DSB Plenum

[Myka]

Originally Posted by darb

I am 100% convinced that a DSB with plenum is the only way to go. In a nutshell I believe that the more of an ecosystem that we can adapt to a tank the better environment we can provide. Properly managed, like any other form of life it will be a great asset.

I think you're right to a certain extent, but by no means do I think all the effort and imo "risk" is needed to achieve a healthy environment. As I'm sure you know, it is important to make sure grain sizes are correct and in the proper place within the DSB, and that the correct microfauna are introduced to look after the DSB. DSBs will often go "sour" after a few years, and people have all sorts of theories as to why this happens. Personally, I don't think it's worth that risk when we have all sorts of other options these days. Things like an efficient algae chamber in the sump for chaeto and a properly setup refugium for microfauna (note: these two are very different and separate from eachother) can achieve the same results in a natural way, but without what I consider the "risk" of a DSB. That's just my opinion though.

Originally Posted by darb

But this project is actually for a FW tank experiment that I want to try, it should also work in FW, hopefully.

Hmmm...well I may be wrong here as I'm not up to snuff in the FW world much anymore so I may have forgotten a few things, but I don't believe there are anaerobic bacteria in FW that will process nitrate like they do in SW. I believe the only way to be rid of nitrate in FW is plant growth. I wouldn't mind hunting around the net for some published info on that to see if I'm correct for sure, but sorry I don't have time right now. Please correct me if I am wrong, and if you stumble across a link to describe please post.