Originally posted by a0b915
i was told i had a dsb, but maybe i don't.
You may have a deep sand bed, but you really want a deep LIVE sand bed. If there is nothing live in the sand bed eating all the detritus, then having the sand there is useless because all the dirt is building up there with nothing taking it out.
Originally posted by a0b915
to clean the sand all the way down to the bottom and remove all the dark crap from the bottom of the sand.
This is what you would want to do if you had aragonite or crushed coral. However, sand, especially a deep sand bed, is almost impossible to fully clean, thus the reason you have nitrate levels of 30 ppm. I would try to get the live critters in there, like I suggested above. I would do about 30 hermits, 10 astrea snails, a few serpent stars (not brittle!) and you will have some cleaning going on. However, if you do not want to take this approach, you could just take all the sand out of the tank and replace the sand with aragonite. It is a little thicker, and would be much easier to clean. You would not put a deep layer, just enough to cover the glass so that you could clean it easier. (If you decide to do this, siphon all the sand out and put it in a porous bag in your sump for a few days because a lot of your good bacteria is in this sand, and by taking it out completely, you would be removing a lot of beneficial bacteria from your tank, thus possibly starting a mini cycle in your tank again.)
Originally posted by a0b915
the sump is to small to set a mini-fuge i believe. the water enters the sump from my overflow box, runs through my protein skimmer and over a ledge onto a poly filter. under the poly filter a have a white porous media the LFS told me is used to create optimal growing conditions for healthy bacteria.
Your sump sounds fine, however, I am still not sure what you are referring to as your "white porous media" for bacteria growth. If you have a lot of live rock (1lb per gallon), you do not need that media. That's just extra. All of your good bacteria is growing on your live rock. I do not know how large this area is, if it accessible to get some light to, but if you have enough live rock, and enough space in the sump for some chaeto, it would be a good idea to put some in there with a light shining on it.
Hope some of this helps. If there is anything else, or anything you need clarified, please be sure to ask!