kevan Posted March 24, 2004 Report Share Posted March 24, 2004 Hi everyone does anyone use deep sand beds and if you do how do you find them :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetskisteve Posted March 24, 2004 Report Share Posted March 24, 2004 Depends how deep, i started by having about a 3" SB but have slowly syphoned a lot of it out,not that its made a great deal of difference!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted March 24, 2004 Report Share Posted March 24, 2004 Nope, and probably never will... well definately not in a display tank, maybe I would consider doing one in a separate sump plumbed to a main tank, but even then I don't know if I would. My main problem with them is that they just seem to be "dirty", they may be alright for a year or two but then they eventually clog up with crap and crash, unless they have been frequently maintained. Maintenance is not something which appeals to me, especially when it involves piles of stinking sand and crap. I would much prefer to keep sand clean of any crap, and even, to an extent, nitrifying bacteria. I think the bacterial processes are better handled by live rock where once nitrites are converted to nitrates they can be more efficiently converted to gaseous nitrogen (due to higher densities of nitrate to support the required bacteria strains to reduce it). For this to occur in a sand bed, it requires that the bed becomes stagnant. The live rock method seems cleaner to me. So to answer your question, no I don't use a dsb, not because they don't work, they definately do, just that i'm lazy and don't want the hastle of maintaining one. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted March 24, 2004 Report Share Posted March 24, 2004 Its important that you keep in mind that a DSB means DSB. This is where Steve & I went wrong. The rule of thumb seams to be less then 2 inches or more than 8 inches. Anything that falls between, as Layton sais is a 'dirt trap' and will do more harm than good. I run a DSB in my sump, my nitrates are 0 (no vodka, Sugar, Zeovit or anything else) and you do get dfferent types of critters in there. The biggest problem with a DSB is really that they do become a trap for disolved metals (the same as live rock). So if your going to use a product like Zeovit then this stops being a problem. However if you are going to use Zeovit it rids the tanks of Nitrates anyway so not really any need for the DSB so it becomes moot. I don't agree with Layton that the DSB will crash in a few years, many people on RC running 8 year old DSBs with no ill effects. I think the DSB is one of those things thats in and out of vogue. If you are going to use one, use it in a remote sump, not the display. But I suspect you can get just as good a result without one. There is little to no maintenance on the DSB so not really an issue (I do NOTHING to mine), but it is something else that can go wrong, and probably is not adding a great deal of benifit to the tank. So yes I am using one, and yes I would use one again. However mine is in a remote sump, and I am more interested in it from a biological divertity point of view than anything else. If I was setting up a tank from scratch would I use another one? I would, but I have no claims of effectiveness but I can't imagine it hurting. Pies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevan Posted March 24, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2004 Thanks for the feed back I might try DBS in the sump later . Can you use crused marble or dolamite ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted March 24, 2004 Report Share Posted March 24, 2004 Everyone has different opnions of the DSB makeup. I am using 2 different grades of crushed coral sand. Best check on RC though as I am far from an expert. Good luck with it though be a GREAT project! Pies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetskisteve Posted March 25, 2004 Report Share Posted March 25, 2004 Cheers Pies,far quicker typist than moi, just to clarify tho i have 0 nitrates and 0 phosphates completely undetectable on low range salifert kits just luck i suspect & a bloody good R.O D.I . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted March 25, 2004 Report Share Posted March 25, 2004 Don’t think is luck Steve, just your good water management, like huge skimmer and plenty of water changes and only a few fish. Generally high nitrates/phosphates are the result of too many fish due too all the feeding. I can’t get my phosphates down to zero, even with 2 Litres of salifert phosphate remover. My results show phosphates of .25. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted March 26, 2004 Report Share Posted March 26, 2004 I agree with Reef, Steve you do massive water changes, have a massive skimmer and have a light fish load so its all good for you tank. Reef however has so many fish in his tank I am surprised the larger ones have enough room to turn around! I am trying to do the same thing. Good skimming, light fish load, light feeding, regular water changes (10% once a month minimum). Pies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted March 29, 2004 Report Share Posted March 29, 2004 http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/p ... icle_id=76 Interesting read - DSB, MUD, low stocking, lots of rock, lots of water flow (he should have brought some STREAMS!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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