Looking for some feedback before I setup my new tank.

[MTWiley]

I'm going to be setting up my first reef tank and I'd like to make sure I do it right, so I thought post here and get outside opinions.

Tank

150 Gallon Glass Tank - 72" long x 20" wide x 24" tall - Already owned.

Sump

50 Gallon Converted Acryllic tank into Sump - 48" long x 13" wide x 16" tall Tank is already owned, but this is just my current design that I'll be putting together in the next week or two, let me know if there's anything I should change

I just saw a sump design that I hadn't seen before, they had LR rubble in the first portion of the sump, is there any good reason not to do this in my design??

The return pump for now is a Catalina Aquarium 2200 that I got free with the tank, but I'm thinking about upgrading to either a MagDrive 12 or 18 which with the 5-6 feet of headloss should put out about 950-1120 or 1125 - 1200 gph respectively vs the CA that currently puts out about 660 gph with the 6 ft of headloss. Would either one be too much water flowing over/through the fuge? The two 1 1/2" DIY Overflows should be able to handle about 1350 gph each minus the frictional headloss for each of the elbows in the design, but between the two of them I believe they should be able to handle it, but if you know/think otherwise please let me know.

Lighting
Deciding between a 72 in. Nova Extreme Pro T5 HO Lighting Fixture - (12) 39 watt lamps or two of the TEK LIGHT T-5, 36" Light Fixture 6 x 39W lamps by Sunlight Supply If you've got comments or suggestions I'd be glad to hear them, I'd like to be able to keep a mixed reef of LPS/SPS, and Softies, my girlfriend and I love the giant clams too, but I don't know if those will be enough lighting?

Protein Skimmer

This is one thing that I'm completely lost on, I've read quite a bit about the different types of skimmers, downdraft, pinwheel, recirculating, etc, but I still don't really know what exactly to look for in a skimmer aside from something that will go in my sump and that's rated for at least my total system volume with the general consensus being that the more the better.

Heaters

I've heard great things about the Jager heaters, but I'm a bit worried that they're glass, in my other tanks I've use the Marineland Stealth Shatterproof heaters and have had good success with them. Is there any reason that I should go with the Jagers over my usual? I've also read good things about the Titanium heaters as well and was wondering about those.

Refractometer

Do you guys have any recommendations on one specifically? What makes one better than another?

Powerheads
I'm planning on using 4 x Seio 1500s with the magnet mounts, again if you've got any comments or suggestions I'd greatly appreciate them.

Salt
This is another topic that I'm kind of lost on and not sure what makes one better than another. I've seen Tropic Marine Salt, Kent Sea Salt, & Crystal Sea Marinemix mentioned as better quality salts, but I'm curious what makes them better or more suited for reefing?

Substrate
I've read that aragonite is pretty much the go to, and seen the CaribSea Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand almost unanimously recommended, so I've pretty much decided on using that, my only question is how deep of a sandbed do I want? I've read that certain Goby/Jawfish need a deepers sandbeds, but it didn't really give any specifics as to the required depth. It also mention the seagrasses that provide shelter for seahorses, pipefish and feed upside down jellyfish needed at least 6 inches of sand, but I'm not really interested in keeping them so that's not a concern, is there anything else I need to take into consideration when deciding how deep to make the sand bed?

Also I know that most live sand off the store shelf is pretty useless, but I was wondering if anyone had any experience using Garf Grunge?

Live Rock
There's a LFS near us that sells LR, but they want $6/lb which I think is a bit high. International Marine Fish has Fiji Live Rock for $3.75/lb with free shipping and

Do you guys have any other suggestions on places to buy live/base rock from?

I've been keeping an eye on craigslist as others have mentioned but I haven't really seen anything other than people trying to sell their whole setup.

RO/DI

Just ordered an Air, Water & Ice RO/DI unit called the Dual Home Reef with Tank & Faucet for under the sink and will be setting it up when it comes in the mail.

