bb advise

[robmcginn]

hi i have been keeping marine fish for about a year and will soon be starting a much larger 150 gal tank. Im considering going the bare bottom route, just a few questions, firstly if running a bb tank would you still be using a sump/refuge also would you be using a dsb in sump or completely doing away with sand all together. also whats the cooking rocks idea about i have never heard of this before joining this forum, many thanks for any help

[crvz]

lots of different options/ideologies to choose from, but I ran my 150 without a grain of sand anywhere. A refugium has all the same pitfalls as the main display, if you're pulling out sand to keep from having it trap wastes then you should do so everywhere. the term "cooking" for rocks is generally a glorified curing process; it's intent is to purge wastes that may be built up in the rocks from long term use and overfeeding. If you have experienced algae problems, it's a good method to help mitigate risk of algae in your next set up.

[robmcginn]

many thanks crvz