DSB, SSB or BB Experiences

[Chad]

From everything I have read and Dr Ron himeself says something similar. That a DSB is not functional in anything less than 50 some odd gals. So don't even consider it if its not atleast that size.. you might have to search tho, cuz it might be a higher gal.. I just forget it.

I had a DSB in my 20gal.. and it eventualy went to crap because you just cannot get enough bio-diversity in such a small amount of area. So I had cyano issues, algae issues.. nitrate through the roof.. it was just a giant nutrient sink that filled up in short order.

Now I run a BB in my 50gal for over a year.. nitrates are zero, I didn't even "cook" my rocks.. but man did they shed, they shedded for about a year. I have one dead spot where all my ditirutus collects, I just syphon it out every week.

I do have a bit of a PH issue because of the lack of buffering from the SB.. but that is it and I just use Kalk to balance that out with a controller.