Bare Bottom or Not ??

[redrooster]

I have about 1-1.5" and do great with nassarius snails, six line (over 2.5 years) starfish and such. I do notice that I have a little detritus buildup under the rear rocks, so this concerns me. However the previous owner had the exact same substrate, and the tank did well for the 8 years he had it. So despite many people here saying that medium sandbeds are the devil, this setup has done fine for 11 years with a one. If you go with a medium sandbed I suggest desinged a reverse flow undergravel device. If you can get current throught the sandbed detritus won't settle there.

 

[dragoneggs]

My plan is for 8 returns all located on the bottom (island tank) powered by 4 pumps on closed loops in addition to my main. I hope this keeps the settling to almost nothing and what does make it gets eaten. I will adjust the locline at each return to get best coverage of reef and beach areas.

 

[Grey Legion]

Turned out my plans changed, I got some live sand from a friend from his 10G setup, I could not pass it up so I should have about 1/2 - 3/4 inch sand coverage. I think it will work out well ( once the water clear up !?! )

 

[Krish]

LOL!! It will clear up when all the fine particles are filtered out or they settle from out of the water column. Also, you can run a bit of carbon as well. Good Luck!

 

[Grey Legion]

LOL!! It will clear up when all the fine particles are filtered out or they settle from out of the water column. Also, you can run a bit of carbon as well. Good Luck!

Yes that is what I am running now..I almost got fed up last night and just wanted to drain and refill the tank..glad I didn't !!

Things were a bit clear this morning but I moved some sand and stirred it all up again..not really to concerned at this point I would rather just filter all the particulate out..

Tings will get better I am sure,,

 

[Krish]

Yeah it will Usually a filter sock is good to use to strain the water to get all of the particles out or a filter like a H.O.T magnum that uses a polishing cartidge to strain the water. I use to run a polishing cartridge for about 2 hours after doing a water change or stirring the sand bed when I had sand and the tank would be crystal clear in no time!

Here's a photo of a new polishing cartridge next to one I use once to vaccum my sump!

 

[Grey Legion]

Hmmm, you gave me a DIY idea..

I work at a Pnuematic, Hydraulic and filtration company one of the area's of filtration we deal with is water, so I can get water filters very cheap. I can get a housing a 20 to 1 micron string filter for about $30.00 CDN hook a pump to it and I can create a filtration system ( closed loop ). We even have 5 micron carbon filters that can be used..

Ok, I may have to work on this plan over the winter and see if I can create my own DIY mechanical filtrarion system to polish water...

Thanks for the photo it was worth a 1000 words...

I'll post any results of my findings and/or testing..

 

[Krish]

LOL! Good luck! Don't leave the cartridge in too long as it may strip too much out of your water that the corals could use and also, you don't want anything (waste/detritus etc) sitting in there too long to rott and start degrading water quality

 

[Grey Legion]

You read my mind, I am thinking of a HOB system drop it in when needed and pull it out when not.. I would use PVC to plumb it all with "john guest" fittings to control flow and be able to close the loop when the filtering is complete and not drip water all over the floor..

Wow..yet another project !?! like I don't have enough already....LOL

 

[Krish]

ROFL!!! That's one of the things I like about this hobby!!! I love messing with things as everyone here knows! Good luck with the project and make sure you post some pics whenever you finish it

 

[Grey Legion]

Yea, I have a love and hate for it..

I love the planning and thinking stage and the building aspect but I hate th added work load and the unreal expectations I place upon myself..LOL

I may start this project in 2007 I have another tank system to setup over the winter...

 

[NaH2O]

Here is an outstanding thread on different concepts: Let's Talk about ~Filtration Concepts. I didn't see it linked anywhere in the thread yet, but deserves a read if you don't know differences between BB and SB.

 

[Grey Legion]

Here is an outstanding thread on different concepts: Let's Talk about ~Filtration Concepts. I didn't see it linked anywhere in the thread yet, but deserves a read if you don't know differences between BB and SB.

Outstanding read, thank you for the link. I printed the thread out to study it more. But I fear you may have missed the point of my newest little project idea, my thought is to make a fast "HOB" filter to remove suspended particulate from the water on a temporary basis, such as doing a substrate change, adding substrate, removing substrate or general cleaning. I never thought of creating a full time filtration unit.

I'll be using a very shallow sand bed in this tank ( as I was given some loaded live sand ) but as a result of removing substrate and now adding new substrate the water has turned into a grey/brown/white soup. I have a HOB filter running but does not clear the water fast enough for my liking. Thus was the thinking behind my "rapid filtration system" to stick in clean the water then pull it out and put it away, as I can get the filter housing and filters at a very low price I thought tihis to be more cost effective than simply buying something, also it would be more fun..

Only time will tell if it actually ever gets built..

Thanks again for the link !!