Leonard
06-04-2015, 09:56 PM
Thought i would give you reefers something to read.
Well i had to take down that 48 gallon long nano because i have no room with where i moved to. that is why am selling off stuff. I could not interest anyone to buy the corals for what i paid for and also some corals during tear down and transfer did not look to healthy. So i did not feel comfortable selling them. So in all my storage boxes i found this tank and a hang on filter so i set it up like i did with my others to see if I could make it work.
Some people frown on what i do for a sand bed. But it has worked and kept things alive and growing corals faster than using some of the more common ways.
I believe in deep sand beds. What I choose to do though is layer the sand bed. First I use refugium mud on the bottom like 2 - 2 1/2 inches deep.Then I use local beach sand, about a 1 inch to 1 1/2 on top. I then turn on pumps after putting things in the locations i like and watch to see where the sand is stirred up the most. Then I adjust the flow and pumps. I then place the very course "Caribbean sea crushed coral" in the areas where the sand stirred up the most.
About the local sand. Yes I get it knowing that the sand is filthy on the beaches. BUT i get a 5 gallon bucket and fill only a 1/4 of the bucket at a time with sand. I then wash it out with the hose on a heavy stream (on the grass) as I stir it with my hands continuously as it slowly over flows, and continue until it is clear. I then have a clear long bin that i pour it in to dry. The next day ill take a big strong magnet and wrap a white shirt (just one layer) over the magnet and run it through the sand until all the iron is no longer sticking to the magnet. Using the shirt makes it easier to keep the magnet clean as you sift and stir through the sand. You just turn it inside out as you pull it off the magnet and all the iron shakes off the shirt easily.
More pictures later and more coral placement after they start to become happy in their new home.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j101/leonardaguina/20150604_222052.jpg (http://s78.photobucket.com/user/leonardaguina/media/20150604_222052.jpg.html)
Well i had to take down that 48 gallon long nano because i have no room with where i moved to. that is why am selling off stuff. I could not interest anyone to buy the corals for what i paid for and also some corals during tear down and transfer did not look to healthy. So i did not feel comfortable selling them. So in all my storage boxes i found this tank and a hang on filter so i set it up like i did with my others to see if I could make it work.
Some people frown on what i do for a sand bed. But it has worked and kept things alive and growing corals faster than using some of the more common ways.
I believe in deep sand beds. What I choose to do though is layer the sand bed. First I use refugium mud on the bottom like 2 - 2 1/2 inches deep.Then I use local beach sand, about a 1 inch to 1 1/2 on top. I then turn on pumps after putting things in the locations i like and watch to see where the sand is stirred up the most. Then I adjust the flow and pumps. I then place the very course "Caribbean sea crushed coral" in the areas where the sand stirred up the most.
About the local sand. Yes I get it knowing that the sand is filthy on the beaches. BUT i get a 5 gallon bucket and fill only a 1/4 of the bucket at a time with sand. I then wash it out with the hose on a heavy stream (on the grass) as I stir it with my hands continuously as it slowly over flows, and continue until it is clear. I then have a clear long bin that i pour it in to dry. The next day ill take a big strong magnet and wrap a white shirt (just one layer) over the magnet and run it through the sand until all the iron is no longer sticking to the magnet. Using the shirt makes it easier to keep the magnet clean as you sift and stir through the sand. You just turn it inside out as you pull it off the magnet and all the iron shakes off the shirt easily.
More pictures later and more coral placement after they start to become happy in their new home.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j101/leonardaguina/20150604_222052.jpg (http://s78.photobucket.com/user/leonardaguina/media/20150604_222052.jpg.html)