April if I wait until the rock is ready.

My principle biological filtration will be Marine Pure blocks in the sump with an open aquascape for SPS dominant and clams, big blue and green and yellowish clams! And a Deresa clam because I love watching them grow so fast.

Humble thanks,
Mark

 

[BostonReefer300]

Some would say that sand isn't an effective substrate for bacterial colonization. Personally, I don't understand why that would be, but I have seen a few very otherwise knowledgeable people on this site write about that. In any case, if you have those blocks in your sump as your primary biofiltration substrate (and you have enough), definitely go for it!
A couple other points:
1) I used those marinepure blocks for years and was constantly annoyed by them falling apart any time I ever touched them. They have great surface area, but they're not worth the mess in my opinion. I switched to the Seaside Aquatics biospheres and never looked back. (https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/ceramic-bio-sphere-seaside-aquatics.html .) They do NOT fall apart. Easy to move around the bags, put them in your QT when needed, etc.
2) There's no need to stew your newly cleaned rocks in a tub with bacteria for a couple weeks. Once your rocks are clean---and VERY well rinsed AFTER soaking in plain water for a couple days with a powerhead (ideally RODI, but not essential)---just put them right into your tank. Add an appropriate volume of bacterial solution then, turn off your skimmer for a while, and you'll be all set! The rock won't be 100% saturated with bacterial colonization instantly, but it'll be mostly "covered" and your biofilter will be operating at full capacity in very short order....especially since you already have a good filter already going
Hope that helps!

 

[dmsc2fs]

I did similar to this. I didn't prep my sandbed, but I id prep "a sandbed". A few weeks before I had my rockwork and DT filled with water I already had the fuge in my sump going. I am using sand in my fuge and I placed an order with IPSF for worms, pods, starfish, pods, etc. It all went into my fuge and I fed my fuge with flake food. By the time I connected my DT and turned my fuge/sump into an actual sump the macro growing in my fuge was 2x the size of when I started and the sand had biodiversity in it for a month.

So, if you want to get your sand started to get it established before the rock the only downside that I can think of is needing to move it to get rockwork all the way down to glass. You already mentioned this and if you rinsed your sand well you shouldn't have any issues.

 

[Mark Novack]

Thank you. I think I will go for it. Once my filter arrives I can baffle my sump accordingly, set up the whole shmear and at least get something going while I get the rock cleaned up. I have a small, simple but very healthy system already with a lively sand bed of polycates. It will be my major seeding factor along with whatever starter kit I choose to use.

 

[Mark Novack]

I do believe that sand is a fantastic biofilter and experimentation has shown a large difference in bioload capacity between sanded and bare bottomed tanks, especially in the maturation period.

A large (3000 liter large) acrylic cistern (just a giant bio reactor) of sand is the primary bio filter for the holding tanks at the largest commercial store I know of. Their fish department cashier looks just like Jerry Garcia. That's what this guy does all day long. Rings up sales on marine and fresh water fish non-stop like a busy corner gas station attendent. Its a Home Depot sized fish store. Its like visiting a public aquarium but you pay to get out instead of getting in.