The "How to go Barebottom thread."

[ezhoops]

olkeller, that will be interesting cause I'll setting up mine in my 54 corner tank. I think we may have an advantage or dis-advantage with our corner tanks. not sure which yet. We need to figure out our flow patterns.

[SeanT]

ezhoops,
Running a sump has nothing to do with BB or DSB, they are convenient in that they add water volume and offer you a place to hide some unsightly equipment that would otherwise be in your main tank.

As for a skimmer...are you looking for one that sits in your sump, is externally plumbed or hangs on the back of your tank?
Usually an externally plumbed one affords you the the ability to go bigger but size and space limitations may prevent that.

hth,
Sean

[SeanT]

Originally posted by ezhoops
oh and a UV skimmer?

I plan to have two seio's along with new return pump (suggest one please) I currently have a mag 9

What size i your sump and what do you have in way of drains?

[SeanT]

Originally posted by olkeller
I'm wondering what is a good idea for a turnover rate for the tank so I can buy the right equipment.
How important is ozone or a uv sterilizer(who else runs one)

UV's help in several ways.
First is to kill pathogens which effect livestock negatively.
But...we aren't concerned with that here.
UV's are very efficient at breaking down the organics that are accumulating for more efficient export.
UV's do this by breaking down long molecules by ionzation
UV's are great at breaking down coral warfare chemicals and a lot better at breaking organic bonds that would discolor water.
hth,
Sean

[wastememphis]

What does the ozone do for a barebottom. (From the pics I've seen it makes the water really clear by adding 03 and the light can penetrate futher, but... I guess I don't know what that does to the water chem.)

[SeanT]

To give you some great reading I am going to post this links for you.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...hreadid=517084

[Hef]

Sean, great info. Thanks.
One criticism though,
I dont really see the point of posting photos of Algae covered rocks to show the benefit of Rock Cooking.
Kind of makes me think I dont need to cook my rock, as my rocks already look like your After Photos.
I've had the plan in mind for a long time now, so I will cook them if only to wash them out a little over a two week time.

Thanks
Hef

[Weatherman]

Originally posted by Hef
Sean, great info. Thanks.
One criticism though,
I dont really see the point of posting photos of Algae covered rocks to show the benefit of Rock Cooking.
Kind of makes me think I dont need to cook my rock, as my rocks already look like your After Photos.
I've had the plan in mind for a long time now, so I will cook them if only to wash them out a little over a two week time.

Thanks
Hef

If your rocks look clean, you can take the risk of just giving them a good dunking and swooshing before reintroducing them to your tank (I did that, although in hindsight I wouldn't recommend it).

Just be prepared for the possiblity that you'll have to clean up a lot more debris in your tank for the first few months after you remove the sand, should you choose to go this way.

[verde_ad]

Thanks sean for putting together this thread. It has been a big help. I am starting a 100gal acrylic bb tank right now and was wondering if you had any tips or suggestions for someone starting from scratch. I will be moving some livestock and rock from my 30 gal, which has a sandbed. Do you think I would be OK to transfer my water or is that going to be chalked full of unwanted nutrients as well. Thanks again for the help.

Also, I am waiting on my RODI unit and then the cooking begins

[Weatherman]

Originally posted by verde_ad
Thanks sean for putting together this thread. It has been a big help. I am starting a 100gal acrylic bb tank right now and was wondering if you had any tips or suggestions for someone starting from scratch. I will be moving some livestock and rock from my 30 gal, which has a sandbed. Do you think I would be OK to transfer my water or is that going to be chalked full of unwanted nutrients as well. Thanks again for the help.

Also, I am waiting on my RODI unit and then the cooking begins

If you're starting from scratch, I wouldn't take any water from an existing tank. There is really no benefit in doing that.

Here's something I wrote for another person starting from scratch:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...52#post5481152

[verde_ad]

Thanks for the help weatherman. I am going to be running a bullet 2 skimmer on this sytem. I have a PCX-30 I was thinking of running it with. My return will be a mag 9.5, so I believe they will have almost exactly the same amount of flow.

