Kermit Posted January 23, 2005 Report Share Posted January 23, 2005 hi All, just about to set up a DBS and have a couple of questions. 1. Is there a recomended water flow? If so does anyone know the calculation? 2. I have a 4'L x 20"W x 18"H tank my total water volume is 260L, (tank & sump) i only have room for a 20"L x 16"W x 10"H DBS, is this big enought? Any information would be a great help, thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted January 23, 2005 Report Share Posted January 23, 2005 almost any size DSB (im talking area, not height) is sufficient - getting the right size substrate is most important. i have a very good article somewhere, will post it when i find it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted January 24, 2005 Report Share Posted January 24, 2005 almost any size DSB (im talking area, not height) is sufficient - getting the right size substrate is most important. Are you sure? I've read that the DSB should be no smaller than 1/4 or 1/3 (can't remember) the size of the display tank to be useful. As for substrate in Europe many people just use 'southdown' sand from a building compnay, not sure what its for, perhapps goes in concrete? In the USA lots of people just use sand 1-2mm (1/16 inch) from the Building Depot. Depth of the sand bed seems to also be a very important factor. Again from what i've read if its less than 2 inches deep its good for aesthetic reasons with little true biological benifit, or if its over 8 inches its a DSB with anerobic areas for Nitrate consumption etc. Anything between 2-8 inches is just a trap for gunge and fish poo. Thasts what i've read, no doubt there are many different opnions. A few months back on reefkeeping online there is some good info (over 2 months I think about DSB written by Eric Bourneman, worth a read. He is 'for' them and uses them himself. I am running 3 sand beds, 2 shallow (1 in tank, 1 in old tank) and 1 DSB in dump (3 foot tank). Not sure if it helps or not, my Nitrates are 0 (again to avoid being flamed, 0 means not detected by Salifert). Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted January 24, 2005 Report Share Posted January 24, 2005 Nitrates are 0 (again to avoid being flamed, 0 means not detected by Salifert) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RnB Posted January 24, 2005 Report Share Posted January 24, 2005 I have been reading some interesting stuff about running a DSB, but draining small ammounts of water from the very bottom of the DSB (without disturbing it (ie via a tap off or buried pipe etc). People say the stuff you take out really stinks, as much as skimmer stuff. goto reef central and hunt around, there is lots of interesting discussions going on.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted January 24, 2005 Report Share Posted January 24, 2005 Mine is 2" of river sand (well washed), and has done a great job in reducing nitrates. It's roughly 2 square foot, which would make it 1/3 of the area of my tank. Flow rate is around 200-300L per hour through it. Just a warning though, as great as they are, they are bound to "crash" at some point, releasing phosphates. The trick is to know when to fold, and dump it and start from scratch. How do you tell? I have no idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RnB Posted January 24, 2005 Report Share Posted January 24, 2005 what mm diameter is most of the sand layton? when you say flow rate you mean over it? or through it? Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted January 24, 2005 Report Share Posted January 24, 2005 Don't know, but it's typical silica beach sand sized grains. Flow rate is the amount of water being pumped into the tank it is in. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kermit Posted January 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2005 Cheers guy's with the main tank i have the DBS tank is 1/3 of it's size in area so sweet. I was thinking of running the outlet of my skimmer through into the DBS as my circulation pump (400-500l/hr), is this a good idea or does this prevent the DBS from working to it's full potential? Maybe i should run my main sump return pump though the DBS (1000-1100L/hr) or is this to much circulation? What ya think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted January 24, 2005 Report Share Posted January 24, 2005 I'd run the skimmer outlet through it. It will help prevent the bed filling as quick with detritus. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquatopia Posted April 23, 2005 Report Share Posted April 23, 2005 the Watford Aquarium in England used to have an interesting article on DSB's - they seem to have removed it now though from their site. I daresay if you email Danny there he will be happy to help. I was going to set one up in my reef over there and he advocated several different grades of sand - although i cant remember if this was meant to be mixed or layered. It was something to do with allowing the creepies and crawlies to move around (although i may be spouting rubbish here - thats just what springs to mind, and i have to admit, of the ones i saw in the UK they all had varying grades of sand). Im not sure why they have to crash and start leeching phosphates - or whatever - whats the explaination behind that? Of the people i have spoken to, most have had them for years!? Eric Borneman is a total advocated and i believe he reckons on 6-8 inches plus as pies said. He also is keen on caulerpa (harvested regularly). But then from conversations i have had with him in the past, he also has the ability to pump fresh ocean water into his system. Another thing he is keen on is surge/wave tanks !! Now theres yet another topic. What a fascinating hobby... :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Control Posted April 23, 2005 Report Share Posted April 23, 2005 I set up a naro vacume. and once every month I would do a very small amount of carefull vacuming. Not half and half or anything like that but just random, I could see where had I had been last time. The biggest cause for these things to crash is when they get so blocked up with fine debris that they loose all ability to breath. They may be anerobic but they must be able to breath. All anerobic reactors have flow throught the media it may be small but it is still there. Sand beds don't have flow at the bottom which causes buildup of debris this must be periodically removed. They must also be placed after a skimmer, Only refugiums and algae turf scrubbers if you use them are setup before for obvious reason. Aaron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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