Hey Gary, quick question.

[gjuarez]

Hey Gary, quick question. How does it feel to wear a ....? Just kidding. I have been wandering about DSB and Barebottom tanks. I am not trying to start a debate, we all know where those could go. What I am trying to ask here is if a combination of both could be achieved? I guess what I am really trying to ask is if you could have a sand bed with lots of flow and super heavy skimming thus not allowing for a sand bed to be a sponge on nutrient export. I dont mean starving a DSB to death, but what if it were never alive to begin with. I dont know if thats possible, I hope I am not sounding stupid. ANyways, I love the benefits of my BB tank but I also like the look of a sand bed. I also like sand beds but I dont like to maintain them. I know in a system like this a DSB would defeat the purpose, a shallow sand bed would be more suitable. SO can I have a system where I could have a shallow sand bed that I dont have to maintain along with lots of flow and heavy wet skimming? Do you think I could just rely on skimmer on removing organics thus not worrying about a Sand bed about soaking up nutrients? Could I use a sand bed just as a decoration rather than something that I have to maintain? Your help would greatly be appreciated. Others with Sand Bed experience feel free to jump in as well.

[NaCl_H2O]

Hey Gary, quick question.

I think that is an oxymoron? ;)

[gjuarez]

I know, there is nothing quick about my questions or gary's answer. You have a sand bed right? What do you think?

[Shark_Bait]

What if you used sand and plumbed the bottom with drilled pvc. You hooked a pump/return to the pvc and made little "springs" in your sandbed. I think if you did it right (read as: lots of testing) you could get the hole /flow right that it moved the sand but did not blow it around. Maybe that would help in the maintenace as it would stir itself.

Just a thought but would be ALOT of work.

[GaryP]

A shallow sand bed can work as an aerobic nutrient filter as well as acting a source for coral food. What it won't do is act as a site for denitrifying bacterial growth. Any surface, especially one with as much surface area as a sand bed is going to be quickly populated with bacteria.

[Thunderkat]

I have a very deep sand bed with a plenum at the bottom and it works really nice, unfortunately it is causing the coralline algea in my tank to grow excessively and it is robbing the nutrients from my precious hair algae (I have some hair algae that has a little fern like activity going on with it, it is really pretty).

I put some nassarius snails, some of the black long coiled snails that like to dig too (forgot the name), and two fighting conches in there and they dig through the sand all the time for me. I also have blue leg hermits and 4 emerald crabs running around but I don't know if they do anything for my sand. I have also noted the appearance of worms in my sand (bristle worms and some unknown types) starting to appear and they are also doing a great job going through the sand. Every time I do a water change I also add a capful (10 cc) of bacteria that are supposedly the kind you want in your sand bed. The tank should already have the bacteria I need in there but I do it just in case a different strain of bacteria that I don't want has started to grow excessively or to keep them from growing, kind of like the way the normal flora works in the human body. If anything though I am at least giving my corals a little snack.

I am starting to think I should have put more sand in my tank because I like how it made my tank a little more shallow and it makes maintenance much much easier. I am thinking of filling my next tank up half way with sand, it is going to be sweet!

I know some folks like the barebottom approach and all I have to say is more power to them, I am not funding their tanks and they are not funding mine :lol

[C.Mydas]

Brian (greenmako) and I both love the look of sandbeds but went barebottom in our 150g and 56g b/c we have to move again in a year and dont want to deal with the toxicity of moving a sandbed. Brian also prefers BB b/c he can have all the flow his SPS need without creating a sandstorm. I personally dont think DSB are a good idea...I think BB is safer in the long run. You dont have to worry about a BB mucking up your water a few years down the road. (I came up with that conclusion after Brian tried and tried to explain a long complicated 'thing' about BB vs. DSB. I still dont understand it too terribly well, but think I get the gist! I just tend to tune out after about an hour of it!! sshh dont tell him :innocent )

As for a shallow clean sandbed..I love that idea. Im doing it in my 6gJBJ. I've got about 1/2in - 3/4in of sand on the bottom that I am keeping pristine with a turkey baster and a vacuum. We'll see how it goes. It looks better than BB and hopefully doesn't have the dangers of a gross mucky sandbed.

Fortunately, if something starts to go wrong we have other tanks to put livestock in, otherwise I wouldn't be so willing to experiment.

[GaryP]

Brian (greenmako) and I both love the look of sandbeds but went barebottom in our 150g and 56g b/c we have to move again in a year and dont want to deal with the toxicity of moving a sandbed.

Huh? What toxicity?

[GaryP]

Ever look at a sand bed on a reef? How is that different? Also, you might want to look at increasing sand sifters like nassarius to clean that stuff up.

[Thunderkat]

You bare bottom people need to at least put on a thong (http://storetn.cafepress.com/7/18862857_F_store.jpg) :lol

[gjuarez]

I personally do not like deep sand beds only because I dont like maintaining them. Although I am not an expert at them, I have an understanding on how and why they work. I would definately reccomend a sand bed for a newbie, it gives more room for error. I am not saying that I am super advanced, but I do know how to keep my water clean. Gary, on your first post you said what I needed to hear. I am not looking for a deep sand bed to help with the nitrifying bacteria, I will have other methods of filtration to help me with that.

THunderkat, can you tell me how a deep sand bed will help with the excessive coraline growth. I was not aware of this, my barebotton nano was full of it in about a week, I seeded it of course with some coraline spores and I used some water from my established tank. I just dont know how it will help it grow. Gary, where you aware of this too?