Confused about DSBs...

[tampaguy]

There are alot of opinions on this site about DSBs, and I'm thouroughly confused after reading a bunch of them... my plan, for now, for a new tank (65gal) is to have a not-so-deep sand bed (1/2-1inch) (I don't think I could stand the look of a bare-bottom tank in my living room) for the display and a DSB in my refugium...
is this a reasonable compromise or am I just using a shotgun method to get out of having to make a decision on the sand bed depth?
cuz somebody is gonna ask... It'll obviously be a reef, I plan to keep all kinds of corals (softies up through sps), and a relatively small fish load.

 

[bigarn]

I believe if you're not relying on the sandbed as a major player for natural filtration, it doesn't have to be deep.

 

[bill f]

Tampaguy, I posed a similar question about the dsb in the fuge and a shallower bed in the display. I didn't get a great response. Just a few suggestions. But after thinking it over there is solid waste that may not reach your fuge and the idea behind the dsb is to create the natural cycle to convert waste. So I would think that it wouldn't be as affective and would required more maintenance (ie vacumming etc.) than a dsb which your not suppose to touch.
Just my thoughts.

 

[pyro]

May I suggest using a sandbed deep enough in your fuge to perhaps plant some macro algaes? The ones I have in my fuge are keeping my trates at 0. My display has about a 1 inch sandbed just for looks.

 

[bill f]

Hey pyro,
Do you clean the sand in your display regularly?
Obviously, a well stocked fuge will eat up the trates, but do you have weekly maintance to your sand?

 

[tony detroit]

My theory on any substrate deeper than 1/4''.
It accumulates waste. Plain and simple. After time it gives this waste back to the tank and grows some of the most beautiful, green algae you've ever seen.

Instead of spending 400 on sand, spend it on good equipment for water movement and waste removal.

 

[pyro]

I just bought a bag of normal araginite sand. Can't remember the cost - wasn't expensive at all, maybe $20? Seems good so far, I'm a little scared to vaccuum it, don't want it to kick sand up everywhere. I would think an aggressive cleanup crew would help keep the dirt off the sand.

 

[bill f]

Tony - what do you use for cleaning your substrate?

 

[acrylic51]

Originally posted by tony detroit
My theory on any substrate deeper than 1/4''.
It accumulates waste. Plain and simple. After time it gives this waste back to the tank and grows some of the most beautiful, green algae you've ever seen.

Instead of spending 400 on sand, spend it on good equipment for water movement and waste removal.
Damn Tony you hit the nail on the head!!!!! There are alot of good articles out there that talk about DSB... Alot of people will tell you that you must in order to maintain and properly run a reef tank and that is so untrue. A big problem with DSB is alot of people don't do the proper maintenance on the sand bed with will lead to problems... And why on Gods green earth do you want to look at a DSB in your main display????
If you do some research in a back article of Marine Fish and Reef 2004... If you can get your hands on a back issue you can read first hand the information discussed... But put simply they talk about the function of a sand bed bascially explain that the function of a sand bed is for nitrification and denitrification and that process takes place within the top 1" of the sand bed, so basically the theory of needing 4"-6" DSB is a waste IMO.....

 

[tony detroit]

Originally posted by Bill F
Tony - what do you use for cleaning your substrate?
Two tunze6200's on a multicontroller. No substrate here.

 

[iwantacans]

bb the way to go!!!!