The BRS 160 Sand Removal - What were the negatives from the destabilizing event?

[DarkSky]

You guys mention that when you decided to go bare bottom in the BRS 160 and started removing sand, you had some real negatives happen, but I don't think I ever heard what exactly those negatives were.

I'm currently doing the same thing in my 220 gallon - I've removed half of the sand in my tank over the last 6 weeks (started in November) and will continue to do so until there is none left. I haven't noticed anything negative happen yet, my PO4 is still around 0.03-0.04, Nitrates are staying around 5-15ppm, and I haven't had an explosion of pest algae. Curious what happened to the 160 that you guys had mentioned?

I am dosing maintenance levels of Vibrant during this too, so that might be helping.

 

[AZ_Reef]

You guys mention that when you decided to go bare bottom in the BRS 160 and started removing sand, you had some real negatives happen, but I don't think I ever heard what exactly those negatives were.

I'm currently doing the same thing in my 220 gallon - I've removed half of the sand in my tank over the last 6 weeks (started in November) and will continue to do so until there is none left. I haven't noticed anything negative happen yet, my PO4 is still around 0.03-0.04, Nitrates are staying around 5-15ppm, and I haven't had an explosion of pest algae. Curious what happened to the 160 that you guys had mentioned?

I am dosing maintenance levels of Vibrant during this too, so that might be helping.

Same here. I have been removing sand from my red sea reefer 350 for the last two months. I haven't noticed anything negative.

 

[Bulk Reef Supply]

If memory serves me correctly, a majority of it was coral bleaching related. The BRS160 has really become an SPS dominant system and a lot of the larger, more sensitive colonies seemed to go downhill when we removed the sand.

Of course, we often think that the last thing we did to the tank is definitively the cause of the issue or success, but correlation doesn't always equal causation. That said, this was our best explanation at the time. It makes sense because we pulled A LOT of the surface area out of the tank for that good bacteria to grow. An interesting side effect was a noticeable increase in nitrates and phosphates, which is certainly something to consider as a factor too.

 

[KevinC]

If memory serves me correctly, a majority of it was coral bleaching related. The BRS160 has really become an SPS dominant system and a lot of the larger, more sensitive colonies seemed to go downhill when we removed the sand.

Of course, we often think that the last thing we did to the tank is definitively the cause of the issue or success, but correlation doesn't always equal causation. That said, this was our best explanation at the time. It makes sense because we pulled A LOT of the surface area out of the tank for that good bacteria to grow. An interesting side effect was a noticeable increase in nitrates and phosphates, which is certainly something to consider as a factor too.

I vaguely remember a vendor on here, TSA perhaps, said that they noticed better growth with sand. I watched your video on the sand discussion, while Bare bottom is preferable, would you guys still recommend sand if sand maintenance can be keep up?

 

[DarkSky]

If memory serves me correctly, a majority of it was coral bleaching related. The BRS160 has really become an SPS dominant system and a lot of the larger, more sensitive colonies seemed to go downhill when we removed the sand.

Of course, we often think that the last thing we did to the tank is definitively the cause of the issue or success, but correlation doesn't always equal causation. That said, this was our best explanation at the time. It makes sense because we pulled A LOT of the surface area out of the tank for that good bacteria to grow. An interesting side effect was a noticeable increase in nitrates and phosphates, which is certainly something to consider as a factor too.

Good to know. I assumed it was an increase in NO3/PO4 like you said attributed to a removal of surface area, but one would think that would cause at most a browning of SPS, not a bleaching event.

Either way, I'll be curious to see if that happens here.

 

[DarkSky]

I vaguely remember a vendor on here, TSA perhaps, said that they noticed better growth with sand. I watched your video on the sand discussion, while Bare bottom is preferable, would you guys still recommend sand if sand maintenance can be keep up?

I think they mentioned better initial results when starting a new tank, but after year 1 everything tends to go down hill re: maintenance.

Bare bottom has a longer initial ugly phase but is easier to maintain long term because of the bare bottom.