Test Kits

I've already got aTetra Laborett Master Aquarium Water Test Kit, which can test for Freshwater PH, Saltwater PH, Carbonate and general hardness, Nitrites, Ammonia, and Carbon dioxide. If I'm not mistaken I also need to be able to test for Calcium, Nitrates and Phospates? Do you guys recommend one kit over another? Anything special that I should look for aside from making sure to get liquid reagents not powder/strips.

Quarantine Tank

20 Gallon Glass Tank (Too big? Too Small? Any thoughts or comments?)
Some PVC Elbows for shelter (recommended in this Guide to setting up a Quarantine Tank)
100w Heater(See above questions about heater, still not sure which brand to go with)
Sponge Filter - (If I kept this running in the main tanks sump to keep the bacteria alive would it be fine?)
Air Pump to power the sponge filter(One of the extras I've got at home should work just fine)
24" T5 HO Lighting(To keep the sps/lps/softies happy while in quarantine)
Airline Tubing to drip acclimate

I'm still in the process of reading about calcium reactors, chillers, wavemakers, and doing some research on controllers/monitors. I've kind of got my eye on either a ReefKeeper, but still need to read more about them.

 

[mojoreef]

Ahhh the fun times, looks like you have been putting some thought into it so your already off to a good start. Let me see if I can answer a few of your questions for ya.

I just saw a sump design that I hadn't seen before, they had LR rubble in the first portion of the sump, is there any good reason not to do this in my design??

I wouldnt baffle the sump until you get a skimmer nailed down that way you can custom it for it. I just use an airstone skimmer so I will let the Skimmer boys let you know about all the new ones out their. With the rubble under the drain lines I would not do that, it will create an enviroment for nitrate producing bacteria, so it could end up being an issue. Also I would put the skimmer after the refugium and then dumping into the final chamber. The concept their is that you want the raw water from the tank feeding the fuge not the skimmed water from the skimmer, and then let the skimmer pick up whats left.

The return pump for now is a Catalina Aquarium 2200 that I got free with the tank

I would just with the lesser flow on the return, it looks like you will have plenty of flow with the powerheads. This will allow for mor contact time with the algae and sand you are planning to run.

my only question is how deep of a sandbed do I want?

You could go 6 but thats going to take up a bunch of real estate, I think the norm these days for folks that want to run them is to go about 2-3 inches and then maintain them. As per the gobbies in the wild they go deep but they are foraging for food and most of the food is going to be about an inch down, so you should be ok, if they hit the bottom I can garrantee they wont dig any deeper :rockon:

On the rock, Figi is normally pretty heavy with algaes and kling ons so I would go all Live I would say get about 70% dead and then use the rest with live. It will be like a whole apartment block ready to be moved into for the critters and bacteria. I am not sure on where to get but I do know we have a few sponsors from cali online so i would shoot them an enquiry.

good luck and make sure we get to see progress, oh hey and one thing more make sure you check all the silicone on the tanks so you can make sure it all good now prior.


hope it helps


Mojo

 

[Chichas01]

Return pump - go with an Ehiem 1262 over the Magdrive. You will not be disapointed.

Live rock/Substrate - Consider going with a sand bed of 2" or less in your display and getting your rock supported on some sort of rack system using PVC or acrylic rods and plates. This will help you provide flow around and under your rock. If you want to keep a jawfish and want the deeper sand bed, maybe you could have a section of your display with 4"+ of sand in some sort of acrylic box. It could be designed so that its 'hidden' with rock and sand around the exposed edges. No guarentee though that your jawfish will choose that area to make it's home. I think I saw a post on a different site where someone did this, but can't give you a reference. You also may want to decide if you want a reef tank or a jelly fish tank or a seahorse tank. All 3 of these will generally be set up quite differently to provide the correct habitat for the livestock you mention in your post.

