Refugium dsb yay or nay? *PICS*

[phi delt reefer]

i dont think a DSB that size is going to provide any real benefit and if you ever need to drain and clean your sump its going to stink and be a real pain.

i would plump a 5 gallon bucket to your sump along with a small pump. Have the bucket overflow back into your sump via a bulkhead and some piping.

i believe its referred to as a remote sandbed and you can swap it out or remove it by just turning a couple ball valves when needed. Plus you can probably fit way more sand in there and still have tons of room in your sump for other stuff.

[MitchM]

Originally Posted by phi delt reefer

i dont think a DSB that size is going to provide any real benefit and if you ever need to drain and clean your sump its going to stink and be a real pain....

+1

I would ditch the sand, put in some macro algae with some lighting and some live rock. Pods will be happy there.

[phi delt reefer]

if you want to run a heavy bio load your best bet is good husbandry.

1. Water changes weekly
2. keeping the skimmer neck and body clean so its performing well (you can get a swabbie to this for you if you are lazy - www.avastmarineworks.com)
3. bio pellets seems to be very helpful (kien has documentation on how this produc has performed on his tank)
4. use a little carbon but switch it out every two weeks. There is a calculator on the BRS Site - use it to determine how much carbon you need and replace it regularly (dont put a bunch in for 6 months)
5. gfo - same as carbon - check the brs site for refresh info and quantity to use.
6. get fighting conch to keep you display sandbed clean and make sure you have tons of flow to keep the dietrus and food constantly suspended in you water column so it makes it way into you overflow and gets filtered.
7. stuff some loose filterfloss between your baffles after where the tank water enters. CHANGE IT WEEKLY at the bare minimum.

[apex82]

Thanks for all the good info. I think I am going to take all the sand out but a half inch or so, add some rock rubble and a ton of chaeto. Going to be a btch getting it all out... lol