Does this guy know what he's talking about??

[dzovi]

On another website a guy posted this in regards to a 12g tank with crabs and snails as the only inhabitants:

"I'd probably also skip the sand/crushed coral, as without a plenum layer (very hard to accomplish in a small tank like that) the substrate is going to become a NitrAte producing engine, which is deadly for your inverts. Liverock is fine as long as the tank hood is running full spectrum light at 40-50 watts. If you do just have to have some sand, go with a very thin layer of oolitic sugar sand at 1/4" to 1/2" depth, just barely enough to cover the glass. Again, no substrate at all would be better."

Is his advice legitimate?

[ckfazz]

He has some points but it also depends on what "school" of thought you use. I would definitely stay away from crushed coral substrate as they trap detrius. As far as a sand bed without a plenum, I don't believe in that at all. You can have a shallow sand bed for asthetics or a DSB for biological filtration. The shallow bed will provide a small amount of filtration but not enough to be noticeable. I am runing a DSB in my 12g nano but again, the substrate is a personal choice as some people go bare bottom while others use sand. As far as the lighting, you do not need that much wattage to support LR. LR will be fine under standard lighting BUT you will not be able to keep corals. Coraline algae will also do better under a little more lighting but it is not neccessary. Hope this helps

[schristi69]

You can keep various soft corals like zoas and mushrooms under normal lighting. I have a Coralife 65 watt unit on my frag tank and they do fine and I get lots of coraline growth. Bare bottom allows you to siphon out the crud. DSB allows critters to live that eat the crud. Depends on how you want to manage cleanup in your tank. You are going to get nitrates no matter what you do. It is all part of the nitrogen process. How you manage it is up to you. Macro algea, less feeding, water changes, chemically, etc. I run a DSB in my 58 with macro in the fuge and nitrates are no problem at all. The DSB/no DSB debate has been going on for years. There is no right way.