Barebottom and Rock Cooking

[E.intheC]

I'd like to start a discussion thread regarding Bare-bottom tanks and "Rock Cooking".
It's really just a different way of running your system that, in my opinion, allows more control of your parameters, more flow, more efficient nutrient removal, and additional feeding.

A few years ago I had a bare-bottom 30 cube. It was much easier to maintain SPS and overall I had great growth and good coloration. I ended up tearing the tank down and went back to sand with the re-build. About three weeks ago I started to consider removing the sand bed, and read the following thread (again):

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=650985

......and it reminded me of all the great ideas and logic surrounding this method.

Anyway.. I decided to slowly remove the sand bed during each water change, and this afternoon I finally removed all the sand from my tank. (lots of water changes and siphoning today, to say the least).

If anyone has questions, please feel free ask them. In addition, those who have run barebottom tanks for a while, please feel free to share your experience.

Please don't post simply to state how you like the "look" of sand better, or that it's "more natural to have sand".. that's great. I actually like the look of sand as well. The "natural" debate is absurd to me though; we're keeping different animals from all over the world that would never even see each other all in a glass box and have artificial lighting, filtration, additives.. what's "natural" about that?

 

[E.intheC]

...In addition to Bare bottom, I'm going to discuss "Rock Cooking". No, it's not adding your live rock to a pot with boiling water. You actually don't raise the temperature at all. It's essentially taking the rock out of your tank, swishing it around in a bucket (or two, or three) of saltwater, and then placing the rock in a covered bin with a heater and powerhead (to increase aeration). The bin is covered so that NO light can come in. Each week you completely change out the water. While this is happening, the bacteria in the rock "pushes out" all the detritus and general build up inside the rock. You'll see this as "shedding" ..hence the need for water changes. After about 1-2 months in the bin, the rock will come out algae, aiptasia, and detritus free, and it will ready to be put back in your tank.

Currently, I have about 3/4 of my rock "cooking" in the aforementioned bin. When it comes out it'll be in tip-top shape.

 

[batt600]

I following this . Would like to now how people are doing with barebottom i might do the same.

 

[E.intheC]

It's really amazing how much stuff is in your sand. I only had a one inch deep sand bed.. and even though it looked clean.. the buckets that collected the sand and water were disgusting. You need a powerful skimmer and powerful, well directed flow, but it's worth it to me.

 

[Bob 1000]

I swear by the bare,,lol.. For years and just look at my coral pics they are worth a thousand words..

 

[wilrock101]

I will be following this post, cause i myself have been considering BBT for a few weeks now. and have been considering this method of slowly removing my sand during each water change. Only good things can come from this. Lower nitrates - lower phosphate - lower detrius "MORE POWER TO THE BARE BOTTOMS!"

 

[agsansoo]

I've been bare bottom since 2007, and was in that original thread by SeanT !

2007

2010

 

[pmoneyt]

I have had sand in any of my tanks . BB has been and always will be my choice because of high nitrates and its easier to clean

 

[richardhmc]

wow this is really interesting... it does make sense because every time i stick my finger into the sand, a lot of stuff blows up and flies around the tank.

also about the rock cooking, thats also probably why I had so much detritis in my tank when I first started! Every rock would have gray material (die off) on it. only way I could clean it was to break down the tank and clean off each rock with a toothbrush.

I have been enlightened.

I bet its easier to siphon the fish poop at the bottom too huh <-- nevermind, I just read the barebottom thread to this problem

 

[E.intheC]

richardhmc, yep.. rock cooking will help with that. However, it also gets the 'inside pores' of the rocks cleaner as well. You can't do that by scrubbing rocks. The bacteria essentially pushes everything out on its own.

It's a great way to kill off bubble and hair algae as well.

 

[E.intheC]

I have had sand in any of my tanks . BB has been and always will be my choice because of high nitrates and its easier to clean

pmoneyt, do you use the bare glass, or do you have starboard or similar?

I'm going to order a piece of white starboard from cuttingboardcompany.com today.

The third post on the following thread shows what starboard looks like. There are a few other barebottom setups in this thread as well.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1658490

 

[batt600]

Now how much sand should be taken out of the tank . And can it be taken out ever day or every other day.

