questions about changing to a BB tank

[yauger]

Question: If I switch my system to a bare bottom system would my tank go through another cycle? would I have to temporarily house my sensitive corals in a different system while I change things over? I want to change things around but I'm afraid because of my system being so small I would have corals die on me. BTW I have a 15 gallon display with a 20 gallon sump.

 

What do you guys and gals suggest? I know pysigs just converted his system and things are looking good, but he has a larger tank so the volume of water along with his increased bacteria on the rocks handled the change... but... would the same work for a smaller system?

[jason the filter freak]

Why would you want to switch such a small tank to bb? just wondering?

[YBeNormal]

Why would size make a difference?

 

(I'm referring to tank size Chip. Don't get all excited! )

 

Unless you had a deep sand bed in the tank, the substrate was probably not contributing much if anything of value other than looks. If you're worried about throwing things off in the transition, take a little sand out at a time so the bacteria population can will have time to gradually build back up elsewhere. That said, I still prefer a light sand bed in the display tank.

[yauger]

Why would you want to switch such a small tank to bb? just wondering?

 

More flow within the tank... I can't add a powerhead to my display without displacing a whole heck of a lot of sand...

 

Why would size make a difference?

 

(I'm referring to tank size Chip. Don't get all excited! )

 

Unless you had a deep sand bed in the tank, the substrate was probably not contributing much if anything of value other than looks. If you're worried about throwing things off in the transition, take a little sand out at a time so the bacteria population can will have time to gradually build back up elsewhere. That said, I still prefer a light sand bed in the display tank.

 

you know if its not the size that matters right?

 

well my sand bed is only 2 inches deep so I don't think it is adding a whole lot to the system but my main goal is to increase the flow significantly... I think pulling one cup at a time over a period would be frustrating to be honest... but I guess the only other alternative would be to remove my corals temporarily to someones frag tank while this process takes place... again this is only the development phase...

[ReeferMan]

this should be a peice of cake for your size yank. Drain all water in tubs and place corals/fish/rock inside. Scoop out all sand and rinse out bottom if possible. I added tap water and siphoned it out to get the remaining sand. Next take some of the old salt water and place in a tub or 5 g bucket depending on rock size. Take a brush and brush off the rock to get off any detrius(Trust me i didnt and i have to siphon my bottom allot). Have fresh saltwater on hand. Add new water and old water and place everything back in the tank. Day 2 or 3 siphon out anything on bottom and do a 5g water change. Enjoy!

[davelin315]

Just siphon it off and have new water on hand to add. If you siphon the sand from the bottom up you should be able to remove it without stirring up too much detritus from the bed. The only concern with this method for me would be that the rocks aren't touching the bottom and may collapse. If you do try this, make sure that you have enough water to add back into your system. It might even be a good idea to run an extra sump (maybe a garbage can) with a lot of extra water in it so that you already have the water in the system before you remove sand so you don't have to constantly be topping off.