Sand Bed?

[RJAG]

I've read a few articles about Jaubert systems and the like so I tried his
1" thick gravel bed (either 4" with gravel tidy or 1" solid). My tank has
deteriorated so that I have 3 clowns and a yellow tang and the nitrates are
uncontrollable.
I'm about to do a massive water change or two to see if I can get on top of
it. in the not too distant future I plan a full rebuild would I be better
increasing the gravel bed or not. My tank is 36" x 18" x 15" with a sump of
36" x 15" x 12" with an SL1000 skimmer, RIO 1700 return pump and is filled
with live rock.

What do you experts reckon i should do.

R

[Wayne Sallee]

You say gravel, and you say sand.

A calcium sand is better at denitrifying the nitrates,
than gravel.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



RJAG wrote:
> I've read a few articles about Jaubert systems and the like so I tried his
> 1" thick gravel bed (either 4" with gravel tidy or 1" solid). My tank has
> deteriorated so that I have 3 clowns and a yellow tang and the nitrates are
> uncontrollable.
> I'm about to do a massive water change or two to see if I can get on top of
> it. in the not too distant future I plan a full rebuild would I be better
> increasing the gravel bed or not. My tank is 36" x 18" x 15" with a sump of
> 36" x 15" x 12" with an SL1000 skimmer, RIO 1700 return pump and is filled
> with live rock.
>
> What do you experts reckon i should do.
>
> R
>
>

[George]

"Wayne Sallee" > wrote in message
ink.net...
> You say gravel, and you say sand.
>
> A calcium sand is better at denitrifying the nitrates, than gravel.
>
> Wayne Sallee
> Wayne's Pets
>
>
>
> RJAG wrote:
>> I've read a few articles about Jaubert systems and the like so I tried
>> his 1" thick gravel bed (either 4" with gravel tidy or 1" solid). My
>> tank has deteriorated so that I have 3 clowns and a yellow tang and the
>> nitrates are uncontrollable.
>> I'm about to do a massive water change or two to see if I can get on top
>> of it. in the not too distant future I plan a full rebuild would I be
>> better increasing the gravel bed or not. My tank is 36" x 18" x 15"
>> with a sump of 36" x 15" x 12" with an SL1000 skimmer, RIO 1700 return
>> pump and is filled with live rock.
>>
>> What do you experts reckon i should do.
>>
>> R

Build a refugium.

[Wayne Sallee]

Refugiums are a great thing to have, but don't leave the
sand out of the reef tank. Yes I realize some people are
going bare bottom. I tryed that years ago too, but
concluded that I was realy missing the benefits of also
having it in the reef tank, where it gets better fed, than
it does in the refugium. The reef tank is where the action
is. But also having a refugium is great.

Wayne Sallee


George wrote:
> "Wayne Sallee" > wrote in message
> ink.net...
>
>>You say gravel, and you say sand.
>>
>>A calcium sand is better at denitrifying the nitrates, than gravel.
>>
>>Wayne Sallee
>>Wayne's Pets

>>
>>
>>RJAG wrote:
>>
>>>I've read a few articles about Jaubert systems and the like so I tried
>>>his 1" thick gravel bed (either 4" with gravel tidy or 1" solid). My
>>>tank has deteriorated so that I have 3 clowns and a yellow tang and the
>>>nitrates are uncontrollable.
>>>I'm about to do a massive water change or two to see if I can get on top
>>>of it. in the not too distant future I plan a full rebuild would I be
>>>better increasing the gravel bed or not. My tank is 36" x 18" x 15"
>>>with a sump of 36" x 15" x 12" with an SL1000 skimmer, RIO 1700 return
>>>pump and is filled with live rock.
>>>
>>>What do you experts reckon i should do.
>>>
>>>R
>
>
> Build a refugium.
>
>

[RJAG]

Sorry for any confusion but I always refer to it as a gravel bed but its a
layer of coral sand. I have a load of live rock stuck into the sump but I'm
worried about the flow between each chamber.

The image attached was before the tank was setup. I now have chambers full
of live rock except for the last which is full of AquaMedic SL 1000 Multi
skimmer.

Not sure what the best way of converting is?