That is an awesome tank btw and you have tons of options. Looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Also I would put the skimmer after the refugium and then dumping into the final chamber. The concept their is that you want the raw water from the tank feeding the fuge not the skimmed water from the skimmer, and then let the skimmer pick up whats left.
Mojo

I am of the opposite mindset on this part, thinking it is best to bubble all the crud one possibly can completely out of the system, before the plants are left to sweep up the nitrates.
Just an opinion...

 

[mojoreef]

I am of the opposite mindset on this part, thinking it is best to bubble all the crud one possibly can completely out of the system, before the plants are left to sweep up the nitrates.
Just an opinion...

Yea you can look at it like that I guess. I was thinking more are allowing the heavier detritus to land on the sand an be reduce. beyond that the concept is the same.

Mojo

 

[MTWiley]

Mojo

I wouldnt baffle the sump until you get a skimmer nailed down that way you can

custom it for it. I just use an airstone skimmer so I will let the Skimmer boys let you know about all

the new ones out their.

Interesting, I hadn't heard of the airstone skimmers, I guess I've found something else to read about

and possible build.

With the rubble under the drain lines I would not do that, it will create an

enviroment for nitrate producing bacteria, so it could end up being an issue.

I was thinking that too, but I'm also thinking that the point of the chaeto is to export excess

nutrients such as nitrates isn't it?

Also I would put the skimmer after the refugium and then dumping into the final

chamber. The concept their is that you want the raw water from the tank feeding the fuge not the skimmed

water from the skimmer, and then let the skimmer pick up whats left.
I would just with the lesser flow on the return, it looks like you will have plenty of flow with the

powerheads. This will allow for mor contact time with the algae and sand you are planning to

run.

My thinking was that I'd like the skimmer to clean up as much as possible because pretty much everything

that I've read says that although skimmers help, it's not possible for any skimmer to remove all of the

biological waste in the water and that the chaeto would be there to clean up as much as possible after

the skimmer removed either the majority or as much as it could. Also the fuge in between gives the

bubbles longer time before they get to the return pump which should help reduce the microbubbles that

make it into my display tank. If there's something that I misunderstood please let me know.

You could go 6 but thats going to take up a bunch of real estate, I think the

norm these days for folks that want to run them is to go about 2-3 inches and then maintain them. As per

the gobbies in the wild they go deep but they are foraging for food and most of the food is going to be

about an inch down, so you should be ok, if they hit the bottom I can garrantee they wont dig any

deeper

2"-3" sounds reasonable to me, and that makes sense that they wont have to forage as much or dig as deep

to find food in the aquarium as they would in the wild.

On the rock, Figi is normally pretty heavy with algaes and kling ons so I would

go all Live I would say get about 70% dead and then use the rest with live. It will be like a whole

apartment block ready to be moved into for the critters and bacteria. I am not sure on where to get but

I do know we have a few sponsors from cali online so i would shoot them an enquiry.

I just checked the sponsor list and unless I'm missing something the only sponsors in CA are OCReef and

Marine Aquarium Expo. Unfortunately OCReef has only nano tank sized live rock, and although it's

actually a pretty good price/lb I can't see myself stacking a million tiny peices of rock.

And MAX is about 2 months away from happening. I understand patience is key in this hobby, but I'd

like to get the tank at least started cycling in the next month or so, if it takes a bit longer for me

to get the stuff built and the timing lines up it might be an option, but right now I think I'll have

everything put together well before MAX.

good luck and make sure we get to see progress, oh hey and one thing more make

sure you check all the silicone on the tanks so you can make sure it all good now prior.[/quote

Thanks, and I'll make sure to keep you guys updated. Is there anything I should look for in particular

I should look for when inspecting the silicone? Does it matter any that I saw the tanks completely

filled with water when I went to check out the tanks, 2 days before I picked them up.

hope it helps


Mojo

It does, and I like to thank Mojo you for your input, it's greatly appreciated.


Chica

Return pump - go with an Ehiem 1262 over the Magdrive. You will not be

disapointed.

