This past weekend the glassbox said goodbye to the beloved bare bottom (no substrate) method and incorporated a 1-2″ sand substrate. Although a bare bottom system makes maintaining a clean tank extremely easy and simple, I cannot stand coralline algae and to keep the bottom pane clean with a razor blade takes a considerable amount [...]
This past weekend the glassbox said goodbye to the beloved bare bottom (no substrate) method and incorporated a 1-2″ sand substrate. Although a bare bottom system makes maintaining a clean tank extremely easy and simple, I cannot stand coralline algae and to keep the bottom pane clean with a razor blade takes a considerable amount of time. With everything on my plate at the moment it was becoming more and more difficult to keep up with the weekly scrapings… making sand the logical choice.
I spent the past month or so looking at various substrates to find just the right one. I finally decided on Tropic Eden with a 2:1 ratio of Reeflakes to Miniflakes. This combination has a grain size that varies from 4mm to 1mm; heavy enough that there are no snow stoms from strong flow, and small enough for ample flora and fauna. Both the Reef and Mini flakes are also very affordable, a 30lb bag of either will set you back $20. Compared to other popular sands and aragonite based substrates the Tropic Eden was extremely clean.
It took one hour to clean 60lbs of sand. They were then soaked in 0 TDS RODI water overnight to leach out any po4 or other impurities. When added to the tank cloudiness was minimal and within a few hours the tank was back to it’s best with normal water clarity.
I am not sure I will ever go back to bare bottom for this system. With clean glass, the bottom blended in the back panes and photographed horribly. This lack of contrast did not help the aquascape’s depth from front to back either. Now with the sand, the depth is heightened and the tank is much brighter. Although the bottom pane is white on the underside to reflect light back up it… as BB it had 1″ thick plate glass to travel through twice taking away most of the punch. The sand is a much more effective reflector and the tank appears much brighter and I am finding it easier to photograph. The glitter lines are more visible and absolutely beautiful.
The white sand also heightens the effect of the spotlights as shown here from this top down view. 1 Deep Blue Superkaru and 1 Red LED spotlight are all that are on in the above photo, with the arrows showing the respective angles of each.
In addition to the sand, we added a few inverts to touch up the clean up crew. A handful of the following:
- Trochus Snails (Trochus spp.)
- Cerith Snails (Cerithium spp.)
- Scarlet Hermits (Paguristes cadenati)
- Blue Leg Hermits (Clibanarious tricolor)
- Hawaiian Halloween Hermits (Calcinus cf. elegans)
The Hawaiian Hermits were purchased as ”Halloween Hermits” which they are. However, I was thinking they would be Ciliopagurus strigatus. Nonetheless, these guys are colorful and a surprising addition. These are identical to the more common Indo Calcinus elegans, however the coloration is different. The blue bands on the typical C. elegans are a vibrant orange on this morph that is only found in Hawaii. For more colorful Hermits check out this article: Beautiful Hermit Crabs
(L) C. elegans via Wiki. (R) C. cf.elegans via Poe
All the sand and inverts were ordered from Premium Aquatics. Another two thumbs up for Jeremy & Jason.
14 Comments
Its looking great – you know I’m biased, but I prefer the look with sand.
I may have to check out PA for clean-up, need some for the frag tank big time. Just curious if you have thoughts on the right amount of clean up crew. Its always been my philosophy that the huge recommended quantities for crabs and snails are too much – if its enough to “mow down” an initial algae outbreak during a cycle, it seems that many will starve once the tank settles in. Of course, there is no universal “right” amount of clean up crew as it depends on algae growth/nutrient levels, feeding regimen, etc., but it would be nice to have some general guidelines. Maybe a future article for GBD?
Much improved, I find my SSB quite easy to maintain.
Looks great, and your decision was MUCH, MUCH better than my DSB that I regret every single day. Constant sandstorms as well as a strong feeling that it battles the effectiveness of my zeovit system are only a few of the detriments I have found. I do have a burying wrasse though, so it is useful for that purpose. If I redo things, a SSB will DEFINITELY be my choice. I also incorporated both hermit and snails, but then read a lot of “rumor” that maybe the crabs weren’t so reef safe (even the small blues and reds), so now I pay close attention. I have found that the Scarlets are starting to take residence in a Monti Confusa that has grown from frag to colony, but I’ve yet to observe any damage. I’ve read from some pro-hermit guys that they are just eating detritus from between the polyps, but I will continue to watch diligently. Some say they are opportunistic omnivores that will only “taste” a sessile invert if it is sick or dying. We’ll see!
Hell yeah! Glassbox looks awesome… you’re now making me rethink my barebottom choice, might need to research the substrates here in the UK as the current bag of aragonite I have waiting is just way too fine to put up with the 6025 going in the 12g
i like the new look.
Looks really good! This take is my insperation and am going to copy it for my tank. Just gonna have to use 20K spots as that the only superkarus I can get a hold of
nice accent you added to the box.
here is a short video i shot of mine just wanted to share.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiWr0oL0aAM
Felix-
Much prefer the look of a shallow sand bed. I think you guys’ll love it. DSB, not so much, but a nice layer of sand looks great.
Wow, looks great with sand. I’m surprised at my reaction, since your tank is one that had me leaning towards BB in my new upcoming nano.
Perhaps we’ll have to re-evaluate after a few weeks in the tank. It won’t stay pristine forever!
I love the sand!
Quick question. How do you keep the top rim/water level area so clean?
LMN. Thanks
@Felix, Your reef is looking good. For cleaning I use a razor blade and RO/DI water. It just takes a few seconds.
@AquaDaily… Every few months the top 0.5″ will be replaced to keep it bright and white
eric,
any updates on the sand addition?
any ciano outbreaks, parameter benefits, etc.?
@pavlo,
Waiting on a few things and then i’ll have updates. Had some diatom and dino issues after the first couple weeks of sand, but they have slowly gone away.
Dosing, Flow and Aquascape to come