New Here and Question

[zxcvJ123]

Hi!
I was directed here by a link from the Reef tank. Com.
My name is John and I live in the northern New Jersey area, 5 minutes from the GWB.
I have 2 tanks, a 6 gallon nano cube, and a 30 gallon H RR system for lagonal animals such as zooas and other soft corals. Sump is 10 gallons with quiet 1 3000 return, and a bak pak skimmer. The tank is currently bare bottomed (which I plan to change very soon)
Fish inclued a purple firefish, clownfish, and damsle.
I plan to start another tank, a 37 gallon long SPS System (48"?) light by 2 250 watt hello lights retros. I may start the build thread in april or may. In the planning stages now.
I hope to be of some help and advice to some people here as well as ask some question for my own.

 

[noodleman]

welcome to MR

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Welcome to MR

 

[zxcvJ123]

Well,
I was wondering who are the sand bed users and who are the BB users.
I really hate Bare bottom, and I want to add some sort of substrate. Corals are not expanding properly since I went Bare Bottomed.

What kind of substate should I put in?
What depth?
I like the look of the meduim grained sand, but is that hard to clean?

 

[House of Laughter]

Zx,

As a sand bed lover and remote sand bed design - I swear by them - the best (and only way IMO) to clean sand beds is naturally by way of sand "sifters" - them being stars as well as nassarius, certh and conch snails - a watchman goby or two never hurt (system must be large to best hold 2). That, to me is the best way to run your reef. Medium/fine grain sand is the best as bacterial colonies attach to the surfaces of the sand and denitrify - the larger the suface area the less bactrial colonies -

DSB and BB is such a controversial topic - but if you like a natural looking and acting reef, dsb is it.

BB is only good if you have a skimmer large enough to support it as well as anough live rock. And do mad water changes

Again these are my opnions

Hope that helps,

House

 

[zxcvJ123]

Zx,

As a sand bed lover and remote sand bed design - I swear by them - the best (and only way IMO) to clean sand beds is naturally by way of sand "sifters" - them being stars as well as nassarius, certh and conch snails - a watchman goby or two never hurt (system must be large to best hold 2). That, to me is the best way to run your reef. Medium/fine grain sand is the best as bacterial colonies attach to the surfaces of the sand and denitrify - the larger the suface area the less bactrial colonies -

DSB and BB is such a controversial topic - but if you like a natural looking and acting reef, dsb is it.

BB is only good if you have a skimmer large enough to support it as well as anough live rock. And do mad water changes

Again these are my opnions

Hope that helps,

House

Thanks.
How deep do you recomend the sand bed to be?
Right now Im am debating between a ssb of about 2 inches or a dsb of about 4 inches/
The only thing that discourages me from a dsb is the massive algae blooms ususally happening after making a new DSB.
By sand sifters do you mean cucumbers and jawfish/ gobies?
how long does the sand bed have to be set up b4 adding sand sifters / poo eaters?

 

[House of Laughter]

Z,

I ran a SSB in my 180 dosplay with a DSB remotely connected via my gravity fed fuge - worked like a charm - matter of fact, I am in the midst of breaking it all down to move and there was a whole lot of undisturbed fresh southdown that I pulled up.

As for sifters, I say starfish, nassarius vibex and ceriths - there will be a bloom, yes, but once you get beyond that, the rewards are worth the wait.

House

 

[nyfireman3097]

Welcome John to the club...... Where as Im a BB guy and LOVE it lol. I do like the sand look ALOT also though. As for the bigger skimmer and more rock I dont see that really I think every tank should have a BIG skimmer. I dont think anyone not keeping a all sps system really needs to have a BB tank the reason why I have it is because of my SPS to allow more flow and less nutrients JMHO
Nick

 

[Tonyscoots84]

Welcome John... enjoy the site... i used to be a BB guy and now i have a SSB and i love it... 2" sandbed

 

[zxcvJ123]

Z,

I ran a SSB in my 180 dosplay with a DSB remotely connected via my gravity fed fuge - worked like a charm - matter of fact, I am in the midst of breaking it all down to move and there was a whole lot of undisturbed fresh southdown that I pulled up.

As for sifters, I say starfish, nassarius vibex and ceriths - there will be a bloom, yes, but once you get beyond that, the rewards are worth the wait.

House

will there still be a bloom with a SSB?
I am very good with water changes and cleanings so im sure the bloom will not be too much of a problem.
this tank is soft coral dominated. there is only one frag of acro.
As I understand soft corals prefer a slightly "dirty" tank.
Are shallow sand beds to be cleaned naturally with the sifters as are DSBs?

The SPS system I am planning will be bare bottomed with super high flow and a G-1 skimmer on a 37 gallon tank

 

[crox99]

Welcome to MR.

 

[ANCHIENT MARINER]

welcome to MR the best place ever

:thrash: