Back to the Cutting Board

Discussion in 'Sand' started by Matt Rogers, Jan 5, 2011.

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  1. Matt Rogers

    Matt Rogers Kingfish

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Berkeley, CA
    This may cause a dust up around here but it is time to 'bare' all and mention my latest experiment... going bare bottom with my reef tank. Well it's not exactly bare - I have a 1/2" thick black cutting board from the Cutting Board Company on the bottom. I am about a month into it and here is my initial report. Details below.

    [​IMG]
    One 16" x 23" and two 6" x 8" pieces fit a Neo Nano aquarium quite well.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    About the board from the Cutting Board Company:

    Our Cutting Boards are made of Super High Density Polyethylene Plastic. The plastic cutting boards are Commercial Dishwasher Safe, including the spike temp that exceeds 185°. The cutting boards are stain resistant, warp resistant, non-absorbent and resistant to bending, chipping and cracking. They are the most dense board you can buy that will not dull your knives. They are USDA, FDA, and approved by the Canada Dept. of Agriculture. Made in America.

    Noted on their site...

    Additional cutting board uses outside the kitchen

    * Reef tanks - Line the bottom of your reef tank with one of our polyethylene boards. It helps to protect the bottom of your tank in the event that you drop something on it while setting up/moving your tank.


    ----

    Introduction / What was my motivation to do this to my reef tank?


    As many of you can relate, sand on the bottom can be a high maintenance affair with reef tanks. It certainly has been with all my aquariums. Sand takes time to mature, goes through ugly phases with algae, and requires clean up crews of detrivores and/or fish to keep it looking good.

    In my case I only seemed to have good looking sand with Diamond Gobies. I have had one in nearly all my reef tanks. However, the bug crowd shuns these fish as they eat what is in the sand, but really for me, the problem with them is that they are known jumpers and my latest tank is a Neo Nano - a rimless aquarium. I threw the dice and tried one out - it lasted about 6 months before I found it one day in my kitchen.

    After the goby was gone, my sand started to go south. The Neo Nano is a very shallow tank and the sand was getting blasted by the halide. At first it was just some algae here and there. Initially it was pretty bad, then it subsided. I thought my snails might be dealing with it after all. However, one day I noticed that my sand was turning to concrete. I believe this was due to the lack of grooming without the Goby and the kalk being dosed sometimes heavily from my ATO.

    I reflected on all my sand woes over the years and realized I was moving soon which gave me an opportunity to try something new. Beyond the move, I currently am keeping mostly SPS in a high current tank so the planets were aligning for a bare bottom tank. It was then that I decided to give it a go without sand.

    I recall reading about starboard but I didn't want a white bottom which was the only color I ever saw. Then I saw the plastic cutting board in the kitchen and ultimately this lead me to the Cutting Board Company. I dug around for large cutting boards online and found that the Cutting Board Company prices are very competitive and I could order custom sizes. By the next day, I had placed my order.

    Initial Impressions:

    With an all black tank and stand, the black cutting board fit in just fine. I think the black makes the corals and rock stand out more personally. The 1/2" thick boards also take away any threat of falling rocks breaking the bottom glass which is nice.

    1) Adding to the tank
    After adding some water, the first challenge arose - predictably the boards float. Fortunately I have a lot of Indo rock and I was able to sink the boards with rock. Arranging the rock was a bit of a trick, but I held a board with one hand and moved the rock with the other. I was a bit crazed from the move, in hindsight - just add the rock then water, which is what I usually do. Alternatively I bet some coral epoxy would help hold the boards down without a lot of rock.

    2) Currents
    I gained 3.5" of depth with the sand gone and this allowed me to fit a Vortech MP10 under one of the overflows replacing a big Tunze Turbelle pump. With no threat of sand flying, I was able to let the MP10 do its thing. That was nice. I also gained more water volume as a side benefit. If my cardinal fish were not so happy on the slow side of the tank, I'd probably chain another MP10 pump there to really keep the debris down.

