new member, new tank

btang · 03-09-2003, 10:48 AM

This is my first posting and I’m pretty new to the site. I have been reading the forums for a few weeks now to get info. I am in the early planning stages of my first Reef setup. I have been in and out of the salt hobby for about the last 15 – 20 years. I have been away from it for the last 5-6 years, Wow! what a lot of changes. Now to my project. I am planning on a 120 gallon system. It will be used as part of a room divider. Front to back viewing only. I’m, looking at the 120’s because they seem to not be so high and are a bit wider. The one I’m looking at right now is glass 48x24x24 by Oceanic. I would love to go with Acrylic, but everyone is telling me that they scratch a lot and are recommending glass. Love to here from you guys on this. My real questions today (many more to come) are related to the substrate. I’ve been reading a lot and talking to local stores. I have gotten a least three different recommendations. From a local store – nothing on the bottom, anything else is old thinking. From reading – Deep live sand bed – two variations – (Jaubert) three layers - one with a layer of water , two layers of live sand. The other being just a deep sand bed. From all my reading I am leaning to the Jaubert method. What has worked for the folks here? I have many more questions, but that’s it for today. Any advise will be appreciated.

digital_dragon · 03-09-2003, 10:55 AM

I want to be the first to say WELCOME! You couldn't find a better bunch of people pose questions to and glean information for their experience and expertise. Welcome aboard. Great Choice on the 120 I almost bought that one from All Glass. I went with a 7 inch Deep Sand Bed (DSB) in my main tank and 4.5 inch DSB in my Refugium area of my sump. With that I have 135 lbs of live rock distributed between my Main tank and Sump. TDWyatt has had a 180 setup with a DSB for 5 years and has had no problems with it and guided me in the direction to go with a DSB. It will take about a year to reach its full potential for filtration which can be jump started with a Sand Bed activator kit from IPSF.com or a cup or two of sand from an establish sand bed in a reef keepers tank. I would go DSB but that is my biased opinion.

Earl

Junkzoo · 03-09-2003, 11:30 AM

Well, i want to be the second one to welcome you to TRT, i think you will like it here!

sounds like you are on the right path as far as doing your homework,,,any questions you have that can't be answered from the archives,,,ask away here!

cath · 03-09-2003, 11:48 AM

WELCOME to TRT!!!

We're so glad to have you here! I don't know about having nothing on the bottom of the tank. Maybe someone else can go on about that. I think that DSB is pretty popular/successful for folks here.

Casey · 03-09-2003, 11:58 AM

Welcome Btang sounds like a good tank to me.

Casey

125G's · 03-09-2003, 12:22 PM

btang--WELCOME!!!!

I recently set up a 125 as a room divider.....the 120 is a better choice due to the 24" width. I already had the 125 or I'd gone with the 120 as well. You'll really enjoy this set up, mine has given me hours of enjoyment from both sides of the tank

DSB or plenum was a choice I comtemplated as well. I went DSB for a couple of reasons; ease of set up and greater diversity of life. I'd seen quite a few plenums and didn't find the substrate to be as 'alive' as the DSB's. I believe in the theory that those critters are important as detrivores and substrate movers; keeping the top layers aerobic thus creating a great bacterial bed. Some of them also allow water movement from the lower anaerobic layers by their movement and tunneling. JMO and observations here. HTH

I think you should consider adding a refugium to your set up for nutrient export. It's easy to do and inexpensive as well.

Good Luck and have fun with the research!

btang · 03-09-2003, 07:23 PM

Thanks to everyone giving me a warm welcome. I look forward to many discussions going forward. It seems from the response that DSB is pretty popular. Most of my reading so far has been giving plenums the edge. Haven’t made up my mind yet. Good to hear of success from the DSB approach. Does anyone have experience with a Plenum system? Also, any opinions on the glass vs Acrylic? 125G’s mentioned a refugium. I am very interested in this, but have little knowledge on the subject, just started reading about them. I ask again about this soon.

If any of the question or topic I ask about have already been discussed please let me know and I'll search the archives.
Well, thanks again to everyone that has responded so far. Very interested in other opinions.

Cali Kid · 03-09-2003, 10:46 PM

Hey Btang,
Welcome to TRT

You will find tons of info regarding refugiums. I went with the sump / refugium set-up below the main tank simply because I did not have the room to mount a dedicated refugium above the tank. My understanding of the refugium is that it provides refuge for creatures like pods that would normaly be consumed by predators in the main tank. The other purpose is for nutrient export by growing macro algae which can also starve out undesireable algae in the main tank. The idea behind the pod refuge is that some of them will make it to the main tank as a food source for some of the animals. Having the refugium above the tank allows them (pods) to siphon unharmed into the main tank, as apposed to being chopped up by the impeller of the return pump. Another item is that people run a reverse lighting schedule for the refugium or run the lights 24/7 to help keep the PH stable.

Here is where I got the design for my sump/refugium

http://jjgeisler.com/reeftank/55g_sump-refugium2.htm

Here's some more info:

http://www.thereefweb.com/setting_up_a_refugium.htm

HTH

Sean

Yoshi-22 · 03-10-2003, 08:12 AM

hey btang, welcome to TRT
what exactly is the jaubert method, id like to find out, never heard of it.

brandon

Geoff · 03-10-2003, 10:05 AM

Welcome!!!

i have gone with a DSB in my 125. i also have a refugium. i also went with the DSB due to ease of setup and it seems to make a lot of sense biologically. so far it has been working great.

i like glass better than acrylic. i find the distortion very annoying in acrylic. on the other hand acrylic is much lighter. both materials scratch. if you can have a look at both types, with water in them. see if the off angle distortion is acceptable to you.

G~

btang · 03-10-2003, 10:11 AM

Yoshi-22,

Here is a good link that will discuss Jaubert Method(among others)

http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/livesandsetup/

I will also post Reference material later today related to same topic.

Tons related to this topic on web. Good search engine is www.google.com.

Alice · 03-10-2003, 11:24 AM

Welcome to TRT, btang!

grazzit · 03-10-2003, 11:28 AM

Welcome Btang and good luck on everything =).

Yoshi 22 I can actually answer this! The Jaubert method can be simplified down to one thing, the use of a DSB.

btang · 03-10-2003, 09:19 PM

Yoshi 22,

The "Jaubert System" is named after Dr. Jean Jaubert. He wrote about the system in 1989 - 1991. The system uses 3 layers, which consist of bottom layer (Confined water), middle layer - Anaerobic zone - will have sand or crushed coral. The top layer - Aerobic zone - will have live sand.

You can get much more info on this system in the following:

Live Sand Secrets by Bob Goemans
The Modern Coral Reef Aquarium by Fossa and Nilsen
Natural Reef Aquariums by John Tullock
The Reef Aquarium by Delbeek and Sprung

Happy reading.

btang · 03-11-2003, 05:38 PM

Never really got a answer from anyone on this. Has anyone on this forum used the Jaubert Method as described above. Looking for some opinions and advise on this. Thanks if anyone can help.