Thanks!Looking fantastic!!
Hi ReefMr. Peck, I have major tank envy. I noticed in your video on ReefBum's channel that your sand is very unique looking. It appears as though it's a solid mass as opposed to a bunch of individual sand crystals. How did you get it so compact? It looks like you can blast it with flow almost like a bare bottom and not blow the sand everywhere. Do you have a special technique for this? Please explain your method!
No tricks really except my flow is not as high as others. I also find that when I initially put in new sand it will blow around slightly until it develops a bio-film on the top layer and then it stops moving. I do spend a higher than average amount of money and time siphoning the top layer and replacing it about once per month when the sand begins to build small diatoms. I have been watching my nano with great interest though because it is over 1 year old now and I have never once cleaned the sand bed and it looks as clean as it did the day I put it in. I do have a fighting conch that "works" the sand bed constantly, and I'm sure he is part of the reason. Another consideration is that my main display uses Fiji Pink sand which is a medium grain sand and my nano has the old school oolitic sand.
One other item - I have gone back and forth on the placement of my Tunzes. In the video above they are in the back corners, but recently one very old Tunze died so I had to use a model that was not adjustable and it had too much flow to be placed in the back so I have returned to placing one Tunze in front on a SeaSweep. I recently tried a modern Gyre and I just felt it wasn't as good as a Tunze on a Sweep. A Gyre had variability in the amoung of flow, but the direction was too laminar for my liking. I realize 99% of all reefs have mostly laminar flow as well, but I simply prefer the variability I get from a SeaSweep so I'm willing to accept the ugly look of having one placed in the front of my tank.
Anyways, bet you're sorry you asked now
Joe