When I put together my tank several months ago, I debated going bare bottom since I’m going for an SPS-dominant system, but settled on a shallow Fiji Pink sand bed (1”) for the aesthetics. I regret that decision now because my flow has caused an unending dust storm of tiny silt and sand particles.
Right now, since my fish are all in QT anyway while the DT goes fallow, I thought about siphoning it all out and replacing it with special grade reef sand instead, but since my rockwork is built on flat foundation pieces, I may just go entirely bare bottom. That way, I don’t have to worry about cranking the flow at all. Also, it would help with the fallow period by potentially siphoning out any ich trophonts that might be in the bed.
I’ve seen recommendations for removing small patches at a time during water changes, but since my system is relatively young (4 mos.) and any coral in the tank is just on a frag rack, is there any reason I can’t just take it all out in one go? I know it will destabilize things, but the tank isn’t perfectly stable yet to begin with. Doing so with a big water change would also give me the opportunity to scrub off some cyano that just started to pop up.
Thanks in advance.
Right now, since my fish are all in QT anyway while the DT goes fallow, I thought about siphoning it all out and replacing it with special grade reef sand instead, but since my rockwork is built on flat foundation pieces, I may just go entirely bare bottom. That way, I don’t have to worry about cranking the flow at all. Also, it would help with the fallow period by potentially siphoning out any ich trophonts that might be in the bed.
I’ve seen recommendations for removing small patches at a time during water changes, but since my system is relatively young (4 mos.) and any coral in the tank is just on a frag rack, is there any reason I can’t just take it all out in one go? I know it will destabilize things, but the tank isn’t perfectly stable yet to begin with. Doing so with a big water change would also give me the opportunity to scrub off some cyano that just started to pop up.
Thanks in advance.