DSB, SSB or BB Experiences

[vanreefer]

Hey Chin,
Tanks looking good... now I know where you've been hiding

Dan

[Reefer Rob]

My main reason for the sand would be for esthetics, I really like the look of sand. A zoo bottom sounds REALLY cool though. Probably would denitrify better than a sandbed at any depth as well. I had always thought BB meant either coraline bottom or another surface to scrape.

[fishface]

does anyone know of a way to make a "removable" faux sandbed? so if you're not happy you with it...out it comes.

[dirtyreefer]

I did the faux sandbed like Chin mentioned on my new tank. I used Envirotex Lite (you can do a search for it, then check out the Canadian retailers that carry it) and glued the sand to starboard so that it could be removed if I didn't like it.

What I found when setting up my new tank is that I got a bit of an algae bloom (until the skimmer kicks in and skims out all the other crap in your tank). Since the sand is hard, the algae and coraline and everything else sticks to it so it's a b#*ch cleaning it. I found that it looked dirty all the time (with the stained green, brown and coraline algae colors), even after I scrubbed it with a course brush. Let's just say now I've buried it with a SSB and won't go back.

Basically I've tried barebottom (on my old tank, hated the look of it), faux sandbed (didn't like the dirty look), and SSB. I've never done DSB nor will I ever try it. I think I'll always be a SSB lover since every water change I siphon out as much sand as I can and replace it with new (or washed) sand to keep it clean. Never had any problems this way, but YMMV.

Maintenance wise, BB or faux sandbed is the easiest to keep clean. I just can't stand the look of BB IME. Some people can make theirs look good, but I can't. I am more for looks so I'll spend a bit of extra time replacing and siphoning sand to make my tank look as natural as possible.

[Reefer Rob]

LOL I was thinking about a SSB for esthetic reasons, now after the zoo bottom idea I'm thinking about BB for esthetic reasons. How about a fiberglass reinforced agracrete bottom moulded in a few pieces. I could be textured to look like rock (not sand), and sloped from say 3" in the back to near 0 in the front. I should still get the nutrient processing abilities of a sandbed, and the flow of a BB tank. The weight of the agracrete should be able to be included in the total weight of my live rock, thus reducing the cost of set up. My rock structures could also be attached with rods to the base for stability.

[ron101]

I had a DSB for several years and it became a big algae factory. The kind that carpets everything in the tank. Would never do one again. The theory of restocking sandbed fauna doesn't make sense to me. If they are constantly dying off - where are the nutrients going?

I also think that BB is the best for maintenance but I prefer the looks of some sand. I went with a thin layer of crushed coral that I vacuum with a syphon during water changes.

[albert_dao]

Zeovit Is The Future! Lol!