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November 6th, 2007
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| I have a bare bottom now !
Ha Ha made you look !
I made the plunge ! I finally got rid of that nasty crush coral in my tank !!! It was a saltwater septic tank leeching waste. Here's a few photos before and after.
Before:  
Crush Coral Removal:  
Last edited by agsansoo; November 6th, 2007 at 02:13 AM.
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November 6th, 2007
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November 6th, 2007
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| Water flow is very high, around 60X.  I have 5 powerheads in the tank now. One Rio 800, one Koralia 2, two Koralia 3's and a Maxi-Jet stream mod. The Maxi-Jet mod output is around 1600 GPH. The tank really looks clean.  | |
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November 6th, 2007
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| | Fish Mentor
| The yellow tang in the "during" shots cracks me up. Looks like he is peering out at you saying "What the h*ll, dude?" | |
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November 6th, 2007
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| Oh he was not a happy camper. Neither were the maroon clowns when I removed their anemone ! I really hated to move the anemone, since it found it's happy place in the front right corner. But all seem to have made the transition just fine. I hope the anemone doesn't move to the back of the tank (fingers crossed). | |
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November 6th, 2007
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| What a change! looks great!  Just want to thank you for sharing the photo's with us. Only problem is you should have done it a week ago, as you know We have just set up our tank and now you have got me thinking BB! LOL | |
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November 6th, 2007
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| | Fish Keeper
| Love the new clean look. Thanks for the pics! | |
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November 19th, 2007
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| Quote:
Originally Posted by agsansoo  Oh he was not a happy camper. Neither were the maroon clowns when I removed their anemone ! I really hated to move the anemone, since it found it's happy place in the front right corner. But all seem to have made the transition just fine. I hope the anemone doesn't move to the back of the tank (fingers crossed). | Hows the anemone going? Did he stay at the front? | |
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November 19th, 2007
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| Quote:
Originally Posted by Peterpiper Hows the anemone going? Did he stay at the front? | The anemone stayed put. Everything seems to be a lot happier since going BB. The fish love swimming in the strong current, especially the Regal Tang. | |
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November 19th, 2007
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| | Fish Helper
| Love it! It looks so crisp and clean. The fish look very happy there, too. | |
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November 29th, 2007
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| | Fish Keeper
| this tank looks unbelievable!!! it looks perfect! | |
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November 29th, 2007
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| Beautiful tank! I'm very jealous!
I've never had a saltwater tank so excuse my uneducated question... but what are the reasons for going to a barebottom tank? | |
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November 29th, 2007
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|  WHEW!!!! Scared me !
Love the tank  One of these days I'm going to take the plunge into Saltwater.
Carol | |
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November 29th, 2007
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| Quote:
Originally Posted by mlinden84 Beautiful tank! I'm very jealous!
I've never had a saltwater tank so excuse my uneducated question... but what are the reasons for going to a barebottom tank? | 1. The main reason was nitrate control. I had crushed coral/sand substrate for a year and the tank bottom was always nasty dirty. Nitrates were from 40-100+ PPM.
2. Less live rock is needed, more room for fish.
3. Easier to clean: you can blow a power head at the bottom and stir up the stuff and siphon it off or let the overflow pick it up.
4. You don’t have to worry about sand getting into the corals. I hated when fish or other things would drop or blow sand onto the corals. Making cloudy water.
5. Water much more clearer ! | |
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November 29th, 2007
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| Quote:
Originally Posted by Butterfly WHEW!!!! Scared me !
Love the tank One of these days I'm going to take the plunge into Saltwater.
Carol | Thanks Carol for checking out my barebottom, ........................ tank.  | |
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November 30th, 2007
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| | Fish Keeper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by agsansoo 1. The main reason was nitrate control. I had crushed coral/sand substrate for a year and the tank bottom was always nasty dirty. Nitrates were from 40-100+
ppm.
2. Less live rock is needed, more room for fish.
3. Easier to clean: you can blow a power head at the bottom and stir up the stuff and siphon it off or let the overflow pick it up.
4. You don’t have to worry about sand getting into the corals. I hated when fish or other things would drop or blow sand onto the corals. Making cloudy water.
5. Water much more clearer ! |
Thanks! So why do people use sand in the saltwater tanks at all then? | |
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November 30th, 2007
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| People prefer sand for many reasons. The added benefits don't really kick in until the sand depth is around 4"+, 6" being idea. Hence the practice of setting up a DSB.