    3) Food Suspension
    I quickly found that feeding the fish and corals became a lot easier as it appears the food is suspended in the water column much longer than if there were sand. I saw mysis doing laps in the tank until the fish nabbed them. Speaking of which, there are not many leftovers as the fish and cleaner shrimp easily find the food.

    4) Algae
    Curiously - I do not have a lot of algae build up that plagued the sand on the cutting boards. Perhaps the debris that fueled the algae has a harder time getting a foothold. This is obvious in the high current areas, but in the low current areas there is still a lack of algae so far. Not sure if my choice of a black board has something to do with it or not. My coral beauty angelfish is keeping the algae pretty tidy where it occurs.

    5) Maintenance
    It does not get much easier than this. I simply siphon off debris from the heavy spots when doing water changes. Done. So far I have not had to deal with algae. Which is pretty amazing in tank with a halide that is only a foot deep or so.

    [​IMG]
    Siphoning up 3 weeks of debris from the heavy spots.


    6) Looks
    This will fall to the 'eye of the beholder' but I am very happy with the look. The boards set a little below the bottom trim of the aquarium so you really focus on what is in the tank. My better half likes having a little debris on it as she thinks it looks more natural. I could go either way. A lot of debris = dirt for me. At least I know where it is and can get to it.

    7) Grumpy clam
    Deresas need sand and mine was not happy sitting on a board. So I added some old sand into a plastic reptile dish and epoxy'd it to the bottom and placed the clam on it. The clam rebounded. It is out front now, but I plan on hiding it inside the rocks more under the light to get some style points back.


    Pros / Cons

    Cons

    • Can appear less natural if layout cannot compensate for it
    • Certain clams, inverts and fish (perhaps some wrasses) will not do well without a sand bed.
    • Debris build up is obvious

    Pros

    • Easier to maintain
    • Stronger current possibilities
    • Food suspension
    • Perhaps less algae (too early to say conclusively from me) but coraline should be able to get a foothold to help prevent the undesirables.
    • Bottom glass protection
    • Less stress



    Summary
    So far, so good. I am really happy with this setup. Foremost, my tank did not crash from removing a ton of sand. On the contrary, it appears to be thriving. ( I did keep a 4x12 filter sock with my old sand in it - it now resides in the sump. But that is it. ) The corals have never looked better. To be fair, there are a lot of variables in play here - such as switching to Red Sea Coral Pro salt recently and the fact that all corals sit at least a few inches lower than before and having a Vortech now - to name a a few. But I think it is safe to say things are looking up and perhaps this switch plays a big part in that. I think this was a good move for my SPS setup and I have a lot less stress from not worrying about my sand and more enjoyment from my tank. Which is the whole point, no?


    The Cutting Board Company:
    cuttingboardcompany.com

    My order:

    16X23 RO CUSTOM BLACK 1/2" THICK
    6X8 RO CUSTOM BLACK BOARD

    $44.52 (beveled edge was free)
     
    Last edited: Jan 5, 2011
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  3. xmetalfan99

    xmetalfan99 Giant Squid

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    Did you silicone the edges?
     
  4. TheSaltwaterGuy

    TheSaltwaterGuy Banned

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  5. SnooknRedz

    SnooknRedz Vlamingii Tang

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    Can you catch a video of that??:)
     
  6. Matt Rogers

    Matt Rogers Kingfish

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    Nope. That would have been a good idea. I siphon in there though.
     
  7. 2in10

    2in10 Super Moderator

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    Very interesting, will be fun to see what happens long term.
     
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  9. SnooknRedz

    SnooknRedz Vlamingii Tang

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    Did you silicone at all?
     
  10. Matt Rogers

    Matt Rogers Kingfish

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    No sir. I dumped 60 lbs of rock on it.
     
  11. ComputerJohn

    ComputerJohn Panda Puffer

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    Very interesting Matt... Keep up posted my friend..
     
  12. shecter

    shecter Fire Shrimp

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    did you think about things getting under the board like fish poop and extra food? after a while itll build up and cause issues i think. just a shot in the dark but thats the only issue i thought of .other wise great job with that its a really good idea