Just checked out that Ehiem 1262, I see that it's rated at 898 gph with 12' of headloss. Does it

matter if there will only be 6 feet of headloss? How would that affect the flow coming out of the

return? Would it affect it at all?

Live rock/Substrate - Consider going with a sand bed of 2" or less in your

display and getting your rock supported on some sort of rack system using PVC or acrylic rods and

plates. This will help you provide flow around and under your rock.

I'd seen on garf.org they made plenums for under the sand bed out of light diffuser/egg crate. If I

didn't make a full on plenum, but just used the egg crate to lift the rocks up off the glass it should

accomplish the same thing right that you're describing?

If you want to keep a jawfish and want the deeper sand bed, maybe you could have

a section of your display with 4"+ of sand in some sort of acrylic box. It could be designed so that its

'hidden' with rock and sand around the exposed edges. No guarentee though that your jawfish will choose

that area to make it's home. I think I saw a post on a different site where someone did this, but can't

give you a reference.

That might be an option, I have a bit of extra acrylic out in the garage right now. If I decide to

make the entire sand bed about 4 inches do you think that would be alright for keeping jawfish?

You also may want to decide if you want a reef tank or a jelly fish tank or a

seahorse tank. All 3 of these will generally be set up quite differently to provide the correct habitat

for the livestock you mention in your post.

Sorry about the mistunderstanding, I wasn't mentioning the seahorses and jellyfish because I was wanting

to have them in my tank, I just mentioned them because they were examples of livestock that had specific

sand bed depth requirements that I had read about, and I was wondering if there were other livestock

that had specific sand bed depth requirements that I hadn't read about.

That is an awesome tank btw and you have tons of options. Looking forward to

seeing how this turns out.

Thanks, I'll be sure to keep you guys updated and post pictures along the way.


HereFishyFishy

I am of the opposite mindset on this part, thinking it is best to bubble

all the crud one possibly can completely out of the system, before the plants are left to sweep up the

nitrates.
Just an opinion...

That was kind of my thinking as well and much of what I read has been back and forth on this particular

subject. After having read about skimmer and macroalgae it appears to me that no matter how hard I try

I'll never be able to get all of the contaminants/nutrients out of the water, so what I was thinking was

that since I'm going to be spending a significant amount of money on initially buying a skimmer and then

continuing to pay for electricity to keep it running I might as well use it as much as possible and skim

as much gunk out of the water as possible. Then let the plants pick up as much as they can of what's

left.

Mojo's second post

Yea you can look at it like that I guess. I was thinking more are allowing the

heavier detritus to land on the sand an be reduce. beyond that the concept is the same.

Mojo

I'd given that some thought as well, but I'm still thinking that keeping the skimmer as far away from

the return as possible is a good idea to keep the number of bubbles that make it into my display tank

down. Do you think it will make a huge difference either way?

Update, a couple more pictures and questions

Pictures

Put in some new 2x4's for some additional bracing to strengthen the frame a bit, and trimmed the feet on

the sumps stand so that they're not flush with the bottom instead of having that weird gap.

3/4" Oak Plywood Side/Top, I still need to cut/mount the front pieces and doors, then sand and paint the

whole thing.

Assembled the locline portion of the return that I'll be using to bring water back from the sump into

the tank.

Questions
Do you guys know if Valspar Plastic Spray paint is aquarium safe? I have some in black and was wanting

to repaint the DIY PVC Overflows to make them blend in with the black background a bit better.

Any idea why this middle brace on the tank looks like it's made up of several peice of glass that have

been sandwiched together and/or why it's so huge? Is this normal for a tank this size?

Any suggestions on what else I can use to clean up this tank a bit aside from water and a whole lot of

scrubbing? I've read a mixture of vinegar and water should be okay but I wanted to get some

confirmation before I did any thing that could potentially cause problems.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

An extra brace had been added and drilled at one time and later patched and braced. Never seen one like that before.
Muriatic acid (HCl) works great for dissolving precipitates and calcification, but is dangerous and needs to be used with gloves, goggles and a well ventilated area.

