To dsb or not to dsb - That is the question...

B

BnG

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[I guess I don't understand what i dont know about the +'s and -'s of a deep sand bed.

I'm onboard for a natural nitrate reduction strategy and understand the concept of an anerobic zone supporting nitrate consuming critters.

There seems to be lots of controversy though, about their benefit. i guess I'm not clear on what all the pitfalls are and how to avoid them.

I read here "I figure it is good for approx 5 yrs"(Marc if I remember correctly?) Does that mean scoop it out totally and replace?! That sounds a lot like starting over.

My immediate reservation is giving up tank space in my 75g. A meager(?) 4" depth is over 17% of my total display volume.

FYI- My setup up is a 75g RR with a 40H partitioned for a refugium. Would a 4,5,6" bed in the refugia area benefit me appreciably?

Brandon]
 
[PS

A drop of water hasn't hit my 75 yet and I'm already feeling tank size envy! :p

B]
 
[If you can keep you tank up successfully for 5 years the the DSB was worth it. :)

If you are succesful for more than a year or two , YOU WILL BUY A BIGGER TANK :)]
 
[There seems to be a 5 year syndrome that occurs, although I'm not positive if it is "old tank syndrome" or "old reefer syndrome". The latter is the guy/gal that is far more lax and less attentive to the tank as a whole, and things are building up quietly although everything appears to be okay.

I usually test my tanks weekly, but I'm noticing that I'm doing it more like every 2 or 3 weeks now. Being very in tune with your tank can prevent problems in the long run.

The DSB has been touted as the best way to deal with nitrates. However, a number of people have recently bailed on this idea.

Myself, I have a 55g with a DSB that will be 1 year old in November. My 29g has 2" of CC for 5 years. I vacuum the 29g about 4 times a year.

My opinion is that near 5 years, it is time to suck out all the of the DSB, and replace it with new sand and seed it with a few (literal) cups of the old sand. There are too many toxics in the 5 year old stuff to take any chances adding more. It isn't starting over, it is like replacing the transmission on your car. You don't want to do it, but if you want to keep driving you do it.]
 
[The true problem is what is filtering out the bad particles in the deep sand bed? I think :idea: the key is deep rooted plants. Worms, nitrobacter, other sand creatures, and nonsurface reactants live and consequently die and decay in our sand beds. The plants feed off the decay and the roots allow water and air to get in forcing bad particles to the surface. It's really no different from gardening except there is more limited space! If anyone is intrested floridapets.com has some good choices??? :;):]
 
[How much reduction in depth occurs over time? I've read quite a lot.

It seems to me if there is a noxious anerobic layer at the bottom of the bed and the top layer is slowing dissolving away that this would be the reason that an old dsb would eventually become detrimental to water quality.

So...(0 experience theory coming) If you devised a way to keep your rock from settling with the dissolution of the bed then you could add new sand to the top and keep the anerobic layer where is belongs, deep within the bed. Keeping a healthy aerobic layer at the top.

B]
 
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