Why a "deep" sand bed?

[brianf01]

I have some DSB questions:
What is the benefit of having 4 inch sand bed instead of a 2 inch?
WHy stop at 4 inches?
Should I add some more sand to get my sand bed up to 4 inches? Righ tnow I have about 2 inch average. I am thinking of addin ga 4 inch sand bed to my refugium. How do you add more sand? It seems adding a 2 more inches would be harmful if added all at once, (would it bury all the pods?) or is it no problem? THanks.

 

[frankl15207]

This should answer most of your questions and give you a better understanding of what they do:
http://rshimek.com/reef/sediment.htm

 

[bang guy]

I don't remember the article going over increasing sand bed depth. If it does then by all means ignore my post. I'm confident that if you add no more than 1/2" a week the sand bed critters will have time to colonize the new sand without suffocating.

 

[jonthefb]

i agree with bang, the reason for a dsb is to have two levels of denitrifying bacteria, as doctor shimek describes in his article. one is an aerobic (oxygen rich) zone, the other is an anaerobic (oxygen void) zone. both types of bacteria are necessary for the denitrification process. i personalyl try to keep all my dsb's at about 4-6 inches in depth!
good luck
jon

 

[bang guy]

If you're using aragonite I have a trick that hastens the "cloud" departure.
Add 3 gallons of tank water to a 5 or 6 gallon bucket (old salt bucket). Slowly add 25 pounds of sand and sprinkle some flake food in it. After a week add the sand to the tank.
This doesn't eliminate the cloud, but it adds a bacterial coat to most of the sand grains. This lets the dust settle much faster and it reduces the calcium precipitation that happens when you add dry aragonite to the tank. If you need to add more sand either get more buckets or just repeat the process.
Good luck!

 

[jonthefb]

thats really interesting guy. so should we add the flake food as we are dumping the sand in th ebucket or after it is all in the bucket?
jon

 

[brianf01]

Im probably just going to add the sand to my refugium. Its only 1 inch deep, I took the sand from my main tank, but I will buy some at the lfs. I only need about a pound or 2, but it seems they only sell 15 lb bags. What is a good "dead" sand to use for this? It would cost much less.

 

[bang guy]

Originally posted by jonthefb
thats really interesting guy. so should we add the flake food as we are dumping the sand in th ebucket or after it is all in the bucket?
jon
I sense an improvement to my proceedure in the making.
Makes more sense to add food as the sand is poured in, eh? Hmmm Guess I'll try that next time.
Thank you!

 

[frankl15207]

Originally posted by Bang Guy
I don't remember the article going over increasing sand bed depth. If it does then by all means ignore my post. I'm confident that if you add no more than 1/2" a week the sand bed critters will have time to colonize the new sand without suffocating.
It does say something about "an inch at a time," but I don't remember it defining "time." I'd have to go with Bang Guy on this - less over a longer period is a safer approach.