 

[Krish]

On the sump design, the drawing you have there is the exact layout I had on my 75 gal. Granted it wasn't a full blown fuge as I only harvested algae that grew on it's own for my own benefit to aid in nutrient export until the tank balanced out, but I liked the layout and worked well for me. More than one way to layout a sump and have good success so I wouldn't worry too much on putting the fuge before the skimmer vs the skimmer before the fuge. Benefits and arguments to both and honestly, not sure if you would notice a huge difference going either way. JMO though...On the liverock, I agree with Mojo. I'd skip that part as it is not necessary. For biological filtration purposes, the liverock you have in your tank should be sufficient enough IMO and you can check out some of our sponsors here as they usually have great deals on liverock.

On the skimmer itself, tons of great ones out there. You can maybe look at the Octopus skimmers as they seem to be one of the popular choices out there these days. If you wanted more detailed info on skimmers, I'd probably start a small thread in the skimmer section dedicated to your skimmer questions itself as it will probably get more views and feedback there. Just a thought.


On the test kits, I've always used Salifert test kits and has always been a pretty popular brand among hobbyist. For the initial cycle, you will want to monitor ammonia, nitrite and nitrate as well as ph wouldn't hurt. Then from there you will want to keep and eye on Alk, magnesium, calcium and phosphates. These are the main ones you will use then of course you want to keep an eye on your salinty/specific gravity levels as well as temperature.


Lastly, on the substrate, it is all a matter of personal opinion. I don't use sand as I'm not interested in the extra up-keep they require as well as I like a lot of flow, and in my case, it would never stay put. If I had to run a sand bed, I'd go for a shallow sandbed about 1-2 inches deep. That way, you can vacuum it all you want to get out all of the waste and detritus that may settle in in and not have worry about accidentally digging into the lower anaerobic zones that deep beds have and releasing some nasty stuff into your system. Just my opinion though.


Good luck on the setup!! Should be a nice build!! Continue to ask your questions as they come to you.

 

[MTWiley]

An extra brace had been added and drilled at one time and later patched and braced. Never seen one like that before.

Thanks, I thought it was a bit odd myself, but the tank held water and the price was right, I'll have to figure out some way to clean it up and make it look a bit nicer.

Muriatic acid (HCl) works great for dissolving precipitates and calcification, but is dangerous and needs to be used with gloves, goggles and a well ventilated area.

Hm, I think I remember a friend mentioning that he uses that to clean his pool and would eat away at the cement lining of his pool if he didn't dilute it as much as he does, would it have any negative effect on the silicone in the tank?

On the sump design, the drawing you have there is the exact layout I had on my 75 gal. Granted it wasn't a full blown fuge as I only harvested algae that grew on it's own for my own benefit to aid in nutrient export until the tank balanced out, but I liked the layout and worked well for me. More than one way to layout a sump and have good success so I wouldn't worry too much on putting the fuge before the skimmer vs the skimmer before the fuge. Benefits and arguments to both and honestly, not sure if you would notice a huge difference going either way. JMO though...

Thanks for the input, and you're probably right. A ton of the stuff I've been reading has been conflicting information with everyone saying that it boils down to the fact that there are many different ways to run a sucessful reef.

On the liverock, I agree with Mojo. I'd skip that part as it is not necessary. For biological filtration purposes, the liverock you have in your tank should be sufficient enough IMO and you can check out some of our sponsors here as they usually have great deals on liverock.

I'll check out some of the other sponsors, do you have one in particular that you've seen with decent prices on live rock?

On the skimmer itself, tons of great ones out there. You can maybe look at the Octopus skimmers as they seem to be one of the popular choices out there these days. If you wanted more detailed info on skimmers, I'd probably start a small thread in the skimmer section dedicated to your skimmer questions itself as it will probably get more views and feedback there. Just a thought.

