What next?

[mcbunnymama]

Originally Posted by Fat Tony

a fuge is fine, but the sand is not just one more place to collect waste. If youa re going to run a fuge then just use Chaeto for pod population and nutrient export.. it grows quickly and stays relatively intact..

so just chaeto-no sand ,no rock
sand is in there already-can I just take it out(nothing in the tanks but sand and water)

[mcbunnymama]

one more thing -50lbs of rock right?

[Fat Tony]

yeah, just take it out, put it in the display tank if you want

50lbs is subjective.. it really depends on your tastes and the density of the rock... how do you like your tanks.. lots of rock or loosely spread out with lots of water space for fish to swim?

I would say (if it were my tank and the rock was really porous 25-30lbs would be enough..

[fihsboy]

I am looking into running a remote DSB. fill a 5 gallon bucket up with sand.....run a bulkhead in and a bulkhead out....just enough to pass over the sand and keep it from getting cloged. A deep sand bed will keep anerobic bacteria (no oxygen or low oxygen)......which filter you water like aerobic bacteria. sand and macro algae are okay...I ran them and had a healthy system for a year. But I still had a small nitrate problem. Its all prefrence. I dont want the headache of a refugium.......It was great, but at the same time it was a pain, I just couldnt get my levels where I wanted them. BUT my coral growth was astonishing. I had TONS of nutrients in my water.....but my N and P levels were very low for what I had floating around. I could argue both sides....which doesnt really help you at all.....except for the fact that its your tank.......and you have to do your research on what you will like more. Like i mentioned.......im thinking about running a remote DSB for filtration purposes.....remote so if I dont like it....I can just cut it out and its gone. Keep up on your research.