How about a Bare Bottom Photo Thread!

[Little Luey]

Some more...

[clockwork]

Here is my new 180 BB Sps/Lps tank

[Weatherman]

You'll notice the water level is kept low because there's something like 1,000,000 gph flow in that tank.

Wouldn't want water to slosh out onto the floor.


beautiful tank, btw.

[Viv]

I'm so impressed with these BB tanks, they all have some real beauty...waiting for my rock to finish cooking, painting the cabinet, waiting for the paint to be completed before I can even start the plumbing...but boy, this thread just keeps me moving in the right direction! You all have some really beautiful tanks!

[Hawkfish]

I need to take some new pictures but here is a shot of my BB 90g tank from 12/30/05.

[HFG]

I'd love to see a vid of that one!

[Wiskey]

Hey, there's some more proof that a BB softie tank will work just fine!! Great tank!

I would love to hear about your equipment and maintenance procedure.

Thanks,
Whiskey

[Wiskey]

Clockwork, spectacular as always. Watch out though, I think the pieces are finally starting to fall in place,... My tank will be coming after yours before you know it

You should post pics of your 90G BB too, you and hawkfish are the only 2 I know of that have a BB softie tank. I am currentally converting my 15 softie over to BB too.

Thanks,
Whiskey

[Weatherman]

I have a bare-bottom softie tank (I just wish coralline algae didn’t grow so fast under Power Compact lights).

[Wiskey]

Originally Posted by Weatherman

I have a bare-bottom softie tank (I just wish coralline algae didn’t grow so fast under Power Compact lights).

That I did not know,... Care to elaborate on it's care, flow, equipment, and maintenance?

Thanks,
Whiskey

[Weatherman]

Sure.

It’s a 155g bowfront. It’s my oldest currently-running tank, set up in March 2003. It’s lit by six 96-watt 10,000K Power Compact bulbs. Two of the lights run for 12 hours, two of the lights run for 9 hours and the remaining two lights run for four hours. Peak PAR at the water surface is 750 micromoles/m2/s. Most of the coral receive peak light of around 100-150.

It has a 29g sump, in which resides a EuroReef ES5-3, which skims dry. I also use filter pads to control microbubbles. Sump return pump is an Iwaki MD30-RLXT. Circulation in the main tank is driven mostly by a pair of 6100 Tunze Streams and a multicontroller. Only one pump runs at a time, and they alternate back and forth, about six minutes each. They pulse 30%-100% on six-second intervals. The resulting flow is a nice, gentle whirlpool, which rotates clockwise for six minutes, then counter-clockwise for six minutes.

I use an AquaLogic temperature controller. It maintains temperatures between 78F and 79F through the use of two 4” Radioshack fans in the canopy. The controller can also run a heater, but the tank has never needed one.

As is my style, the tank is sparsely populated. There’s a big Sarcophyton, along with about a half dozen of its clones, a Colt, several mats of star polyps, a Kenya Tree, some zoanthids, and some blue ricordia.

The fish are all old-timers, having been in my care for about three years. I have a Yellow Mimic Tang, a Coral Beauty, a Royal Gramma and a Six-line Wrasse.

I have a pair of cleaner shrimp, a single peppermint shrimp, two rock-borer urchins, a couple of Mexican Turbo snails and about 80 astreas.

The tank was converted to bare-bottom from a shallow sand bed in early December 2005. I also used Miracle Mud in the sump, but all that was removed in December 2005, also.

I allow macro algae to grow in the tank, and harvest it to keep nutrient levels in check. The three most common types are halimeda, caulerpa and valonia.

Specific gravity: 1.0255
Ca: 410 ppm
Alk 9 dKH

Phosphate and nitrate too low to measure

Still about 95% NSW after one, 5% IO water change. I perform one 5% water change each week along with siphoning out grains of sand the urchins produce. Anything lighter than sand gets transported by the flow to the sump where it’s siphoned out, or filtered out by the filter pads and skimmer.

[Weatherman]

forgot one thing...

Calcium and alk are maintained by a 75% saturated limewater drip. Coralline and halimeda algea are surprisingly large consumers of calcium carbonate.

[Wiskey]

Thanks for the writeup Weatherman.

You said:

As is my style, the tank is sparsely populated. There’s a big Sarcophyton, along with about a half dozen of its clones, a Colt, several mats of star polyps, a Kenya Tree, some zoanthids, and some blue ricordia.

Why is that? Do you just not want to have a tank full of coral? Not want to buy any more coral? Or do you simply like that better?

How often do you syphon deatris and do water changes?

Thanks,
Whiskey

[Weatherman]

I don’t know. I guess when I see tanks packed with coral all I think about is how much stress the animals are under by having to fight with each other for space. Same thing goes for tanks packed with fish. I much rather have a few, large, healthy coral (and fish, and anemones) than a whole bunch of little cramped and stressed ones.

This is also the main reason why I have three tanks. I don’t want anemones competing with soft coral competing with hard coral. Some animal always comes out on the short end if the stick in that situation.



I do one 5% water change and detritus siphoning session per week.

[gwaco]

Originally Posted by Weatherman

I don’t know. I guess when I see tanks packed with coral all I think about is how much stress the animals are under by having to fight with each other for space. Same thing goes for tanks packed with fish. I much rather have a few, large, healthy coral (and fish, and anemones) than a whole bunch of little cramped and stressed ones.

This is also the main reason why I have three tanks. I don’t want anemones competing with soft coral competing with hard coral. Some animal always comes out on the short end if the stick in that situation.



I do one 5% water change and detritus siphoning session per week.

that is a great philosophy ! if i were to do it again i think i would do a tampabay biotope ! it wouldnt have any corals ,but sure would have lots of algae ! and boy would i have saved a lot of money .