I'll start a thread over in the skimmers section later tonight and try to get some more thoughts together on what exactly I need/want.

On the test kits, I've always used Salifert test kits and has always been a pretty popular brand among hobbyist. For the initial cycle, you will want to monitor ammonia, nitrite and nitrate as well as ph wouldn't hurt. Then from there you will want to keep and eye on Alk, magnesium, calcium and phosphates. These are the main ones you will use then of course you want to keep an eye on your salinty/specific gravity levels as well as temperature.

I'll check out the Salifert kits you mentioned.

Lastly, on the substrate, it is all a matter of personal opinion. I don't use sand as I'm not interested in the extra up-keep they require as well as I like a lot of flow, and in my case, it would never stay put. If I had to run a sand bed, I'd go for a shallow sandbed about 1-2 inches deep. That way, you can vacuum it all you want to get out all of the waste and detritus that may settle in in and not have worry about accidentally digging into the lower anaerobic zones that deep beds have and releasing some nasty stuff into your system. Just my opinion though.

I'll have to think about the DSB in the main tank a bit more and really ask myself how much maintence I want to do vs. what fish/inverts I really want to keep. I'm curious, if you don't use sand for the bottom of your tanks, what are you using or do you just leave them bare glass? I'd read several places that bare glass on the bottom can stress the fish.

Good luck on the setup!! Should be a nice build!! Continue to ask your questions as they come to you.

I'm hoping it comes out nice, I'll make sure to keep asking questions and posting updated pictures/progress.



Thanks again to everyone for all the information, you guys are awesome, and I really appreciate you all being so helpful.

 

[Krish]

I used pvc board (similar to starboard) on the bottom of the tank. I've never heard of it stressing any fish. I could see where it could be a problem if the fish you have require sand like wrasses for eg. This is why if you choose the bare bottom route, you have to keep in mind that you will be limited on some of the critters and fish you can keep as some do require sand. The reason I don't like sand is I like high flow tanks. My 38gal had about 4,000 gph of flow running through it which is just over 100x turnover rate. The idea is to have enough flow to keep any waste/detritus from settling in the tank, but rather lift it in the water column where it can either be removed by skimming, mechanical filtration, used up by corals etc. With sandbeds, you risk the chance of the waste getting lost in it and therefore is the reason why vacuuming the sandbed is required. Some people will argue that their critters will clean the sandbed, but keep in mind they poop as well so they remove some waste and add in some. Not trying to turn you away from sand by any means as I love the look of tanks with sandbeds, but I personally just prefer tanks without as it is easier for me personally to maintain. Infact, I don't even use any sponges, filter socks or anything like that in my tanks due to them needing to be cleaned every 2-3 days. I've kept un-detectable nitrates in 3 tanks that were bare bottom, but they do have their cons as well. Here are a few pics so you can see what I meant about the pvc bottom.


75gal



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38gal (this is the one with the +100x turnover)




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24 gal Aquapod. This tank had a black back when I first set it up and I just used a bare glass bottom. After I removed all of the corals to do just a fish only tank, I removed the backwall, put in a blue one and put down a pvc board bottom.




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[MTWiley]

Interesting, I had heard of Starboard before, but I'd never actually seen a tank that used it. Those actually look like really nice tanks. Do you mind me asking where you got the starboard from and/or how much you spent on them or how much i should expect to spend if I went with that option?

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Thanks, I thought it was a bit odd myself, but the tank held water and the price was right, I'll have to figure out some way to clean it up and make it look a bit nicer.

Hm, I think I remember a friend mentioning that he uses that to clean his pool and would eat away at the cement lining of his pool if he didn't dilute it as much as he does, would it have any negative effect on the silicone in the tank?

Thanks again to everyone for all the information, you guys are awesome, and I really appreciate you all being so helpful.

I would just cut the acrylic piece out as long as the black support was still in good order. The silicone is inert to HCl, but your skin and eyes are not, nor is your wood, carpet, clothes, the kids, fido, or lawn.

