Live sand or bare bottom?

[Jaeger6978]

Ultimately im having trouble deciding what is the best substrate to use for my nano live sand or bare bottom?what are the pros and cons of both and what other options are there?

 

[E.intheC]

In a nano you really won't get much benefit with a sandbed, other than looks. There just isn't much surface area to reduce nitrates.

Here is a thread that talks about the barebottom method:

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/general-discussion/86994-barebottom-rock-cooking.html

 

[Jaeger6978]

Great info thanks, so if i have sand already its better to gradually remove it from the tank instead of all at once i would assume removing it all at once would just cause plethora of problems

 

[KathyC]

Great info thanks, so if i have sand already its better to gradually remove it from the tank instead of all at once i would assume removing it all at once would just cause plethora of problems

Yup..slow & steady wins the reefing race

 

[E.intheC]

I just removed about 90% of my sandbed with no issues... Did it all at once. My sand wasn't too dirty though.

Some of the "BB experts" suggest removing it all at once because if you don't you'll be adding lots of nutrients to your tank each time you disturb the sandbed.

If you're careful and do it slowly you shouldnt have issues either.

Just don't do what I did and suck up a complete head of my orange hammer with the siphon hose! Lol... That SUCKED.

 

[Jaeger6978]

Guess i have a small project on hand for the weekend thanks for the advice bare bottom it is sand no more

 

[E.intheC]

Just make sure you have enough flow. And spend some time reading the thread linked above (and similar threads on sites like RC, etc).

 

[Jaeger6978]

It makes sense to siphon it all out at once instead of a little at a time because every time you go back and stir it up it would disturb everything gunk and what not, do it all just once instead of having the tank look like a cloud of death every time you scoop out sand

 

[Jaeger6978]

I will make sure all pumps are running will probably run a canister for a couple hours to polish up the water and pick up any debris, detritus and whatever gunk is gonna be swirling around

 

[Jaeger6978]

Will try to avoid sucking up any coral or critters while im at it LOL

 

[E.intheC]

I looked away from the siphon hose for two seconds and lost one head of the hammer. And it's not like orange hammers are all that common. I'm just glad I have two heads left.

But anyway... With the flow, I meant afterward... When running barebottom. You need enough flow to get the detritus suspended and into the overflow boxes so it can be skimmed out.

 

[KathyC]

If you suck the sandbed out in parts using a turkey baster you shouldn't have any issue with stirring up anything in the tank.

You haven't mentioned how much rock is in the tank, so it's difficlut to tell if removing the sand bed in one shot will have a big affect on the tank due to loss of bacteria.

If you do decide to take it all out at once, do watch your levels over the next days/week or so.

 

[E.intheC]

If you suck the sandbed out in parts using a turkey baster you shouldn't have any issue with stirring up anything in the tank.

You haven't mentioned how much rock is in the tank, so it's difficlut to tell if removing the sand bed in one shot will have a big affect on the tank due to loss of bacteria.

If you do decide to take it all out at once, do watch your levels over the next days/week or so.

All very good points

 

[TRIGGERMAN]

A turkey baster? No offence Kat but that doesn't sound very efficient and will take forever. A siphon is definitely a better idea but the easiest way because it's a nano tank and easy to move would be next time you are going to do a water change to take everything out, drain the tank into buckets,put your livestock in those buckets and just dump the sand. Rinse the tank out and fill it back up,rescape, add critters and enjoy. Add the old tank water first with the rock and critters then slowly put the new water you are changing on top so you do not shock anything. The temperature shouldn't drop much because this process will be relatively fast but make sure the new water is close to the tank temp and you will be fine. You will definitely have some random sand still floating around the tank because it will be on rock and some corals so throwing a filter on there or maybe adding some filter floss and an extra power head wouldn't hurt. Good luck.

P.S. Bare bottom is definitely the best way to go I have been doing it for years and I stick by it.