Going bottomless

[Jeremy Brito]

Hey guys thanks to the generosity of Mad reefer and his patience with my shiny work schedule tomorrow I'm going to start setting up the 72 gallon bow. I was thinking about going bare bottom and was hoping to get some feed back on it pros cons ect.. any advise that sortA thing

Also since this is pretty much a tank to tank transfer I am looking for any words of wisdom on how to safely do the transfer with out killing everything.
If any of you have done this before and have some tips please share

 

[Jeremy Brito]

So no one's got anything ..? Tough crowd

 

[Mark Shelly]

I would think you would want to reuse the water at first or 50% new to keep the bacteria in it . Then probably move half the rock over and start your rockwork with the rocks you want to use as the base, and then work your way up. After the rock is in place, move you filter equipment and then move the fish as they will have nowhere to hide, making it easier. Remember that the tank is new, none of the surfaces will have a bacterial film. You might want to supplement with additional bacteria as well, depending on the amount and age of your rock.

 

[njtiger24 aquariums]

sorry just got back from the soccer fields; been on them all day lol.

First - personally I like the look of sand. I did bare bottom on a 10g tank and I just didn't like it but to each their own. Some say it keeps the tank cleaner but I am not 100% sure of that. Also sand bed help with surface area for good bacteria but also host bad bacteria that can get back into your system.

Second - Can you run both tank at the same time? If you can (even if it means moving your current to a temp location if that where the 72 is going) I would do that. I would then move over most if not all of your rock to the new tank. If you going to go with sand I would use new sand (you don't want to transfer that junk sand from your old tank) I would then run the new tank for like a day before slowly moving your stock over.

 

[Mikeamadio]

I would just switch everything over quickly and smoothly, if u change mind and want to add sand use new, I've done a lot of moves and transfers and I always use as much existing water and rock as possible. Add new water to top off then monitor. Home depot sell cheap 27g totes that work well to hold coral to k and live stock while breaking down old setup.

 

[Jim]

Its just upsetting to have no sand at all

 

[Jeremy Brito]

Well slightly delayed bUT I'll start the work tomorrow and I think I'm gonna go with sand but probably not live sand for 2 reasons.. 1 I understand that live sand contains bacteria how ever how much of it has died off while in storage ? And if there's a lot of die off from the new live sand it would start a cycle and spike ammonia and nitrates while it basically cures in my tank with the fish and the coral.. don't seem safe to me and 2. Cost I'm budgeting this transplant at the mount and I cant aford 70 lbs of live sand