THINKING of Going BB, need advice.

stang5_o2002 · 11-05-2006, 02:15 PM

Ok, i have a 16 gal bowfront that has been a thorn in my side since i set it up this past spring. If it wasnt hair algae, it was cyano, then came this brown stringy slime that covered the corals and rock and glass. It came back as fast as i could syphon it out. Nitrates were always high, no matter how little I fed and how much i changed the water. The water even stunk. So anyway, today i've been bored all day. I started cleaning the tank and the next thing i know, all my live rock, corals and fish are in a big tote filled with tank water. I put the lights over the tote, and the heater and a powerhead inside. Now i have a tank that has about 3 inches of sand, and is half full of brown water. What should i do? It would be so easy to get all the sand out right now. Should i do it and go BB? I have enough powerheads for plenty of flow in the tank.

On the other hand, i could just clean it real good and put everything back in, then fight the algae and slime and nitrates. Bioload isnt bad. I have a six line wrass, a yellow watchman and one firefish.

Wiskey · 11-05-2006, 02:19 PM

Why not give BB a shot? Sand's really easy to put back in if you don't like it.

I don't see menton of a skimmer though, if this tank doesn't have one I would recomend sticking with the sand, but you should probably replace it.

Whiskey

stang5_o2002 · 11-05-2006, 02:35 PM

I have a crappy seaclone 100 on it. It actually doesnt do to bad as far as pulling skimate. I don have the money to buy a skimmer right now. Im having great luck with my 46 gal and it has the same skimmer.

The 16 gal was a fathers day gift, so i really dont want to get rid of it. I just dont have the money to spend on new sand and better equipment. Especially with christmas coming and business is slow at work. I get paid on comission, and this is a bad time of year.

stang5_o2002 · 11-05-2006, 02:51 PM

If i go BB, should i put the rockwork in the center and not against the back glass? I think this was a lot of my problem b4. My gf did the aquascaping and although it looked great, there was NO flow behind the rocks because they were all the way against the back glass.

Wiskey · 11-05-2006, 02:53 PM

If you tune it right I would bet that seaclone could do fine for a 16 gallon BB tank.

Why not give BB a try? If it doesn't work you can just pour the sand back in.

Whiskey

Fly Guy · 11-05-2006, 02:54 PM

Its ok to have the rock stacked against the glass for bb or sb tanks as long as you still hve good flow through it either throough the use of spraybars or other means of getting flow back there.

I stack rock against the back on both my dsb and my bb tank.

i agree with whiskey as far as if you DO keep it a SB tank, replace the sand with new

stang5_o2002 · 11-05-2006, 03:16 PM

Ok, i'm gonna try it. I dont have anything to use as a spraybar at the moment, but i think with some properly placed Power heads, i can get enough flow for now. I have all kinds of power heads laying around from MJ 400 up to 750.

Can i just put everything back in or do i have to wait for a cycle or anything? I think im gonna put all the fish in 46 and only have corals in the 16. Maybe one fish.

zxcv123 · 11-05-2006, 04:39 PM

Man , I am telling you go BB, . I took out all my sand, Green algae dissappeared and the stinky water was gone. My tank is doing better than ever now since I removed the sand.

MY opporation, The rock work is not stacked on the back glasss,it is about 3 inches from the back glass, and I have a maxi 1200 Hidden back there blasting straigh down at the bottom, That provides alot of low on the bottom and a current to keep detridus out of nooks and crannies. The mid and surface water movement is provided by a mag 12 return teed of in two duckbill returns. This is on a 29 gallon tank. HTH, and good luck.

About the cycling, Do you have other means of bacterial filtration such as LR or wet dry/ filters to make up for the loss of the sand? How deep was the sand?

stang5_o2002 · 11-05-2006, 05:11 PM

The sand was about 2 inches deep. I have about 25 or so lbs of LR. Its sitting in the tub with the rest of the livestock now. At the moment the tank is on the kitchen counter. Im taking a razor blaze to the glass to get it all clean. Thats a good idea about the PH facing straight down in the back. I think I'll do that.

I hate to throw out all this sand. Its full of life, but its also full of very nasty brown stink. So out it goes. Im gonna give this bare bottom thing a try. Do you have any tips or suggestions as far as maintenance for a BB tank? I'll get some pics up when i get everything back in.

Wiskey · 11-05-2006, 05:30 PM

You may want to go start a thread in the BB section of this fourm, you would probably get allot more advice.

As far as matinince goes, keep the skimmer clean and working well, and syphon detritus off the tank botom with every water change, but try and positon the flow so very little detritus settles out.

Also blasting off your LR before each water change is a great thing to do to keep them clean.

Whiskey

stang5_o2002 · 11-05-2006, 05:37 PM

Ok, thanks for the help guys. Im gonna go to the BB section. I should have looked first. I didnt even know it was there. Im gonna start a new thread with pics.

Thanks!

stang5_o2002 · 11-05-2006, 06:11 PM

Here's the link to the new thread just in case. http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=87435

zxcv123 · 11-05-2006, 06:27 PM

Blast the bottom with a baster every WC and rocks.