filtration-didn't want to hijack

UnderwaterWorld

UnderwaterWorld

Reef enthusiast
So I was reading the the thread about filtration and I read how fatman talked about DSB being so effective. Can you explain how deep and what I should use? If I could get away with a lb of live rock per gallon and much better filtration than 2 lbs per gallon and a shallow bed that would be great. Any other filtration techniques would be great to hear, atm I'm having algae issues with my 34 g, particularly red slime and hair algae, and ofc the green algae on the glass. Would a deep sand bed help solve this?

Also I have to move my 34 g in a week. Can someone tell me how to do it? It's only a 5 minute drive which is really nice.

Thanks!!
 
For a deep sand bed to be effective, it has to be at least 4 inches deep, preferably 6 to 8 inches. In most tanks, this sucks, because you have sand taking up so much space, which means less water volume, and less animals. That's why a lot of people run a remote DSB in their refugium instead of the main tank. It can take a long time for a DSB to develop fully (Fatman has said up to 10 years), but it will start working within a year or so, commonly.
 
Yea I can see 4 inches being ok, probably borderline. Is it possible to plumb a refugium with the 46 g tank I am planning on getting. It goes with a siphon overflow and this ProClear 75 Wet/Dry w/ Bio-Balls, mini skimmer, and rio 800 for the skimmer. Could I plumb a 10 gallon tank into it to use a refugium? There I would put 6 inches or sand or so. Anther thing does the sand have to be live or can you do like a 25% live 75% not mix and it will be all the same in a couple months? When they are developed how effective are they and will they help control nusince algae growth?
 
this is a good question im buying a new tank and i was planing to put a DSB in. i heard that they work great, but i also heard that they can crash ur tank in a couple of years. howmany years usally does this take. like biff said they can take up to 10 years to be fully matured, can it crash in less then 10 years?????
 
yea I have heard things about them crashing also but have never looked into it, does anyone know the causes of the crashing and what to do to prevent this? Do nassarius snails prevent this possibly?
 
Sand beds:

1- oollitic sand - 3" deep
2- .5 to 1.5 mm reef select sand 4"
3- anything 2mm + not considered reef select 5 to 6"

IMO that is. I use item 2 for my system.
 
UnderwaterWorld said:
yea I have heard things about them crashing also but have never looked into it, does anyone know the causes of the crashing and what to do to prevent this? Do nassarius snails prevent this possibly?
Click to expand...

i thinks nassarius snails would work along with sandsifting star fish.

i was talking to the owner at the LFS and he said that they crash because theres no flow is the sand bed ,there was more to it then thats i just wasnt listening i was think about the awsome yellow wrasse that they have

i think fatman will know the answer to this.
 
Last edited:
No, sandsifting stars don't eat clams. Sandsifting stars eat pretty much anything living in the sandbed, which is why I don't recommend them.

Nassarius snails and gobies will help if you have a DSB. They turn over the sand slowly.
 
I believe what depths John is stating is minimum recommended levels for those grades of sand, not the ideal depths. And then it is the minimum level for a deep sand bed that can denitrify and that dissolves supplying some trace elements and calcium. As for amount of space taken up by a sand bed, well take away all the excess live rock that is not needed but for appearance with an active deep sand bed and you really have lost no more space than with just live rock and an inch or to of substrate on the bottom of your tank. I like to fill my tanks with large corals not small corals covering large piles of live rock. Live rock is OK to look at but it is not why I keep a reef tank. I do however start out with quite a bit of dead rock (1 pound per gallon of tank capacity) and about 1/2 of a pound of live rock per gallon of tank capacity and I remove it steadily over the first year the tank is established until only about 1/4 to 1/2 of a pound (total combined) per gallon remains in the tank. This amount is based more on aesthetics than need for the nitrification that live rock can provide. Every bit of live rock that is not needed means more space for coral expansion from growth and more space for more frags. That is why I keep reef tanks, in order to have tanks filled with corals, not live rock. A deep sand beds micro fauna can take up to ten years to fully develop, but this means to be full of all kinds of critters in addition to the bacteria needed to nitrify and denitrify. This also means in tanks that do not start out with good inoculations just spotting incoming hitch hikers to populate the sand bed. There are deep sand beds literally crawling with all kinds of life forms when started with GARF grunge and live sand from Tampa bay live rock. It only takes a few pounds of good live sand to give a deep and bed a good kick start. Brittle stars are just about inevitable with most live sands. I do not add gobies that dig, just Mandarins after the tank has aged. I like nassarius snails and purchase them reglarly, they are even cheap when bought by the hundred.
 
Last edited:
I think that you want to go smaller, less than 1mm. Check with Fatman or RCPilot, they are the most prolific users of DSB that come to mind.
 
I just bought 90lbs of This Stuff that fatman pointed out to me $20 for 30lbs is a awesome price but be prepared to pay for shipping, i'd try your luck at finding some at a local fish store even if you gotta call all over and drive an hour to pick it up. unfortunatly with MarineDepot the bags of sand don't fall under the free shipping with payments over $175, I tried that. lol

BTW im making a good size refugium with a 5"+ DSB, pics and a thread to come in a day or 2
 
DANG! :frustrat: im gonna be pissed if my petsmart has it. I better NOT go and see if they do or you guys might get a glimps of me on the news.
 

Similar threads

MikeMartin
(Feedback Needed) My plan for a natural low-tech nano reef.
Replies
4
Views
3K
ErinCahir
ErinCahir
Goob
FEEDBACK NEEDED: Sump Design
Replies
1
Views
2K
mariobrothersleeve
mariobrothersleeve
istrahd
New to SW, I Want a Reef Tank!
2 3 4
Replies
62
Views
7K
istrahd
istrahd
istrahd
A Few Things Everyone New to SW Tanks Should Know
Replies
4
Views
2K
ErinCahir
ErinCahir
usmarine_0369
65gl Simple Saltwater Reef Setup
Replies
2
Views
1K
usmarine_0369
usmarine_0369
Back
Top