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DSB Dynamics- To use or loose?
Wanted to start a discussion on the use of DSB's and remote DSB's in reef tanks and how they work for everyone. Are you running one, how large and deep is it, what's it composed of, who lives in there, how much flow is in it, how did you seed it, is it dark/ light and the most important question "Do you think it works?".
I'm currently running two but I can't really consider either of them anaerobic. The first is a 30g fuge with a 6-8 inch bed, this tank is full of mangroves and a pistol shrimp/ goby pair which would eliminate any anaerobic areas. The second is about 12X12X10 inches of sand in the return area from my main tank, excuse my paint skills but here's a basic drawing: http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/3240/deepsandbed.png So water comes from the main tank and is injected under the sand, the process looks really close to a phosban reactor just with allot more flying media. 30g Fuge/ DSB Seeded from old tank sand Pistol Shrimp/ Goby pair and a ton of mangroves/ cheato live there Sand is aragonite mixed with rubble and reef mud appx 5X turn over per hour through the fuge Lighted for 12 hours per day 29 Sump/ DSB Seeded from old tank sand No fish, TONES of feather dusters and macro inverts Sand is aragonite and larger gravel pieces Appx 60X turn over through the sump Non-lighted I have a feeling my almost non existent cycle (and my lack of pest algae) in my new 170g is because the transfer of 2 established DSB's from my old systems to the new one. Since adding them I have seen my water quality improve (Reduction of Nitrate, Nitrate and PO4) and a dramatic increase in the ability to successfully keep different species of cnidarians/ fish. |
you arent going to get the same effect with the water going up through the sand. you need to have no oxygen in the bottom for anarobic to work you are just going to have the sand all over the place.
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I've been DSB free for a few years now and never looked back. I still get envious of those with nice white sandbeds but all mine ever did was collect detritus and create a nutrient sink for algae growth.
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BB here and liking it. No problems with algea, nitrates etc so thinking a DSB not really required other than for looks.
As for a BB staying bare, gets cover with coraline and corals so not that noticeable after a while. See here for a GSP bottomed tank |
I run one on my 100 5-6 inch deep slow flow but I have a power head in there to keep strong flow if that makes sense lighted two T5 with 5000k bulbs and I have a few sand snails. I have some really cool feather worms and other stuff in there that is doing really well. Mine is remote so I can shut it down at anytime. So far it is still all white no dead spots. No No3 but then I don't have any in my BB tank either.
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I like my dsb. I have it in my display tank and I have no problem with nitrates. I like the look and it doesnt limit me on my livestock. ie - some wrasses and such that burrow into the sandbed at night.
I do get some algae on the sandbed but it is kept under control with a sanddollar and cucmber. For those of you who are BB, do you have to vaccumm the detrius off the bottom and how often? |
DSB does work, the problem is that it will crash the tank eventually sooner or later.
BB is way safer especially when you have large amounts of live rock. Though in smaller tanks (less then 100 gal) it makes sense to have a shallow sand bed an inch or so it will accumulate detritus , however it will also make tank more stable. |
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