 

[prattreef]

Wow, woke up this morning and it is 1998! Personally, I never found the method appealing though certainly it works well (as do many other approaches) if you understand what you are trying to accomplish and act accordingly. I'm much too big a wrasse geek to ever consider a bare bottom system , and for every nice bare bottom system out there are probably 10 nice ones with sand so a viable option if you are inclined for sure, but a significant advancement in husbandry technique? Not IMO.

 

[E.intheC]

Now how much sand should be taken out of the tank . And can it be taken out ever day or every other day.

You can take out a little bit at a time. I removed about 1/4 - 1/3 each week during a water change.

 

[E.intheC]

Wow, woke up this morning and it is 1998! Personally, I never found the method appealing though certainly it works well (as do many other approaches) if you understand what you are trying to accomplish and act accordingly. I'm much too big a wrasse geek to ever consider a bare bottom system , and for every nice bare bottom system out there are probably 10 nice ones with sand so a viable option if you are inclined for sure, but a significant advancement in husbandry technique? Not IMO.

I see your point 100%. Your tank is fantastic, and I've seen many, many tanks with and without sand that look great. There are a few points I'd like to make though. I think the main reason why you don't see too many barebottom systems is because of the aesthetics. Many people asked "where's your sand" when they saw my tank, and I saw that all the time on reef sites where people would post their BB Tank. It's an adjustment (even for me) to go without sand. Almost like it's "missing something"..

Of course, if you have sand dwelling wrasses/gobies/jawfish/etc, you're going to need sand. I don't have wrasses so it works for me.

As for it being a "significant advancement in husbandry"... I don't know. I never claimed that it was..(and alluded to that in the first post) ...nor do I think it is anything other than a choice one makes. After seeing how much gunk was taken out of the tank via sand yesterday, I don't know if I'll ever go back to keeping sand.. but who knows? It's a hobby. There's very few right or wrong ways of doing something, IMO.

For me, it's just much easier and more controlled without sand, especially b/c I'm moving toward an SPS dominate system.

Randy, if you don't mind, how do you feel about "Rock Cooking"?

 

[prattreef]

Eric, I think we are in agreement here, my only concern is for new hobbyists who haven't been through this debate before (ad nauseum ) yanking out their sand beds without understanding what they are doing.

Regarding "cooking" rocks, aside from the term which I hate, it certainly works for killing off algae and other stuff on the rock surface, and I have no reason to doubt some very smart folks that affirm the bacterial cleansing claims, but Ive personally never done it and in fact use rock in all my systems that is at least in part a decade or more old. So, I guess my position is-- there is no reason not to do it, but Im not sure there is a compelling reason to make the effort either unless you have problems to begin with.

 

[pmoneyt]

EintheC i have the star board what size do you need. also i never users the starboard i got i just let the coralline grow in the bottom glass

 

[Mattl22]

I'm considering going bare bottem because of my on going barrel with hair alage. I just switched from oceanic to tropic marine sand so if I don't see improvement in 2 months I will remove most of my sand !


Sent from my iPhone using Reefs

 

[E.intheC]

EintheC i have the star board what size do you need. also i never users the starboard i got i just let the coralline grow in the bottom glass

Oh really? What size do you have? I'm looking to get one in the neighborhood of 35in x 17in or so.. to fit inside my 40 breeder.

 

[E.intheC]

Eric, I think we are in agreement here, my only concern is for new hobbyists who haven't been through this debate before (ad nauseum ) yanking out their sand beds without understanding what they are doing.

Regarding "cooking" rocks, aside from the term which I hate, it certainly works for killing off algae and other stuff on the rock surface, and I have no reason to doubt some very smart folks that affirm the bacterial cleansing claims, but Ive personally never done it and in fact use rock in all my systems that is at least in part a decade or more old. So, I guess my position is-- there is no reason not to do it, but Im not sure there is a compelling reason to make the effort either unless you have problems to begin with.

Absolutely. I agree w/ you regarding newer hobbiests. (And not wanting to have the debate about DSB vs BB )

On the rock cooking.. It's not a great name at all. I can't tell you how many times I've seen/read about people wanting to actually 'cook' their rocks.

Personally, my rock has some definite detritus build up along with a LOT of bubble algae (luckily no hair algae though). There's also some aiptasia. Hopefully cooking the rocks should help with this.