how much does a dsb and chaeto help with trates?
- Thread starter peckhead
- Start date
stanlalee
Active Member
Not enough time yet. If you havent noticed the cheato noticeably growing (probably not going to happen in 2 weeks) its probably not doing much yet. it helps out alot. It has been THE answer for me. With cheato I dont need any phospate chemicals, dont need any water changes (for nitrate removal), can go crazy with the feeding ect and never had any testable nitrates or phospates as long as I've had cheato. Never had a DSB so I cant say how well that works. 4" is probably on the lower side of adequate if even considered a DSB. Kind of in no mans land at around 4".
chilwil84
Active Member
i would give your macro a chance to grow and do its job before you jump into a dsb in your display tank. allow the macro to get dense (before harvesting)and rotate it around every couple days so all areas get light. put a 6500k plant bulb over it . 3-4 inches is the minimum depending on the size of the sand
peckhead
Active Member
Originally Posted by chilwil84
i would give your macro a chance to grow and do its job before you jump into a dsb in your display tank. allow the macro to get dense (before harvesting)and rotate it around every couple days so all areas get light. put a 6500k plant bulb over it . 3-4 inches is the minimum depending on the size of the sand
i do use a 6500k but i think im going to switch because in my old fuge it made my whole sump full of red slime...i think there is too much red in the bulb?
i think i read on melevs reef to use something like 2300k?
i would give your macro a chance to grow and do its job before you jump into a dsb in your display tank. allow the macro to get dense (before harvesting)and rotate it around every couple days so all areas get light. put a 6500k plant bulb over it . 3-4 inches is the minimum depending on the size of the sand
i do use a 6500k but i think im going to switch because in my old fuge it made my whole sump full of red slime...i think there is too much red in the bulb?
i think i read on melevs reef to use something like 2300k?
chilwil84
Active Member
i have 65k on both of mine fuges without any problem the color doesnt produce the color algae cyno usually comes from nutrients and flow but with that said you do get more par from a lower k bulb so it does have that advantage buyt remember if you are usaing pc you have to change it 6-9 months wich when you get longer you get nuscence algae (dam i cant spell!!)
ejensen
Member
I have cheato and it grows real fast. Now It is pretty thick and keeps on growing. All I have on it is a 18 watt light. I keep it on all the time. My nitrates and very low. I use a salfert kit and it only has a slight pink color. I do have Phosphates though. I just bought a reactor so hopefully it will drop fast.
weberian
Member
Originally Posted by peckhead
i do use a 6500k but i think im going to switch because in my old fuge it made my whole sump full of red slime...i think there is too much red in the bulb?
i think i read on melevs reef to use something like 2300k?
If you read the whole article, you will see that he switched to a 5100k pc floodlight. Same type of bulb, but he got better macro growth with the 5100k.
Do you have good water movement in the fuge? I did much better battling red slime when I put a powerfilter in the fuge area. (filter has a bag of carbon and a bag of phosguard or phosban)
i do use a 6500k but i think im going to switch because in my old fuge it made my whole sump full of red slime...i think there is too much red in the bulb?
i think i read on melevs reef to use something like 2300k?
If you read the whole article, you will see that he switched to a 5100k pc floodlight. Same type of bulb, but he got better macro growth with the 5100k.
Do you have good water movement in the fuge? I did much better battling red slime when I put a powerfilter in the fuge area. (filter has a bag of carbon and a bag of phosguard or phosban)
jlem
Active Member
I'll tell you what has worked for me for over 8 years.
1/2-1 inch sand bed
very light feeding once per day. all food is gone within 1 minute
10% water change every 2 weeks with RO/DI water
Only additives used are PH Buffer, ALK buffer and Reef Complete from seachem to maintain Calcium. I don't add anything else what so ever since water changes will replace trace elements.
Lots of people like DSB but honestly I think that it is just a place where stuff builds up and eventually will oversaturate the DSB and cause major problems. It may take a few years or longer but after setting up at least 20 tanks it is a huge eye opener when you pull out a DSB and the water turns to smelly soup from all the crap that has been trapped. Live Rock is more than enough to take care of Nitrates if a tank is properly fed and maintained ( not overdosed ). You have a FUGE also which will help alot. A shallow sand bed also gives you more viewing area and water volume. Now I am not saying that a DSB is the wrong way to go and lots of people have great short term success ( less than a few years ). Very few people have had a succesfull DSB for more than a few years that have not replaced them or moved their tank and cleaned it out during that time.
Here is a picture of my 150 gallon that has a shallow sand bed and large skimmer and that is it.
1/2-1 inch sand bed
very light feeding once per day. all food is gone within 1 minute
10% water change every 2 weeks with RO/DI water
Only additives used are PH Buffer, ALK buffer and Reef Complete from seachem to maintain Calcium. I don't add anything else what so ever since water changes will replace trace elements.
Lots of people like DSB but honestly I think that it is just a place where stuff builds up and eventually will oversaturate the DSB and cause major problems. It may take a few years or longer but after setting up at least 20 tanks it is a huge eye opener when you pull out a DSB and the water turns to smelly soup from all the crap that has been trapped. Live Rock is more than enough to take care of Nitrates if a tank is properly fed and maintained ( not overdosed ). You have a FUGE also which will help alot. A shallow sand bed also gives you more viewing area and water volume. Now I am not saying that a DSB is the wrong way to go and lots of people have great short term success ( less than a few years ). Very few people have had a succesfull DSB for more than a few years that have not replaced them or moved their tank and cleaned it out during that time.
Here is a picture of my 150 gallon that has a shallow sand bed and large skimmer and that is it.
