You sand people are NUTS!

[mvm]

After some thought, I decided to become "normal" and add some sand to my tank. I absolutely HATED it. Everytime I looked at the sand and thought about all of the POO that was in there, it made me want to do a water change. Sorry folks, but I've gone back to CLEAN REEFING! :thumbs:
The water was dark brown after sucking out all of the sand. :yuk:

 

[enderg60]

quitter!

at least grow some zoa's on the bottom so it doesnt look sterile.

 

[glxtrix]

That a boy Welcome back!

 

[crew]

I prefer my tank looking like an ocean, not a hospital

maybe if the bottom was covered in sand or zoa's or something.. but then THEY become the detritus trap...

of course the sand will be covered with poo and other "stuff"... why do you think the ocean is so salty

 

[ace1204]

i left once, dont think ill do it again unless i get a larger tank.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

Yeah, for all you BB OCDers- they make this thing called the eco-aqualizer that eliminates the need for water changes. Since you are so lazy you cant tend to a sand bed. Puh-leez. Nothing could make a tank look worse. I would rather grow hair algae on the bottom than have it BB.

 

[linda lee]

Whatever you do, don't swim in the ocean. Fish *poo* in it, ya know, and it has a sandbed.

And if you say "well, I'll just walk along the beach," you're walking in the skimmer.

Think about it.

 

[crew]

Linda Lee;306136 wrote:
And if you say "well, I'll just walk along the beach," you're walking in the skimmer.

Couldn't be said better

 

[glxtrix]

I don't recall seeing foam all over the beach last time I was there....hmmm, what nasty beach do you guys go to?

 

[linda lee]

And it's not really about what makes me happy, IMO, it's what makes my critters happy. They come from the ocean -- the ocean has sand. Just 'cuz they can't tell you they miss it, doesn't mean they don't.

Again ... just my opinion. We're all free to reef as we choose. Some like sand. Some don't. I'm certainly not going to criticize anyone for the way they choose to go with their substrate.

 

[linda lee]

glxtrix;306152 wrote: I don't recall seeing foam all over the beach last time I was there....hmmm, what nasty beach do you guys go to?

When there's a lot of gunk in the water, you see foam and the skimmer is working overtime to get rid of it. I suppose when there's not a lot of gunk, you don't see as much foam and the skimmer has done/is doing its job. Throw a lot of pollution and crap onto the most pristine coastline, and I'll bet you'd see the skimmer kick into overtime -- you'd see that foam.

(Again... just an opinion)

 

[glxtrix]

Thats why I try to buy tank raised fish....save the reefs and keep the lie going to my fish that there is no sand in the big blue

 

[derek_s]

Im still in favor of the sand poster under the bottom of the tank!

 

[seedless reefer]

Derek_S;306179 wrote: Im still in favor of the sand poster under the bottom of the tank!

HA!

 

[linda lee]

Derek_S;306179 wrote: Im still in favor of the sand poster under the bottom of the tank!

You could go ahead and use fish posters and coral posters on the sides and back of the glass, too.

Oh wait... I think we had that as a background on my FW tank.

 

[pochaxoo]

Well now that you mention tacky. My 6 year old and I went Marine Fish and he has decided he wants the "dinosaur skull" in my tank...says it would be cool.

I cheat and have a shallow sand bed which I clean every week. Once did a dsb and had problems...think my new refugium will have a dsb though.

 

[crew]

you can't fool instincts, tank raised or not

tank raised clowns host do they not?

 

[mvm]

Carty;306460 wrote: you can't fool instincts, tank raised or not

tank raised clowns host do they not?

Wow. Putting a fish in a glass box doesn't fool instincts?
Seriously? My wrasse, goby (neon), and clowns all acted the same, sand or not. The corals are what suffered. A sandbed has ZERO importance to fish unless you have one that relies on it. jawfish, SS gobies, wrasse that sleep buried in the sand, ect.
It's merely for aesthetics. True, there is beneficial micro fauna in there, but there benefit is to remove waste and provide food to fish. If you don't have a sand bed to trap all of the junk, they are not needed.
Look, I can't argue that a tank with no sand is as athletically pleasing as a tank with sand. That's why I added it. But I truly hated the results of the sand trapping waste. The main thing that I noticed was my glass growing algae quicker, and bubble algae popping up. I also lost a super girl colony and a few of my other corals seemed to suffer a little. I have a high bio-load, so the only way for me to sustain it is BB.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

MvM;306466 wrote: Wow. Putting a fish in a glass box doesn't fool instincts?
Seriously? My wrasse, goby (neon), and clowns all acted the same, sand or not. The corals are what suffered. A sandbed has ZERO importance to fish unless you have one that relies on it. jawfish, SS gobies, wrasse that sleep buried in the sand, ect.
It's merely for aesthetics. True, there is beneficial micro fauna in there, but there benefit is to remove waste and provide food to fish. If you don't have a sand bed to trap all of the junk, they are not needed.
Look, I can't argue that a tank with no sand is as athletically pleasing as a tank with sand. That's why I added it. But I truly hated the results of the sand trapping waste. The main thing that I noticed was my glass growing algae quicker, and bubble algae popping up. I also lost a super girl colony and a few of my other corals seemed to suffer a little. I have a high bio-load, so the only way for me to sustain it is BB.

The only place I would disagree is that the "only way for me to sustain it is with a BB". That is the "only" way you want </em>to sustain it. There are other ways to sustain it. How many super gorgeous reef tanks exists with sand? Millions? They need to be tended to, thats it. Get a bigger skimmer, do more freuqnet water changes, etc etc etc. In this case, they are steps you</em> dont eant to take. That is fine. It is your prerogative. But, its not the sand beds fault.

 

[mvm]

jmaneyapanda;306512 wrote: The only place I would disagree is that the "only way for me to sustain it is with a BB". That is the "only" way you want </em>to sustain it. There are other ways to sustain it. How many super gorgeous reef tanks exists with sand? Millions? They need to be tended to, thats it. Get a bigger skimmer, do more freuqnet water changes, etc etc etc. In this case, they are steps you</em> dont eant to take. That is fine. It is your prerogative. But, its not the sand beds fault.

Well, let see. I have a deltec MCE 300 on a 34 gallon, so I don't think that's the issue. To say i'm lazy is a little off, as I do at least one water change a week. I have 2 large wrasse, 2 clowns, a neon goby, 2 cleaner shrimp, and 4 emerald crabs, on top of the clean up crew. There is NO WAY I could sustain that bioload, and maintain the health of my corals and system if I had sand in the tank; so yes, that's the "only" way...