Newbie looking for a mentor and ID

[andrewsk]

I was just about to post something similar to Albert about the rocks-sand.

I think you said your sand bed is 2" right.

A shallow sand bed should really only be about a 1/2" of sand that you can clean with a siphon to remove any detrious on a regular basis.

A deep sand bed should be 4 - 8 inches deep to get any of the benefits of the nitrifying bacteria.

Since you are in the middle, you get none of the benefits and all of the problems.

As for the rocks, I would check with albert and take his advise on stacking them. If you went with a deep sand bed, it would not be as big of a problem though.

Anyway. My 2 cents.

[andrewsk]

Oh, one more thing. Have you tried this website:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/

Simply the best resource on the net.

[Glennrf38]

Was 2 inches. Did a 30% water change last night and cleaned out a lot of the sand on one side. It s down to about 1/2 inch on that side. Plan on changing the other side in the next day or two.

Originally Posted by andrewsk

I was just about to post something similar to Albert about the rocks-sand.

I think you said your sand bed is 2" right.

shallow sand bed should really only be about a 1/2" of sand that you can clean with a siphon to remove any detrious on a regular basis.

A deep sand bed should be 4 - 8 inches deep to get any of the benefits of the nitrifying bacteria.

Since you are in the middle, you get none of the benefits and all of the problems.

As for the rocks, I would check with albert and take his advise on stacking them. If you went with a deep sand bed, it would not be as big of a problem though.

Anyway. My 2 cents.

[andrewsk]

Good work.

That will help reduce the nutrients in your tank quaite a bit. You will need to keep it clean. I actually have a good LONG vaccum you can have. It does an amazing job of washing the gravel.

I chose to go Bare Bottom with my new tank and already see the advantage of grabbing a powerhead and just blowing all of the crap out from under the rocks.

[Glennrf38]

That would be great. Thanks