Quote:
Originally Posted by
SwampThing http:///t/392198/the-bonzai-aquarium-a-thought-experiment#post_3481173
Very good concerns, Shawn. And I do hear them. I've got almost three years on my current reef tank, and two on the one before that, so I know it takes a good long time for a DSB to set up. My real question, I suppose, is how much cyclopeeze could that much sand bed neutralize? The reason I ask is that I recently (several weeks) put a DSB into my new sump, and with two 4-watt LEDs at 8 hours a day, the speed with which it has it has populated itself is astonishing. What sort of sand bed maintenance are you talking about? And is it the kind of thing that could be handled by several nerite snails? I'm a turf scrubber/protein skimmer guy myself. My DSBs are inadvertently putting that much sand in cause I heard it was a good thing. I guess my overall hypothesis is put a little coral and inverts into a tank that's much too big for them and keep the feeding to less than what the flora and fauna could handle. 5% of 350 gallons every weeks is a bunch of buckets of water. A tank that big is gonna call for hundreds of pounds of argonite, and the argonite in my inversts, softs, and fish tank handles the calcium levels automatically. The pH is gonna rise and fall as it does in all tanks with the night/day cycle of course. And I'd put a heater in to maintain a minimum temp at a reef tolerable level, I just would rather choose inhabitants already evolved for the easiest conditions for me to maintain. I know the problems of a deep tank, I just think they're great, that's all. Hopefully, in the couple of years I would need to enact this scheme, the LEDs will improve enough to do the trick. Seriously, it's a crap idea? No merit at all? What about with a plenum (even though I think those things are time bombs)?
I'm not saying it couldn't be done....What I'm saying or suggesting, is DSB have proven that they do work, but you have to look at a DSB as basically a septic tank.....Figure how much food you'll dump into the tank daily.....As with a septic tank it has to be pumped out at some time or it will clog....Basics, and this applies to a sand bed as well, and don't really care how deep or how much. It just means your buying yourself time by going larger and IMHO wasting space, but at some point it will become clogged and not be able to perform it's function to it's fullest....Again I stated that CUC are great, but something of this magnitude where you don't want to employ other means of mechanical filtration, I would suggest, and it's be discussed that a sand bed needs the human touch at times.....That debatable topic of turning or shifting sand is a "myth". If done this way from the start and I'm not referring to turning the entire sand bed at 1 time, but started from the onset of the system it will be fine. Again this is a topic that has been discussed, extensively elsewhere, and if you do some searching info you do read you'll find that "those DSB" that did crash you could more or attribute it to lacking of the maintenance I'm referring too.......
I don't see where your gaining any filtering capacity by employing tons of sand vs using more traditional methods employed these days, with the potential risks of a DSB......Again you talked about "minimal" equipment use "natural" approach.....I don't see how dumping tons of uneaten food into any sand bed has long term success regardless of how much light you apply......Again do a bit of reading and look at the recommended CUC per gallon to maintain a sand bed. It isn't what most recommend around here by far......I put more faith in info I get elsewhere at times than here. Here I think they add way to much of a CUC, but that's my personal opinion......
Anyways, you talk about auto feeding....You make no mention of using a controller of some sort to shut your main pump down during the feeding cycle.....IMHO without doing that your wasting again....Wasting food that will be sucked down to your sump, which will sit and rot.....Sit and rot, while all your tank water will cycle and circulate through waste.....The same would apply to using a filter sock that is polluted with uneaten food......your water is continual run through "waste" and again puts an extra burden/load on the system. Employing filter socks you would need to change them quite frequently......With that said why do the fish have to be fed daily......Possible your overfeeding your system to begin with......Again we all have our own approach on things and no right or wrong way.
Personally if you want to use the "natural" approach I would seriously consider a controller to shut the main pump down during feeding and employ some type of removal system of uneaten food after the feeding process.....You stated your a skimmer guy, so why not employ something that "might" make things easier on the maintenance end of things.....You can use a good skimmer with an auto shut off if the collection container is full, you can also add a skimmer neck cleaner, so the skimmer neck is kept clean and operating at top efficiency all the time.....Again some things could easily be accomplished with the addition of a controller. Is this approach due to work schedule/travel. If that's the case again a controller might be an integral part of your design and layout......The controller could send you alerts if something would go amiss with your system. Also would aid in running your lighting system and monitoring your PH, temp and what not......
I'm not a big DSB fan.....Never have been and never subscribed to the mindset that they make a tank run more efficient.....Not saying they don't work, but again I will add my .02 on the DSB......Your nitrification and denitrification process occur with the top 1" of a sand bed anyways, so what is the real purpose of going deeper.......Maybe it might be for a specific species your trying to keep........Personally I don't want to look at 6" of sand......1. 6" of sand is taking up space, space that it doesn't need to.....2. Who wants to see the ugly colors that appear through the layers of the sand bed as it works.....I personally don't want to see it and thinks it detracts from the overall beauty of a piece of art.......Again my .02.....
As far as water changes......You might need to look at automation.....Not being mean, but trying to bring things to the forefront that apparently have been over looked. With a system of this size and nature and your words of "hands off", automating water changes would be a key element if I were designing this system......Something again I mentioned earlier a controller could handle this function.....Another component that could handle this would be the Litemeter III or the ReefFiller for automated/automatic water changes, so there would be no bucket carrying at all......Again if your planning and want to employ a system of this size and magnitude I don't think you should be squabbling over the carrying of buckets.......
As far as your sand bed buffering your system.......
Misinformation possibly, but you will see very little buffering affect from your sand bed, so you loose points as far as the pluses for a DSB.........Have you ever looked at a BB tank.......If sand was a necessity for buffering capacity, why do these tank thrive......Basically because it's not needed, and as I mentioned earlier 1" SB would do just the same.......
Yes Ph does rise and fall during the day/night cycle.....Shouldn't be drastic though, and there are ways to combat that.....Again I more referring to during the winter months when a house is closed up that can drastically play havoc on your Ph as well. These things again you'll note and chart as the system develops......Again with this size system or any system at that I'd recommend a controller to ease some of the guess work.......
Not saying a bad plan, but serious thinking on your part before you enact......LEDs can handle what your after, just your not going to keep SPS on the bottom of the tank, but as you stated over time things evolve and change......As far as the DSB; sand issue......To each his own.....My only concern and I know it will be a problem as you suggested in your initial post about good flow.....You will not keep fine sand in place with vigorous water flow......I do know that for a fact!!!!!!
