live sand

[justlooking]

Been some debate about how deep it should be? Ive heard 3-4 inches, the person at LFS said half an inch or nitrates build up? Sounds like the opposite of what ive heard. Also does LS need any special lighting or time of lighting or anything? I also heard about buying microshrimp cultures? Anyone have any experience with that or where to get it or how much it is

 

[grouperhead]

dont know about the other ?'s but as for sandbed i have heard everything from 2-6 inches depending on species, etc. if you have burrowers such as jawfish you need a very deepsand bed, but if you have say clowns or other non-burrowers a sand bed of around 3 inches should be fine. i really think its just personal preferance. i have 3 inches of ls then a little cc and argonite mixed in. bo

 

[marine qa]

For a DSB to break down nitrates the lowest levels must not be exposed to oxygen. This is why 3+ inches are recomended. I have between 4 and 5 and I have never had detectable nitrates in my FO w/LR/LS.
LS has no requirement for light as far as I know. It is not photosynthetic like algae.
I think the microshrimp cultures that you refer to are also called detriviore(sp?)kits. These are not necessary if you buy LS like Natures Ocean. I used 1/2 Natures Ocean 1/2 Southdown Playsand from HD.

 

[marine qa]

Old Yeller Tang,
My DSB has only been in for 4mos, and since I dont have any sand sifters that only leaves me until Jan. 2002 to enjoy my fish. I wonder if I, or even my neighbors, will be affected.
Seriously though, I had never heard of that and would be VERY interested in learning more. If there is anyone who's 4+inc DSB has been going for more than 10mos, please respond. If your still alive that is.

 

[q]

I was doing a search on plenums a week or so ago and there was a discussion about a build up of toxins, I think it was a acid of some sort. It is more of a ploblem in plenums which is why the DSB is the flavor for the day now.
Rather than risk spitting out any bad info do a search in the reef pages for plenums and use BurnNspy's registerd number 818. You should find it eventually. It is back a few months I believe.

 

[marine qa]

Thanks Plato, I did your recomended search and some others. There appears to be two schools of though with DSBs.
One school: You want sand sifters to help eat waste and stir up the sand. I'm guessing this would be to control waste as other clean up crews would. However, many in this school state that you don't want the sifters to sift too deeply or the DSB will lose it's nitrifying bacteria.
Other school: You do not want sand sifters as they will eat and/or disturb the nitrifying bacteria. A Dr.Ron Shimek has been cited in this school. I don't know where his article on this subject appears.
My question is: Is there anyone out there with a 4+inc DSB which has been running, w/out sifters, for a year or so? and, Has there been any negative effects?

 

[marine qa]

I re-posted my last post in the Reef Tanks section.

 

[beth]

Don't confuse sifters with shifters, if you're going to quote Shimek. The shifters eat the same detris and shift the DSB, but leave bacteria and sand detritivores alone. I don't think anybody really supports an inert DSB. Now, a plenum is another story....

 

[marine qa]

Below is a cut/paste from Dr. Shimek's QA found on google.
From this, my question is would this worm level be attained from LR or store bought LS, or can they be purchased seperately?
***
What 'basic' critters do you highly recommend for setting up a truly live sand bed?
Worms, worms, more worms. And after you have added those, put in some more worms. Other critters, the various bugs and oddities will largely take care of themselves but a diversity of polychaete (aka bristle worm) species is IMMENSELY important!!! In the real world these are the dominant soft-sediment organisms, and they should be in our artificial reef soft sediment areas as well.
***