Have a friend that needs help - To the guru's

H

hobbietyme

[My friend has a 125g reef tank with a DSB...he wants to know if when he does a water change...should he stir his DSB up?

Or should he never touch it?

He has gotten both answers....now I am asking the ALL KNOWING pro's here....

So, which is it? Stir or not to Stir?]
 
[It depends on the sand bed. If its a true DSB full of fauna and over 3" deep, then do nothing, leave it alone.

If you have starfish and gobies etc that turn over the sand, then likley most of the fauna in it has been eaten/scavanged. If this is the case I would recommend stiring the top 1" of the sand when doing water changes.]
 
[Tell him to buy a couple of Fighting Conchs and/or a Tigertail cucumber to help keep the sandbed clean and turned.

And get him over here where we can help him personally. :p]
 
[By Dr Shimek's own accounts the DSB has several fatal flaws. A DSB is 3 to 4 inches of sand no more/ no less. The first 2 inches are aerobic (full of oxygen) and can be stir/ sifted/ or filtered. It's the next 2 + that are bad to stir... the anaerobic and anoxic region... The anaerobic region ( 2-4 inches limited oxygen) a lot of the bad stuff settles there as well as some good. The good of course being Nitrobactar (responsible for breaking down nitrate). The anoxic (no oxygen) is beyond the 4" marker. Technically it is not recommended you exceed beyond 4 inches. As Metals and other toxins build up there (killing the Nitrobactar) such as hydrogen sulfide gas, etc. As harmful deposits build up in your DSB they begin to cut in on the other regions. If the anoxic region perforates the aerobic area (oxygen) your tank is in a world of hurt.

Me personally I ocassionally add sand. Because when I do water changes I vacuum out a portion of the sand. I constantly penetrate the anoxic region (using a vacuum)and and use active carbon to remove the toxins.

I have nearly 150 gallons of water at any given time in my system which heavily delutes those toxins. Take into account that chlorine is one of the most toxic elements on earth and every day we consume it and Florine (another poison). Another words your fish can handle a limited exposure (by amount of the substance and time they are exposed) to these toxins from the anoxic region.

I also have a refugium with a CPW built in which is a kind of plenum that has a siphone or drain to pull out the harmful materials.

Key tip if you decide to use the active carbon tip only use it for 3 days and use the nitrate free version. Any more than 3 days and it will begin to release the harmful material back into your tank.]



Edited By BrianC on 1094667066
 
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