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#11
04-01-2003, 07:59 PM
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Brad,
For Some odd reason, that doesnt surprise me.  Heh, I find it kinda funny, Old tank syndrome.....I think its a theory to cover up other theories that clearly didnt work.
__________________
Confucious say : Things that come to those who wait, will be things left over by those who didnt. 
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#12
04-01-2003, 08:54 PM
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i have nine bags of SWC aragonite sitting downstairs. on saturday i was planning to put it in the tank. do i do it or do i not? what other ways are there to reduce nitrates other than a huge amount of live rock or some antiquated filter system? i thought DSB's were the latest and greatest...
__________________
-Quinn Man, n. ...His chief occupation is extermination of other animals and his own species, which, however, multiplies with such insistent rapidity as to infest the whole habitable earth, and Canada. - A. Bierce, Devil's Dictionary, 1906
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#13
04-01-2003, 09:15 PM
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If it's any concellation TeeVee, I had the same concerns with my tank about a year ago. I decided to go ahead with the sand but in all honesty, I regret it. If I were to do it again I'd have not done it. You'll have to make up your own mind based on the hours of reading that are available on the various boards. Keep in mind that much of the information available is heavily biased towards adding DSBs because...well, most of us are sheep. For arguments against, look for Richard Harker comments as well as Bomber/Spanky/Landescaper to name a couple.
__________________
Troy lusus naturae
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#14
04-01-2003, 10:12 PM
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ok well looks like back to the old drawing board. perhaps i'll do a very thin layer in my display, so it doesn't look weird, and a very deep one in my sump (9" or something?). what do you guys figure? sump is approx. 17 gallons, main tank is 150 gallons.
__________________
-Quinn Man, n. ...His chief occupation is extermination of other animals and his own species, which, however, multiplies with such insistent rapidity as to infest the whole habitable earth, and Canada. - A. Bierce, Devil's Dictionary, 1906
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#15
04-01-2003, 10:13 PM
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I don't use DSB's any more. Right now my tank is bare bottom, but I am going to use a combination of Thorite cement and live rock fragments to produce a molded rock bottom for my 75, and for the 300 gal tank I am ordering in a few months. I can keep the current as vicious as I want hehehe since the corals I will have in there appreciate that sort of environ. No need to state my reasons...Troy just hinted at some research the interested party could do...Anthony Calfo's book details some good plans for denitrification that negate the need for a DSB, and you still get all the benefits. But aside from that I am tired of the look. How frequently on the reefs do you find little patches of sand with a couple of large rocks with corals sprinkled all over them like fruit salad? Not too often. Large corals, small fish. Expanses of sand, large rock and cliff formations.
Stephen
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#16
04-01-2003, 10:19 PM
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Quote:
__________________
Confucious say : Things that come to those who wait, will be things left over by those who didnt.
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#17
04-01-2003, 10:33 PM
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you know this is the beauty of science - some scientist comes up with some theory, does a few basic experiements to prove it, does a fairly good job, and everyone jumps on board. and when the whole world is heading full tilt in that direction, anomalies start popping up and all of a sudden it's time to reevaluate and change everything yet again. in high school physics it wasn't such a big deal... now that i'm spending money on it... A$&%&$@#!!!!
i will continue to read up on this as i get closer to "the day". i like the look of some sand, but one inch is as good as four to me as far as visual appeal goes. i am going to research some other methods of N-removal. i think running a very shallow sand bed in the display tank and a deep one in the sump would be a good idea, as the sump is far easier to get into, move around, and, if the time ever came, empty and clean.
__________________
-Quinn Man, n. ...His chief occupation is extermination of other animals and his own species, which, however, multiplies with such insistent rapidity as to infest the whole habitable earth, and Canada. - A. Bierce, Devil's Dictionary, 1906
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#18
04-01-2003, 10:43 PM
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Until recently (when I added more sand 'cause Ron told me to) I ran about 2 inches of sand in most of my tank. I had no nitrates and lots of sand fauna. Sand looks good, and that is the extent of my opinion.
__________________
Brad
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#19
04-01-2003, 11:01 PM
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whether they're sheep or not, it looks like everyone does DSB's. the alternatives are either huge water changes, a heck of a lot more skimming, or a wet/dry. it seems like a lot of people agree DSB's need to be changed every few years. i think i'll continue with my current plans, 4" in the main tank and 5" in the sump.
__________________
-Quinn Man, n. ...His chief occupation is extermination of other animals and his own species, which, however, multiplies with such insistent rapidity as to infest the whole habitable earth, and Canada. - A. Bierce, Devil's Dictionary, 1906
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#20
04-01-2003, 11:05 PM
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Quinn, you can keep a tank nitrate free without any sandbed. That's what the rock is for. I keep a sand bed for plankton production, not NO3 removal.
The 1.5 pounds per gallon "rule" came from needing that much rock to perform nitrate removal. If you have a lot less rock, or extra heavy bioload, then sand certainly can help.
__________________
Brad
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