Bare Bottom in Nano. Am I looking for trouble?

[TomToro]

I don't want to put any sand or cc in this tank as an experiment. I put a sheet of thin plexiglass down and the LR on top of that. I think asthetically, the sand looks better, but I just wanted to try this.

What troubles am I likely to encounter chemistry wise? It's a 12 gal Nanocube dx with:
floss and chemipure 1st chamber
Cheato lit by a 6500k shoplight in 2nd chamber
LR rubble and the return pump in the 3rd chamber.

I change about 30% water weekly
Thanks,
Tom

[Germanman]

less surface area for nitrification=more nitrates...etc

[Mr.Firemouth]

Basically being a nano tank you are not using a protien skimmer. The main thing for you to concentrate on is water changes. Use a phosphate filter like PHOSaR by Warner Marine. Premium Aquatics sell this.

The lack of gravel will not impact this system.

[TomToro]

Basically being a nano tank you are not using a protien skimmer. The main thing for you to concentrate on is water changes. Use a phosphate filter like PHOSaR by Warner Marine. Premium Aquatics sell this.

The lack of gravel will not impact this system.

Do you think the 30% weekly is enough? I can increase either the quantity or frequency.

I'll look up the Phosar filter. Is it a filter sock type product or a machine?

Thanks,
Tom

[Fishieness]

yeah. one of the whole points of a bare bottom is ntoonly to be able to ahve lots of flow without sandstorms, but also for all the flow to then relocate the waste and detritus to be removed by your skimmer isntead of settling on the sand bed. This is why it works well in sps tanks with hugely oversized skimmers. i have never heard of any really good ones that can fit in a the compartments of a nanocube.
i would jsut make sure you ahve a lot of flow, you keep up those water changes, and as firemouth suggested, run phosban and such. perhaps even a frequently replaced micro filter sock might come in handy (note the word, frequently). because without a skimmer, you ar elikely to have nitrates as germanman suggested. the bacteria which breaks down nitrate in anerobic, which means it cannot live in the presence of large amounts of oxygen, this is why large amounts live in yoru sandbed, which does not contain highly oxygenated, fast flowing water. without that and removing the waste with water changes or skimming, you could have issues, but if watched correclty, you should be okay.

[Mr.Firemouth]

Exactly as fishy stated...water changes will eliminate the nitrates and the phos resin will eliminate the phos.

30% is fine weekly. You shouldn't have any problems as long as you use RO/DI WATER.

[TomToro]

Exactly as fishy stated...water changes will eliminate the nitrates and the phos resin will eliminate the phos.

30% is fine weekly. You shouldn't have any problems as long as you use RO/DI WATER.

Perfect! Thanks for the help, Folks!
Tom