Sand Or No Sand?

[berje]

tonymission;965192 wrote: Assume you use this... Do you have a pic?

The cone settling tank, or the faux sand bed?

I have had the faux sand bed in the past, but I sold the tank a while ago and just didn't put one in the new one I have. It will eventually get coralline encrusted all over it like the tank glass. It ends up looking really nice IMO.

Ill see if I can find an old picture of mine.

 

[tonymission]

Ya the FSB.. I'm sure I can find something on google too

 

[kirkwood]

i just went to a shallow 60 and went BB. GREATEST THING I'VE DONE.. My SPS are doing better than ever before and the maintenance feels much less intensive.. I think the critical part of BB is your flow and skimming.. For a BB I would recommend doubling the industry standard turnover and internal flow rates... for me I took all the equipment I was using on my 120 and put it in my 60 and it seems to be perfect. I'm running 2 x WP40's on variable wave patterns between 50-80% via Reef Angel. My return pump is only a Mag 9 because that was the sweetspot for my overflow/downspout configuration, but I'd go for more if I could.

 

[lant]

I use to switch between sand and BB all the time during my early days in the hobby. Usually sand would be awesome for 2 years or so, but then the SPS colors start to fade or darken. LPS and Softies would continue to do well. It could be a combination of the SPS growth blocking flow or nutrients piling up, but my sand is always white doesn't have any rotten egg smell in it.

Now I am BB and sticking with it no matter much I hate the look. After about two years, my GSP and Palys should completely cover the bottom anyway. It's just a matter of patience.

 

[jdavid]

Star polyp pastor turf. Surely someone has done this

 

[tbub1221]

FWIW l luv my bb , tank looks n stays so clean and it act like a mirror letting you see far into the rock work from beneath