thinking about removing a dsb

[wuelfman]

any thoughts pros/con ?
i have my 225 filled about 4/5 inches of the famous "southdown" sand
but not have been really happy with the results.
anyone have any thoughts on going bare bottom? :eek2:
using starboard?

[Jesus]

Right now I have a bare bottom with starboard on mt 240. I had a 125 with sand before. I like the look of sand and I am in the process of putting sand in my 240. Kinda looks more natural. What kinda of things that you are not happy with it?


jesus

[wuelfman]

well being southdown i cant really get good flow at the bottom of the tank. sand storms everyplace when i try.
i jst dont think its setup right.
want to trade some southdown sand for some starboard :D

[wuelfman]

i just think its reached the end of its lifespan after 7 years.
i dont want buy more kits for it. i think its leeching back in the tank
corals still bleach and RTN ugggggg.
i could take it out and wash it but its more work then i want to do.
i will add a dsb in my sump fuge.

[Jesus]

How big os a starboard do you need? I will PM you maybe I can help? Looks like you are having a great deal of a problem. You can also check out my system. I am not running any close loop or and fuge. I am sure there are other member that are willing to give you a hand.

jesus

[Jacob D]

I remvoed most of my sandbed, it was about 3" deep, I left the bottom 1/2". I ended up losing a couple of corals and even a couple of fish. In hindsight I wish I would have done the following:

1. Remove the whole thing
2. Do it all at once, or over a short time period like a week
3. Do a lot more water changes after removal

I caused a pretty bad nutrient problem by exposing that bottom layer, my tank is starting to recover but I have some algae growth and coral lightening (may not be related) that I have yet to solve. If you decide to remove the DSB, remove the whole thing and don't re-use any of the sand. If you decide to keep a little sand I would only keep about half an inch of brand new sand.

One last tip - remove it by siphoning it out. You'll lose a lot of water this way but it will keep your tank from getting clouded up with nasty stuff if you're careful about it.

[wuelfman]

well my tank just has to many Nutrients from the sandbed. so want to remove it
im thinking of trying something like this
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=372666&highlight=starboard

what do you think
jesus
my tank is 72 long by 30 wide

[Jacob D]

I'm all for removing it - my point was be very very careful when you do so. If you think you have a bad nutrient problem now just wait until you start messing with that thing. There is all kinds of much nastier stuff in there just waiting for a chance to get into the water column. It's kind of like disarming a bomb in your tank, the tank will be better for it but if you make a mistake during the process....

[Jesus]

first thing first, lets find out were is the nutrient coming from. What kind of nutrient? If it is from the sand, do you have any invert stirring the sand occasionaly. Sand needs to be stirred once in a while.

jesus

[wuelfman]

not much is in the sand. since the dsb crash a couple years ago i have not done much with sandbed.
i feed heavy. and my skimmer is always pulling nasty crud out. thats where the Nutrients are coming from.
i tossed out 4 corals today from rtn.
unless you think the canopy off the tank for 2 days with no lights did this (i did have a 250watt shop light from my fuge on it while i fixed my canopy.
this dsb has never really worked that great for me. funny i had one on my 125 for what 8 years no problem.
mothra
i will do it all at once if i decide to take it out. fish and corals will go into my brand new 75 sump while i swap out the sand.
sump will be cut off from the main system while i do this. ill add a powerhead and they will have stress other them going from the main tank to the sump shouls be close to 0

[Jesus]

Hey Paul, how are you doing? How did the starboard work for you? Call me if you need help.


jesus

[wuelfman]

i have not had a chance to even mess with the starboard yet lol
the starboard is gonna take some planning. not to much the cutting of it but the sand removal.
just did a water change and replaced my electric powerstrip and what not under the tank.

[wuelfman]

wow
just got my t-5 installed. so much better then the vho
running 4 60 inch d&d aquablue +
looks real good. nice with the 400 watt halides
still leaning towards removing the sand bed

[Jesus]

Well, are how things going with yhour tank? Installed starboard yet? I am about to put in sand tonight.


jesus

[wuelfman]

no not yet
i pressure washed the rock in my tank. got rid of all the bubble algea and bristle algea. looks 1000% percent better. also added my 100 # of live rock and 70 # of tonga branch that i was curing in the garage.
im going to do the 2 part epoxie with the sand mixed in with it.
i also added ozone with a orp controller that made a huge difference as well.
im gonna try to get the sand out sometime in the next month or so
look here
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=372666&perpage=25&highlight=starboard&pagenumber=2

[Bdimas]

Hey paul one thing about those false sand beds is that coraline algae will probably start growing over it and you will have a coraline algae floor. Im sure it would still look fine though, starboard usually get coraline growth on it also.

[Jesus]

Finally put sandbed in my tank. I left the starboard in and just laid out the sand. It's about 2 to 2.5 all around. I missed my old set-up which I had sandbed in it. I was getting great coloration as well from it. Sandbed really helps your ph stabilize and alk.
Will see if I will get the same coloration when I had my 125g.


jesus

[wuelfman]

so lets see a picture of it :D
my looks very stable now (clams are happy and softies and zoos all look good )
ready to try a sps now jesus ?
i think adding the ozone is really helping pull out some of the crap in the tank.
what i think worked well was pressure washing the old rocks (got rid of all of the bubble algae and bristle algae
still plan on taking out the sandbed

[Jesus]

I will be out of state for the next 6 day or so. I get back with you when I get back.


jesus

[Paul B]

I personally would go with a reverse UG filter, but thats just me.
:beer:
Paul

[Jacob D]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7747524#post7747524 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Paul B
I personally would go with a reverse UG filter, but thats just me.
:beer:
Paul

Yeah but what do you know, it's not like your tank has been set up for 30 years or anything ;) Paul I just wanted to say I think your tank is pretty cool and I always enjoy reading your posts.

[Paul B]

Thanks Mothra, see Godzilla lately?
:lol:

[wuelfman]

OH MY GOD MY THREADS BEEN HIGHJACKED!!!!!!!:p :D :cool: :rolleyes: