DSB Dynamics- To use or loose?

[hillegom]

Question of whether a DSB is good has me curious as well

[Powertec]

I have a remote DSB for years with no problems, I even just drained the water to a minimum and then moved the tank containing it to my new house and had no problems starting a new tank. It kept my nitrates still at zero the whole time. IMO you just need to keep the sand bed clean, I have the water going over filter floss first and I also use snails to keep it stirred. Do whatever works for you. I worried about it causing a tank crash until i read on RC a TOTM with a DSB for over ten years.

[Zoaelite]

Some great reading here if anyone is interested:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-0...ture/index.php

And a good quote:

Here, bacteria and chemistry combine to produce conditions that result in the precipitation of many toxic heavy metals such as sulphide and iron hydroxide minerals. (Pincher, et al., 1999, 2000) Such materials accumulate in the tank with time, but as long as these sediments remain anoxic, those poisons are locked there and can be considered "safe."

Crashes from a DSB would only happen if this concentration over time became deadly enough to wipe the tank with a complete stir up. The only case where I could see this happen is if you had a VERY large reef tank with a DSB display which for some reason had a large area become anoxic and then this complete bottom layer was mixed up again. The limiting factor in this case though is that in a reef tank we shouldn't see a large anoxic area form (due to our large clean up crews & healthy sand beds) and because of those clean up crews the sand bed should already stay mixed.

Now in the case of a tank with liverock and a skimmer as quoted from here:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-04/newbie/index.php

This produces hazardous gasses like hydrogen sulfide and shuts down the ability of beneficial bacteria to effectively convert nitrate to nitrogen. A heavily stocked tank with only a skimmer and live rock is asking for trouble over time.

Interesting... very interesting...
and to finish off the post, a quote from Tom Murphy

Well, I'm getting ahead of myself here. I'll be talking about deep sand beds next month which, at least in my opinion, is the best way for a new reef keeper to set up their first tank.

[Zoaelite]

Another great read:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-05/newbie/index.php
Second header in has a whack load of info on DSB's.

[hillegom]

Thanks zoaElite.
Very good information there.

[aquajeep]

i use a fluidized sand bed filter.same idea but in a tube that hangs on to the side of my refugium. i can tell it helps but not a whole lot.if it was bigger i bet it would be more beneficial.i doubt there is a huge difference between dsb and bare bottom tanks as long as you clean detritus regularly and turn the sand bed up (natural hurricane effect) once in a while.

[Binare]

I've always used my overflow boxes for dsbs. Works great and fills up an otherwise useless area.

[jeno]

I use two salt buckets full of sand in my sump as my remote DSB. It never gets stirred and there is no light. This is strictly for the anoerobic benefit.

[no_bs]

This article is copied and edited from a previous post. And will be an ongoing piece of research.



Ok.

Seeing as how there is more than enough disinformation out there to fill a book, let's get a couple of things straight right off the bat.

Size Matters?

Yes size matters, the smaller the better. But, even more importantly is the diversity of size. The following link, written by Dr. Ron Shimek goes into great detail regarding the how’s and why’s of size for sandbeds.

http://www.rshimek.com/reef/sediment.htm

And for the truly devoted, a link to the list of reference material used to prepare the above document.

http://www.rshimek.com/reef/sediment_ref.htm

We really don’t need to go into why we install a DSB , but to satisfy the curious

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-0...ture/index.htm

The Right Stuff?

We worry a lot about sand bed mineral composition in the aquarium hobby. Generally, however, neither mom nature nor the critters care very much. Natural sediments in coral reef areas may be calcitic in nature, ranging from oolitic sands in areas of calcium carbonate precipitation to foraminiferan shells, coral rubble or coral sand, or they may be wholly or in part composed of lava or river runoff (terragenous sediments, including silicates, organic muds or silts). As a general rule, one finds similar organisms growing in similar-size sediments regardless of the composition. As long as there is not some inherently toxic component to the sediments, the organisms generally don’t seem to care too much about its composition.


Am I Buff Enough?

Does a DSB help buffer your system? No.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...hreadid=279502

What is really going on when you ask buffer my system? Basically you’re trying to maintain the equilibrium between pH and carbonate alkalinity, all the while keeping dissolved calcium levels at their optimum levels. This of course is a very simplified version of the chemistry that’s going on.

For a list of chemistry articles try:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...hreadid=102605

I’m not really going to go into to it here. Lets just say that “buffering” your system is better done by user intervention via water changes, 2 part additives, calcium reactors or kalkawasser and lime water drips.


The End?

A DSB is there to process waste from feeding, period. To support bethnic life forms from tiny to microscopic, both aerobic and anaerobic to process waste. Sort of like a reverse food chain. Does it matter what it’s made of? No, as long as it’s not toxic. Miracle mud was actually being dug up from the creators/inventors back yard.
So it could be silica sand, quartz crystals, dirt from your back yard or ground up calcium carbonate, the choice is yours.

[no_bs]

After doing days of research, i was sold on this method. To control nitrates, that's what the ultimate goal should be for all of us, and so much interesting life that lives there. Aswell the rule of thumb regarding LR (1.5-2lbs/gallon) no less. So the changes are being made. No more maintenance.