Bare bottom/ wrasse sleeping habits

[Robzilla]

After seeing a large coral farm here in Columbus that uses no sand in any tank except for a few trays with clams, I have been toying around with the idea of converting to a bare bottom tank. Not sure if I will actually do it but it will solve a lot of detritus issues that seem to plague a lot of tanks. I have also restructured my feeding schedule.

However, my wrasse likes to sleep in the sand. It has slept in a rock in the past but that has been taken over by the blenny. I could get more LR for more caves, but would the lack of sand be bad for a fish known to burrow? I don't want to stress it and would rather keep the sand if it will cause problems.

Any advice is welcome!

 

[Eric]

I think it would be fine, I have seen plenty of them in bare bottom tanks over the years with no issues.

 

[redsea reefer]

Unless you get a Wrasse that specifically buries itself in the sand to sleep, I would not add it if your going BB. Check LiveAquaria for that info on which Wrasses exhibit that behavior.

 

[Robzilla]

LiveAquaria did not mention burrowing on the Orange Back Fairy Wrasse. It is still just a thought about the BB but looks like it should be fine if I decide to do it.

 

[redsea reefer]

 

[Robzilla]

I went to Reef Systems and it was insane. No filtration other than LR and circulation. No filters, no sand, they feed fish a pinch every few days, and they do not feed the corals. They just dose B-Ionic for CA and ALK and have good lighting and use RO/DI water. THATS IT!!!! Purely aquacultured corals in a system with thousands of gallons of water. Thousands of frags! It inspired me to improve my system by means of simplification

 

[Eric]

I believe you are on the right track with that line of thinking, you can always do a remote DSB and gain the benefits without the headachs and problems of having it in the tank.

Check this out
Coral Magazine, Back Issue, Vol 4 #5, Oct/Nov 2007 | eBay

 

[Robzilla]

^ Good stuff Eric. I like the BB because it makes it easier for the fish to get it all, and anything not eaten is easily removed. I might do the DSB in the fuge but I dont want to cause problems if the sand gets disturbed. Their system is pristine and there is nothing in terms of sand whatsoever and its got the gears in my head spinning.

 

[Eric]

The setup I am referring to is using a 5 gallon bucket full of sand and just running water across the top of it fast enough to keep anything from laying but slow enough not to disturb the sand, this way there is no mess and if it needs to be removed for some reason you just close it off and remove so there is not disturbance in the tank or fuge.

Your ideal is good but the one thing they have that you don't is 1000s of gallons of water for a very stable enviorment vs our home aquarium so trying to mimic that in a 55 gallon may not be a realistic goal.

 

[Robzilla]

Correct and I was not looking to replicate in full, just the concept. I still plan on having my skimmer running and activated carbon in there too. I do like the bucket idea tho......gears are spinning lol

 

[Eric]

I'll be following along to see the progress, your on the right path.

 

[Robzilla]

Only the best for my system :bouncer: I have all the info and help right here on RS!

 

[Robzilla]

Also, would by CUC be alright without sand? Would I need to reduce the size of the CUC? I would probably need to find a new home for the sand sifter.

Also also....I am looking to transfer to a species only tank over the next few years for Fairy Wrasses if it is possible. Right now I have a male Orange Back and it is extremely peaceful. I am looking to have 3...MAYBE 4 fairy wrasses total in the end. Can I add other peaceful Fairy Wrasses like a McCosker's Flasher or a Pink Margin? To they need to be a specific sex if I do this?

 

[Eric]

Your CUC will be fine

I have seen wrasse tanks and one in particular comes to mind but it's been a few years since I seen the tank, the guy had several wrasse in one tank but he had his rock pegged and stacked in a way that maximized space in the tank giving them plenty of swimming room even in a smaller tank. I am not sure about the sex of the speices someone else will have to fill in there.

 

[Robzilla]

Good to know. I keep mine scaped for as much swim room as possible. Do you know if he added the fish at the same time or one-by-one?

 

[Eric]

I believe he added the most of them at once, the logic to his setup was not having open space as the fish couldn't hide from one another, his tank was stacked top to bottom but with space between the rocks from the pegging it's hard to exsplain I'll see if I can find it.

No luck finding it, it has been 5 years maybe more, his rock was stacked but the pegging kept it apart about 2" and it basically allowed the most space for the fish to swim and hide from one another, I don't know that I would try it personally but it I was going to I would do it as that person did.

 

[Robzilla]

Oh ok cool. That would be great to see if possible. I have been looking at adding more rock using Real Reef Live Rock and maybe I can use that as a guide.

 

[Eric]

I edited the post above the tank is long gone I imagine and I cannot find anything similar to show you.

Basically none of the rocks were touching even the base rocks were about 2" off the sand bed, once the Coraline covered the pegs you really didn't notice them but this made many cracks and crevices and maximized surface space giving the effect of more space in the tank which was the idea if the wrasse felt they had enough room they wouldn't be aggressive toward one another.

I am not certain this worked in the end but at that point he had a tank full of different species and it had been up and running successfully for a while when I seen it.

 

[Robzilla]

I think I will start taking small amounts of sand out with each water change and gradually add more rock and get a better scape going with that idea in mind. Thanks Eric.

 

[catran]

Sounds like I may need to take a road trip trip this summer to check it that coral farm of yours!