1. Preference in the look of sand over glass
2. Ability to keep sand dependent species, sand sifting inverts, sand burrowing fish.
3. A lot more area for bacterial growth and nutrient decomposition, ( only if the sand bed is deep ). | |
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November 30th, 2007
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| Quote:
Originally Posted by agsansoo People prefer sand for many reasons. The added benefits don't really kick in until the sand depth is around 4"+, 6" being idea. Hence the practice of setting up a DSB.
1. Preference in the look of sand over glass
2. Ability to keep sand dependent species, sand sifting inverts, sand burrowing fish.
3. A lot more area for bacterial growth and nutrient decomposition, ( only if the sand bed is deep ). |
Oh I see. Thanks for clearing that up! (so many questions about saltwater!!)
Does the same hold true for sand in a freshwater tank (about needing 6 inches of it?)
By the way, your tank is absolutely stunning! I can only dream of a tank so nice! | |
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December 1st, 2007
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| Thanks for the comment about my tank. As for sand in a freshwater tank, it OK so long as it's not saltwater sand. Aragonite isn’t good for fresh water aquariums unless you plan to keep african cichlids or livebearers. It is high in calcium and will raise the hardness and pH of your tank to levels far beyond what an average freshwater aquarium should be. There are inert type sands you can use, I just can't remember the names right now. Yes, 4 to 6 inches would be the same. | |
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December 1st, 2007
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| I have pool filter sand (doesnt increase ph) in my 20 gallon tank, but I only have about 2 (or maybe 3) inches of it. Do I need to add more?
I didn't know about this... why didn't anyone tell me until now?!?! | |
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December 2nd, 2007
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| I wouldn't unless your having a nitrate problem. | |
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January 23rd, 2008
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| Agsansoo, you've had the BB for a couple of months now...still liking it? Do the fish seem to notice/care at all? | |
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January 23rd, 2008
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| I just looked a your bare bottom....and love it!  no seriously..your tank is fabulous. I can now understand your sig, and I would not watch TV either with a tank like yours!  | |
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January 24th, 2008
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| Thanks Drea !  | |
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January 24th, 2008
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| Quote:
Originally Posted by sgould Agsansoo, you've had the BB for a couple of months now...still liking it? Do the fish seem to notice/care at all? | Sean,
I'm really please with the BB. Maintenance is much easier, and nitrates are very low. BB is different than a sandbed because you are relying on immediate exportation instead of delayed. With BB detritus shouldn't settle, and it can be removed via siphoning, skimmer, filter socks etc. A sandbed may be thought as a temporary holding area for the detritus until it is exported. Yet the sandbed does breakdown some of the detritus. IMO it's better to export now rather than hope the sandbed does it latter ! | |
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January 24th, 2008
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Originally Posted by sgould Do the fish seem to notice/care at all? | The fish seem to love it. They love to swim in the strong current the the powerheads create. They are much more active now ! | |
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January 24th, 2008
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| Thanks...I'm just a few weeks out from having all the equipment I need to start the conversion on my 55, so I am needing to make some decisions on substrate and live rock. Decisions, decisions... | |
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January 28th, 2008
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| | Fish Addict
| That´s an interesting point about the bb compaired to a sand bed, and both look great. Like you said sgould, decisions decisions.... I´m back home on Wednesday night which means all day thursday I´m finally going to go and start setting up the tank...
Personally, I like the look of the sand...but with a 90 gallon tank I´ll need at least 120 lbs...so that´s pretty ****ed expensive... | |
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May 25th, 2008
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| Quote:
Originally Posted by agsansoo People prefer sand for many reasons. The added benefits don't really kick in until the sand depth is around 4"+, 6" being idea. Hence the practice of setting up a DSB.
1. Preference in the look of sand over glass
2. Ability to keep sand dependent species, sand sifting inverts, sand burrowing fish.
3. A lot more area for bacterial growth and nutrient decomposition, ( only if the sand bed is deep ). | Only reason we keep the 66 with a DSB is so the goby and pistol shrimp have somewhere to go & hide out.
Looks very sleek. Be proud, that's one gorgeous tank.
-Jon | |
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May 26th, 2008
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| Thanks Jon_Flynn ! | |
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