R

[George]

"Wayne Sallee" > wrote in message
ink.net...
> Refugiums are a great thing to have, but don't leave the sand out of the
> reef tank. Yes I realize some people are going bare bottom. I tryed that
> years ago too, but concluded that I was realy missing the benefits of
> also having it in the reef tank, where it gets better fed, than it does
> in the refugium. The reef tank is where the action is. But also having a
> refugium is great.
>
> Wayne Sallee
>

Umm, I didn't mean to imply that the sand should be left out.

> George wrote:
>> "Wayne Sallee" > wrote in message
>> ink.net...
>>
>>>You say gravel, and you say sand.
>>>
>>>A calcium sand is better at denitrifying the nitrates, than gravel.
>>>
>>>Wayne Sallee
>>>Wayne's Pets

>>>
>>>
>>>RJAG wrote:
>>>
>>>>I've read a few articles about Jaubert systems and the like so I tried
>>>>his 1" thick gravel bed (either 4" with gravel tidy or 1" solid). My
>>>>tank has deteriorated so that I have 3 clowns and a yellow tang and the
>>>>nitrates are uncontrollable.
>>>>I'm about to do a massive water change or two to see if I can get on
>>>>top of it. in the not too distant future I plan a full rebuild would I
>>>>be better increasing the gravel bed or not. My tank is 36" x 18" x 15"
>>>>with a sump of 36" x 15" x 12" with an SL1000 skimmer, RIO 1700 return
>>>>pump and is filled with live rock.
>>>>
>>>>What do you experts reckon i should do.
>>>>
>>>>R
>>
>>
>> Build a refugium.

[Pipebear46]

Not an expert here, but my 72 gal bowfront tank has anywhere between 2" to
4" of live sand. It's almost 7 months old now and the water quality always
checks out perfectly. Plenty of coraline algae and all the inhabitants
(inverts and verts) seem happy when they fill out the post-occupancy
evaluation.

Makes me wonder, if you're doing real reef tank, does anyone do anything
other than a DSB?

Cheers


"RJAG" > wrote in message
...
> I've read a few articles about Jaubert systems and the like so I tried his
> 1" thick gravel bed (either 4" with gravel tidy or 1" solid). My tank has
> deteriorated so that I have 3 clowns and a yellow tang and the nitrates
> are uncontrollable.
> I'm about to do a massive water change or two to see if I can get on top
> of it. in the not too distant future I plan a full rebuild would I be
> better increasing the gravel bed or not. My tank is 36" x 18" x 15" with
> a sump of 36" x 15" x 12" with an SL1000 skimmer, RIO 1700 return pump and
> is filled with live rock.
>
> What do you experts reckon i should do.
>
> R
>

[RJAG]

I moved home two years ago and had to restart the reef tank in a new tank.
I had a 4 foot tank with a load of tubes and an external fluval but I
switched to a 3 foot tank with a similar sized sump. The calcareous algae
that had been overgrowing everything disappeared (very quickly). I went to
MH lighting and this seemed to make things worse. the old tank had only 1"
of sand and was fine but now its all gone belly up.
I started with all the stuff from my old tank to get it started but alas
this wasn't as good an idea as it should have been.
first corals such as ricordia mushrooms expanded brilliantly for a while but
eventually they curled up and died.

VERY confusing..

R

[Marc Levenson]

Try reading just one more article. This should help you get those
nitrate down and keep them down.

http://www.melevsreef.com/reducing_nitrates.html

Marc


RJAG wrote:
> I've read a few articles about Jaubert systems and the like so I tried his
> 1" thick gravel bed (either 4" with gravel tidy or 1" solid). My tank has
> deteriorated so that I have 3 clowns and a yellow tang and the nitrates are
> uncontrollable.
> I'm about to do a massive water change or two to see if I can get on top of
> it. in the not too distant future I plan a full rebuild would I be better
> increasing the gravel bed or not. My tank is 36" x 18" x 15" with a sump of
> 36" x 15" x 12" with an SL1000 skimmer, RIO 1700 return pump and is filled
> with live rock.
>
> What do you experts reckon i should do.
>
> R
>
>

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