Tank Transfer

[OOtzie]

I have finally caved in and had Custom King make me a 20gal shallow tank with the intention of transferring my 14biocube contents into it.

The cube has been up over 2 years now and I am tired of having to sell coral to make room, I want to grow my stuff out !

I actually prefer the look of barebottom tanks and I like the idea of added flow without sand being kicked up.

My question, Do I really need the sand? I have tons of pods/worms/stomella that live within the sand/ rock but without the sand I know the population will be a fraction of the size.

To keep or not to keep?:lobster:

 

[Awibrandy]

Ask yourself what animals you want to keep, and is a sand bed part of their requirement.

 

[OOtzie]

Well in the new system I will be running a skimmer, is the lose of the sand a huge decrease in biological filtration?

 

[HEZEKEL]

Well in the new system I will be running a skimmer, is the lose of the sand a huge decrease in biological filtration?

Am also transferring to a shallow tank and this is also my concern. so hard to decide...

 

[OOtzie]

I'm going BB, I haven't done a system BB yet and you never know till you try.

 

[brunoboarder2444]

depends on the previous sand bed depth

 

[OOtzie]

its was about an inch

 

[brunoboarder2444]

not much then, if you had a dsb id be a little worried but 1" isnt going to hold much bacteria

 

[TRIGGERMAN]

Sand is definitely not necessary. It holds some bacteria but a lot more detritus. I have always done BB and never had a problem. Most of the bacteria and organisms are in your rock and that is all you need. Use all new water start fresh and just acclimate all your fish and corals into the new system. Letting the tank run with just the rock first would be beneficial also. It will allow the rocks to release bacteria into the system to stabilize it more. Also make sure that you blow the rocks off well in the power heads to get all the sand and detritus off that might be inside the crevices. The last thing you want is to put dirt and phosphates into the tank.

As far as acclimation the best technique is to float the bags for temperature about 15 minutes. Then untie the bag and dump some tank water into it about 1/5 bag volume, tie it back up and let it sit for another 15 minutes. After 15 add some more tank water, float for another 15. Then place the animals in the aquarium and enjoy. The key is floating the bag is making it stay the same temperature the entire time instead of the temperature getting colder like if you were to "drip" in a bucket for an hour or two like many people do. It takes less time and it's less stressful on the animals, especially fish.

 

[Lenny718]

+1 What trigger said