The "How to go Barebottom thread."

[sherm71tank]

My math says you have roughly 4700 gph of flow with current setup. It about 37X times tank volume. I guess that's pretty good. Don't listen to me. I'm all about overkill when it comes to flow and skimmers. Are you getting the WWD for your Vortechs?

[120reeferman]

yea i plan on upgrading them both to the new drivers...esp after seeing them perform

[sherm71tank]

Right on 120reeferman! Most important thing to remember with a BB is that YOU are in control of your system. Not your sand bed!

[120reeferman]

yea i know, im loving every bit of it too, my corals look so much better, i can control all my water parims easyer and more accuratly, its just a far better way of dealing with a reef tank.

i lost many tanks to old tank syndrom and now i dont have to worrie about it, i just got to make sure my skimmers cup is empty

[unclemuskie]

hey all you BB guys got a question. Are you running a sand bed at all inyour sump or in a remote dsb.I will be starting my tank up shortly and was just wondering.If not then what kind of filteration do you have in your sump.thanks for the responses.

[sherm71tank]

No sand or substrate at all in my system. I run my overflow through a sock into the sump. DAS EX-2 skimmer currently that seems to be doing a good job though I'm a Beckett fan. I run carbon and GFO on and off as needed (depending on my water change schedule and how lazy I am). I've gone 6 month's without doing a water change with no ill effects that I could see. I use two part for calcium and alkalinity. Don't mean to beat a dead horse but high flow is critical for BB tanks. You have to keep the detritus suspended and get it to your filters. It can't settle to the bottom anywhere or into the rockwork or you'll have problems.

[unclemuskie]

does anyone have an opinion on running a precision marine ES-100 skimmer for a new 75 gallon BB setup?? It will be powered by a mag-9.I will also have a mag-12 as my return pump with 2 Korrallia-4's for internal circulation.Any opinions out there,thanks.

ps.I will have a 38 gallon sump that will be part(1/2) fuge and skimmer on the other part with a carbon and phosphate reactor ther also.

[120reeferman]

no sand in my tank what so ever, and there will never be any.

sherm hit it on the head, you have to have enough flow to get the crap that would normally settle on the bottom to stay in the water colum so it will get skimmed out.

I also use a filter sock to catch snails and big stuff that my skimmer couldnt get out anyhow, plus i have a micro bubble problem when i do not run one.

[SeanT]

None here either.

[causeofhim]

How often do you guys change/clean your filter sock?

[King-Kong]

every few days.

[sherm71tank]

I try to change every 3 days but often it goes longer up to a week.

[magrath]

Every week here.

[annamarie421]

I'm in the process of cooking some "new" live rock (fresh, just purchased). I've had it for a week and a half now, and have done two 100% water changes, dunking & swishing to remove detritus. The first water change, and dunk/swish I got a small amount of detritus off, but the second time I didn't get a noticeable amount. The rock came in very clean, very little sponge, macro algae, etc on it, and the detritus was minimal when I dunked/swished prior to placing in the cooking container. Can anybody recommend how long to continue the cooking process?

The rock will be replacing the current rock in my 20g. I plan to remove all the rock and sand, and put in a piece of starboard and the new rock once it is ready.

Thanks,
Anna

Edit: I do NOT want to rush the process in any way - I'd like to give it 4-6 weeks minimum, from everything I've read - just looking for some input...

[sherm71tank]

Ideally until it stops shedding. Which it should when it's clean.

[SeanT]

Anna,

Do it for a minimum of 4 weeks.
After that time, if you do not notice any more shedding then you should be good to go.
Remember to keep it in the dark.

Sean

[agsansoo]

Hello everyone,
I've been BB for around two months now. First let me say I did not cook my live rock. I also didn't think I needed a large clean-up crew. Now I have fuzzy live rocks ! Can somebody suggest the right amount of snails I need ? One more thing. The bottom is starting to get coraline algae on the starboard. The problem is, it's the green variety not the purple color I was hoping for. Any ideas how to change this. Other than that, I'm loving my barebottom tank !

MY PARAMS:
Temp: 79°
SG: 1.025
nitrate:<20
calc: 475
Alk: 11.2 dKH
PH: 8.2
Phos: <0.0
Mag: 1500

MY SYSTEM:
65 gallon BBT, 10 sump, 10 gal. fuge with cheato (no more RDSB, I removed that last weekend)
1x250watt MH 12k Reeflux CoralVue, 4x96watt PC Actinic, 2x Maxi-Jet Mods, 2x Koralia 3's, Phosbane Reactor, Return Pump Rio1700, CSS-65 Protein Skimmer (I'm replacing this ASAP, looking at the Xtreme 160)

[SeanT]

I would go with 1 astrea and 2 ceriths for every gallon.
With CONSTANT siphonig.

Some of the snails will die off but that is a sad part of the deal.

Sean