Bare Bottom Tanks - Keeping the bottom clean

[Ratpack]

I am putting together my plan for my bare bottom tank and was wondering what others do to keep the detritus blown off the bottom and into the water column. I have heard that a return pointed straight down does a pretty good job, but how much flow is needed to do that? Do most just rely on the higher flow rates in the tank to keep it stirred up or what? I get one shot at this tank so I have to have the best option at the time.

[Opsanus tau]

IMO one of the most beautiful things about bare bottom tanks IS the fact that you are not restricted, (flow-wise).
Remember, plumping becomes restricted over time, corals begin to grow further into your water column, and you may need more flow in the future, so I would recommend over engineering your flow demands with a larger pump that can be throttled back(at first).

[Ratpack]

Enough pump is not really an issue as I have overdesigned that part. I just need to figure out where to run my plumbing. My return pump will be putting out about 900 gph, so if I direct that directly at the bottom will it keep things from settling ther and let my closed loop provide the flow for the rest of the tank needs or do I need more flow hitting the bottom? That is more of my concern. Make sense?

[PEMfish]

Getting things in the water column will just cloud up your tank, unless you have somewhere to go with tit. Mechanical filtration will grow 'bad' bacteria. This means a fuge. They are clam waters, if done right. IMO

[dobejazz]

I have a horrible settling problem in my tank it was recommeded to drop a powerhead in the back to blow it all forward and into the overflow.
I have a corner tank though - on rectangular tanks many people use a spray bar to keep detrious from building up under the rock

[mps9506]

Originally Posted by PEMfish

Getting things in the water column will just cloud up your tank, unless you have somewhere to go with tit. Mechanical filtration will grow 'bad' bacteria. This means a fuge. They are clam waters, if done right. IMO

Paul is correct here.
You have two realistic choices here. One is either lots of flow and a large sock filter which will need to be changed/cleaned at least every few days (this is what I did with my BB tank).
Or try to setup your flow so detritus builds up in an area where it is easy to siphon out. IMO a fuge that allows detritus to build up is counterproductive in a BB tank.
Physical removal of detritus before it breaks down is the best option in a BB style tank.

[boozeman]

[Tru2nr]

Originally Posted by mps9506

Or try to setup your flow so detritus builds up in an area where it is easy to siphon out. IMO a fuge that allows detritus to build up is counterproductive in a BB tank.

sorry to hi-jack but are you saying its a good thing to have detritus buildup in the fuge if u have live sand in the tank?

[mps9506]

Originally Posted by Tru2nr

sorry to hi-jack but are you saying its a good thing to have detritus buildup in the fuge if u have live sand in the tank?

In my opinion you don't want detritus buildup anywhere (regardelss of barebottomed, shallow bottom or deep sand bed) You want to remove it physically before it breaks down.

One of the benefits of a barebottom tank is that waste removal is easy.
If you have a fuge you get some room for error because you have a method of nutrient export from any detritus that breaks down. Many barebottom tanks don't keep fuges because nutrient levels are so low that the macro algae does not grow well at all.

I have no idea if that answered your question or not...
Also keep in mind different strokes for different folks, not all may agree with me on this.

[PEMfish]

Better idea; carpet...
Zoas or buttons...
Covering the bottom of the tank
Think about it,,, it would be awesome!

[mps9506]

Originally Posted by PEMfish

Better idea; carpet...
Zoas or buttons...
Covering the bottom of the tank
Think about it,,, it would be awesome!

That actually kind of hinders things in a barebottom tank. Zoas/polyps, mushrooms etc are excellent at building up detritus between the polyps. Kind of hinders what you are trying to do in a berbottom tank.
I thought it would look cool also when I started my old BB tank. It really just hindered things more than it helped.

[PEMfish]

I'm coming from a pure ascetics point with no thought to function.

[Whiskey]

In my bare bottom tank I had a spraybar along the bottom back of the tank that blew all the detritus out to the front of the tank,.. this was powered by 2 powerheads,.. one shoved in each end of the pipe that made up the spraybar.

Then I had allot of flow along my front pane of glass (something like 70X intank turnover), though I still had a small pile that would collect in one corner,.. a turkey baster would take care of that,.. and waterchanges.

Whiskey

[Whiskey]

Oh,.. As a side note,.. I had all my bottom rocks on small 1/2" tall feet that I made out of cut coat hangers and put into my rocks (drilled a hole and put them in),.. this made pushing detritus out from under the rock soooooooo much easer.

Whiskey

[mps9506]

Originally Posted by Whiskey

Oh,.. As a side note,.. I had all my bottom rocks on small 1/2" tall feet that I made out of cut coat hangers and put into my rocks (drilled a hole and put them in),.. this made pushing detritus out from under the rock soooooooo much easer.

Whiskey

Filing this into my mental notes on the next tank.
I'm setting up a nano soon and thinking of doing this with a small acrylic rod drilled into the bottom to elevate the rock. Hopefully no coralline will grow on it though in the dark...