what is wrong with my tank? help!!!!

[itchy]

alright fshub....first of all live sand has to be sifted....if it is not sifted and turned over it will harden. for those of us who dont know what happens when sand hardens it expands. what happens when sand expands? Tank burst. get the idea now. If you have a question about live sand I suggest you find a local marine biologist and ask his opinions. With sand in general whats on the bottom does you no good anyway. all you want is the bacteria to help set up your system, anything underneath that is nto getting air or light does not grow. Now of course I'm not saying that the sand hardened over night but it did happen!! and was an expensive leason to learn.

 

[fshhub]

simple solution, pods, snails and worms BUT you only want to sift the upper layers, sifting the lower layers defeats teh purpose of having a dsb(in this case, you should only havce a small bed)
next problem, one thing over looked, you NEED those oxygen deprived areas for nitrate reduction, this is where the bacteria lives that breaks nitrate down into gas, This bacteria cannot live in oxygen rich areas. So this sand does you a WORLD of good(not no good)
That is why we like them deeper, and I personally know 2 marine biologists who agree with me completely(plus others, not to meniton Ron Shimek who i don't personally know, but knows more about dsb's and this hobbby than any other man i have heard of), one of them happens to be head of his department at a very will known university, and is also well respected in the hobby.
PS. again, I am wondering still, what it is you have learned the hard way. This is not an attack, I really am curious. I was not looking for you to tell me to go ask a marine biologist questions that i already have(a long time ago), but to find out about your personal hard learned experiences. I have never encountered or heard of a tank exploding b/c of it havin a dsb, I have heard of otehr horror stories which no one sems to be able to justify.
ANYHOW, is this what happened to you? Did your tank explode, caused by a dsb expanding?? if so, I really would like to know, as iI mentioned earlier if for no other reason, personal knowledge.

 

[fshhub]

IF your tank did explode, how old was the bed and how deep, this is inof we would all appreciate knowing, so we could all avoid this.
IF there is a problem with dsb's like this, or anything equally disasterous, PLEASE share it with all of us. Right now, all we have to go on is our tried and true experiences, yours sound as to be quite a HARD lesson(the way it was worded), and one we would all appreciate avoiding(I am sure)

 

[itchy]

well fshhub, looks like we both have stories to share and advice. everyone will get something different out of this hobby and try different things. I'll stick to what I know and what works for me. Thanks for the info on the DSB I will research that with my marine bio and see his advice to your findings. Any advice on here is taken in stride as this can be an expensive hobby to play with. I have read books that agree with your findings and books that give my advice. To each his own i guess. I do have things that sift my sand as well, but I only have enough sand so that my sand sifters can bury themselves. Thanks for the info

 

[itchy]

yes...fshhub this was my tank and there is nothing like finding you hard work in your living room floor. I never thought the sand would harden as it did....according to books it is good to have a 3 to 4 inch base. Yes I was aware of the sand having to be sifted as I had sand stars and gobies and several other creatures to help sift it. What is on the bottom does not get turned over. If you have been to the ocean you notice that the ocean has ripples in the sand it is not smooth, this is from the undertoe. Well in a fish tank you can try to create that but you can not exactly do so. Therefore all the sand does not get sifted and will eventually harden over the years. Some tanks might never have a problem with sand however with this tank I am starting now, in addition to my other 75 gal which is all glass bottom, I am trying sand again. The 2 marine bio. I use recommend to only cover the glass with a small layer. Since they have never done me wrong I will follow their advice.

 

[fshhub]

sorry to hear of your loss, how old was the tank?
what type of sand and how much, any other info taht may help us out?
I do admit using a shallow layer, as youhave described would work(just not offer denitrification)I know of many successful BEAUTIFUL tanks without dsb's and shallow layers of sand. So do not get me wrong on this point, as I mentioned, I am only curious as to what happend and moreso WHY or HOW is all. And anyting is possible some things may not be probable, since this is unheard of to me, I am just fishing around for answers is all(esp if it is possible it could happen to me)