Saltwater Tank Questions

I have never had a bare bottom tank... for salt water.
Have two in FW and thinking about putting sand back into them.

 

Copperband, it will take alot of dedication to keep your water quality up with just water changes. I know of noone who has done a tank like this. I think you should at least get a protien skimmer.

 

There's a LFS here in SoCal that swears by bare bottomed tanks. He doesn't seem to have any problems and cleaning is simple. Just blow the debris with a powerhead like a leaf blower.

I personally like the look of the sandbed. But then I'm new to this.

Nautilus, OmarD, and a lot of others have been helping me out considerably.

 

I know you could use a cannister filter to maintain the water quality with the bio balls and/or charcoal and ammo chips. Or a Diatom filter with the charcoal and ammo chips.

 

DX canister filter are known Nitrate traps. better off with a refugium.

 

Yeah, that would definitely do the job. Can filters are like sweeping the carpet. It is an ok quick fix, but a lot of media changing.

 

Copperband - you do not need a corner overflow built into the tank to have a wet/dry filter. Many wet/dry filters are sold with overflows that you simply place on the side of the tank. The drain hose goes behind the tank and in through the opening in the back of your stand.

There is no drilling or installing bulkheads necessary at all.

They can be very quiet with the right pump.

At one point, I had two Eheim canisters on my 40 breeder before switching to a wet/dry. Cracking open canisters and priming them is more tedious work. Again, they are not as good either. No source of oxygen, less bio media.

 

Copperband, check out http://www.wetdryfilter.com.

 

Copperband,
please join the group as it costs you nothing and we can hand you some karma to get you started.

 

A wet dry filter with an ouside overflow sounds good. are there any that can fit a heater inside as well?
a bare tank looks great. I also think that live sand, rocks, and corals make a tank look great, too. but then, I want to stop contributing to the destruction of the oceans.
I want to go back to just try and keep a few fish.
Did the lfs that had store have a lot of fish in the tank?
I think it will be possible since it can be done with freshwater.
Has anyone had a bare tank with just fish and a hot filter? :