 

[Krish]

Interesting, I had heard of Starboard before, but I'd never actually seen a tank that used it. Those actually look like really nice tanks. Do you mind me asking where you got the starboard from and/or how much you spent on them or how much i should expect to spend if I went with that option?

Thanks!! I used pvc board which is a little cheaper than starboard that I bought from the local acrylic/plastic company here. My friend's father owns the business and he actually built all of my acrylic tanks and sumps. He recommended the pvc board. I'd imagine anywhere that sells plastic should sell it. I've heard some people say they use the white cutting board material is supposed to be basically the same thing. Price wise, for the 75 gal tank, if I remember correctly, I think I paid under $50 for the whole piece.

 

[MTWiley]

I would just cut the acrylic piece out as long as the black support was still in good order.

I might give that a shot, I'm not really sure I want to cut into the tank though, I don't have a ton of experience working with acrylic or glass. The only thing I've really done was create a divider for our beta tank out of some clear plexi using a radial arm saw to cut it to size and a drill press to make the holes for water to flow through. How would you recommend going about removing it?

The silicone is inert to HCl, but your skin and eyes are not, nor is your wood, carpet, clothes, the kids, fido, or lawn.

Thanks, I'll make sure to keep that in mind if I decide to give the HCL acid a try.

Thanks!! I used pvc board which is a little cheaper than starboard that I bought from the local acrylic/plastic company here. My friend's father owns the business and he actually built all of my acrylic tanks and sumps. He recommended the pvc board. I'd imagine anywhere that sells plastic should sell it. I've heard some people say they use the white cutting board material is supposed to be basically the same thing. Price wise, for the 75 gal tank, if I remember correctly, I think I paid under $50 for the whole piece.

Wow, that's not as expensive as I imagined it would be, I might have to look into BB a bit more as the lower maintenance inside the tank would be a huge plus.

 

[Krish]

Wow, that's not as expensive as I imagined it would be, I might have to look into BB a bit more as the lower maintenance inside the tank would be a huge plus.

Just make sure to weigh out your cons as well. Pod population will probably dwindle unless you try to grow your own in your refugium as well as you will be limited on certain fish and inverts. Also, everything will be in real time so you will want to make sure there are no deadspots in the tank so that all waste can be lifted and kept in the water column to be filtered out some how. I know in one of my tanks, I had this one spot that waste would settle which was still pretty cool. All I'd have to do is vacuum that one section. Made life easy.

Here's something Mojo posted the other day on the pros and cons of bare bottom.

Cons:
>You loose alot of biological filtration, so your cleaning/maintence is in realtime. As in if you just allow detritus to collect, you will see algae break out quicker.
>No matter what you use on the bottom it will turn purple with corraline
>You will loose the alot of area for bugs and critters to reproduce, so less pods, worms, larvae and so on on.
>Forces you to keep a regular maintence schedule, or the detritus builds quickly.
>Looks more like a natural enviroment.

Pros:
> you can increase flow in the tank to levels you couldnt with sand substraights.
>If the flow is setup properly you can dicatate where the detritus builds for an easy removal.
>Because you have to do detritus removal constantly, you will not allow it to build up or sink in your system. Thus saving a tank altering clean up down the long term road.
>Keeps the detritus in the water column and makes it more available to corals and similar.


On the bottom the white plastic being refered to is what we know as cutting board material, usually aly place that sell acrylic sells it. Its a good idea to have as if you drop something heavy on the bottom it will protect the bottom from damaging.

On one of my tanks I took epoxy and would paint an area and then while it was still wet I would stick some sand to it. Then do that to the whole bottom of the tank. It worked well for the slipping thing, but eventually covered in corraline

Mojo

 

[conduit7]

On garf grunge, you won't want to disturb your sandbed. I ordered 5 months ago and card over billed by $90.00 have a claim open with the bank. Best to use local vendors.