[AeroD79]

Will a sandless refigium to keep chaeto with lights for nitrogen export still a good combo with BB tank?

[SeanT]

Originally posted by AeroD79
Will a sandless refigium to keep chaeto with lights for nitrogen export still a good combo with BB tank?

In the long run it shouldn't be needed.
However, for the first few months or so it can be a nice crutch while you are adjusting to the husbandry and your rock finishes shedding.
If you notice the macro not growing or shrinking you should remove it immediately.

Sean

[olkeller]

on one of these threads a link was posted for a good place to buy the starboard or whatever will some one post a link please

[SeanT]

www.thecuttingboardcompany.com is one of them.

[olkeller]

Heh Thanks, dont you guys have a job? your always on here.

[causeofhim]

Good thread. Thanks

[jsbzmcdaniel]

Sean,

Well done. I hope the mods put this thread as a "sticky"

[AeroD79]

Originally posted by SeanT
In the long run it shouldn't be needed.
However, for the first few months or so it can be a nice crutch while you are adjusting to the husbandry and your rock finishes shedding.
If you notice the macro not growing or shrinking you should remove it immediately.

Sean

So instead, the denitrification will be from the anaerobic bacteria deep in the LR?

[Weatherman]

Originally posted by AeroD79
So instead, the denitrification will be from the anaerobic bacteria deep in the LR?

That's the idea.

Also, since you will be removing a lot of dissolved, and particulate, organic material by your skimmer, a lot less will break down to a level where a lot of denitrification is necessary.

[photobarry]

Originally posted by Weatherman
Also, since you will be removing a lot of dissolved, and particulate, organic material by your skimmer, a lot less will break down to a level where a lot of denitrification is necessary.

He means: "Is not necessary."

[Mojoreef]

AeroD79 what you are doing with a BB sytem is to avoid as much biological break down as you can and just mechanically remove prior. The LR in a BB system beyond for looks is used more as a polisher as you will not be able to be 100% efficient.

Thier are many ways to keep your rocks off the bottom, the concept here is to just to try to keep areas where detritus can build up to a minimium. So a rack is effective, so is drilling acrlylic doweling legs, keeping the rock standing more on its points then on its flat spots.
Another thing to add is that its not si much how much flow you can add as much as it is how well you have it designed. Having multiple outputs will aloow for more areas of the tank to be covered and effective at keeping the detritus in the column. Randomizing the flow also greatly helps in getting it off the bottom. Your never going to be able to completely get it all up, so if ther are areas where detritus is going to build up try and make them easy to get (as in front of the tank) so you can simply sypon them up as part of your regular maintence schedule.
Another big one I find is that when keeping so much detritus in the column you will have more of it fall out onto the LR then you would in other systems, so make sure blowing off the rocks is part of your maintence also. A few minutes with a small powerhead works wonders.
Although ozone is not a requirement for a BB system (or any system really) IMO it is a very nice add. If for nothing else the clarity it gives the water greatly improves the amount of light photons your corals get. Also it eats up organics in most forms (particulate and dissolved) and when you think about all the partiulates that are going to be in the water column VS sitting in sand it can be worth its weight in gold.
Lastly is feeding. Keeping detritus in the water column now you are effectly feeding a vast majority of your life form with a high quality food (detritus enveloped in bacteria and other micro fuana) so if you are of the habit of feeding external sources of coral or duster food do some experimenting oon that as a value to your tanks health.


Mike

[AeroD79]

Thank you. My next tank plan on a 120gallon will employ a 4 way OM and a temporary sandless refigium with approximately 32x turnover with ozonizer few hours every morning and at night (depending on ORP)

Iam now considering racks to hang them on the water column. I have a 40gallon acrylic tank that i can use to keep my live stock as I cook the LRs.

[brentp]

Originally posted by photobarry
He means: "Is not necessary."

Nice catch, I was seconds from pouring sand into my tank...

[photobarry]

Originally posted by brentp
Nice catch, I was seconds from pouring sand into my tank...

Whew, that was a close one! LOL