Sandbed or no sandbed, that is the question...

[Beverly]

Originally Posted by TheReefGeek

Talking to Bev about her BB, it is much harder to stack live rock because you can use the sand to level the piece of rock how you want it.

I wouldn't exactly say it is "harder" to stack LR on a BB tank. I would say that if a rock on the base has one or two ways it will stand on the BB, those are your only two options and you have to work around these limitations. However, with a sandbed, you can partially push your lowest rocks into the sand to a certain degree and have the sand support those rocks so they can be at slightly different angles than just the one or two offered with the BB.

That said, once a rock is placed on the BB, it does not move around unless you move it. Also, it seems to be much easier, at least with the rock I have, to creatively aquascape a large tank than it is to aquascape a smaller one. Of course, my smallest tank is 24'x18'x24" high and with the limitations of the rock I have for that tank, it takes as long to aquascape as my 48"x24"x24" high.

I'm also at a saturation point with coralline on the bottom of one of my tanks, and each time I siphon out the crud, I am also loosening and siphoning out a bit of coralline, too.

Whether you do a faux bottom or just go BB, make sure to leave spaces between your rock stacks and tank walls for basting the crud out from under your rock, where most of your tank's crud will accumulate.

[Skimmerking]

Good one Bev See I have my 170 Fowlr BB and the nano that im setting up will have DSb so the gobies can burrow


go figure..

mike

[prosnow]

You know your giving something alot of thought when you have a dream about it haha. I had a pretty vivid dream of me going with a BB and not liking the looks, but then I go and dump a bunch of sand in and have a neverending cloud of sand blowing around maybe the faux might do it for me now...

[OCDP]

IMO ... (key word)

I would go BB in a nano... as you'll see how quickly nitrates and phosphates can build up. When you think about it.. unless you have something that can really stir up the sand... its just like a bed of gunk and crap... a bed of gunk and crap that you can't really see.

Over time it just keeps building up, right? But in a BB tank, nothing can settle in the bottom like that... and keeping the tank free of detritus would be much easier IMO.

Yes, it probably will look a little weird in the beginning, but overall and in the end I think it would be worth it...

That's just my view on it now, and I am thinking of going BB myself,.... at the very least if you do decide to go with sand, I would do the FSB, or a very small sand bed... (easier to keep clean this way as well)

Good luck, let us know what you go with

[TheReefGeek]

Because I like the sand look so much, in my 20g nano I am setting up I am doing a DSB in it, but am willing to replace it when it becomes a problem.

[i have crabs]

and what would the problem be that you would have to replace the sandbed over?

[Skimmerking]

May be gettign dirty really easy or Cynao and he can suck out the cynao and replace the sand for the tank....