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Originally Posted by christyf5
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Good point, Christy!
What plankton are you guys referring to that originates from the DSB? Plankton is a general term that refers to tons of little plants and animals that are floating in the water column.
As far as detritus goes, a properly sized DSB should be able to handle ALL detritus that is produced in the aquarium. Remember, detritus isn't just made up of leftover food and animal solid waste. It is also made up of DOM/DOC and POM floating in the water column. Bacteria will attach to the suspended organics, forming larger particles which then settle to the bottom of the tank. If you have a skimmer operating, it will mechanically remove a portion of the suspended organics, in which case you can "overload" your tank with more than you could with just a DSB. Make sure that you have a properly sized skimmer, though, and that you also have enough water circulation and turnover so that the suspended organics MAKE it to your skimmer.
(sorry if that sounds like a "lesson", I just wanted to make sure that we were all talking about the same thing here...
)
As far as toxic chemical buildup goes, i think it's a very real possibility, and that it would be a good precautionary measure to
plan on changing the DSB material after a period of time. I have no idea how long though....depends on how much mucking around a person does in the meantime!
Mitch
