Deep Sand Bed

[kien]

I had a deep sand bed in my first sump. I hated it. It got gross and annoying.

[corallivore]

Why not just use a plenum?

[LifeIsGreat]

Once a DSB is established it should never be disturbed, or it will kill the tank. I have a DSB: I was a bit liberal with my siphoning one day and my corals shut up for a month and I got an outbreak of cyano. I really like my DSB and the benefits it creates for the tank, but they must be used with caution.

[corallivore]

Originally Posted by LifeIsGreat

Once a DSB is established it should never be disturbed, or it will kill the tank. I have a DSB: I was a bit liberal with my siphoning one day and my corals shut up for a month and I got an outbreak of cyano. I really like my DSB and the benefits it creates for the tank, but they must be used with caution.

Yes but they do have a shelf life and eventually, you start to get symptoms of old tank syndrome.

[syncro]

I really liked a shallow bed in the display tank and deep bed in a compartment in the sump

* DSB gets ugly along the glass b/c exposed to light
* Easier to replace the sand if you ever want to
* Found it better than equivalent volume of live rock for keeping nitrates down

I also ran a DSB in the display for 3 or so years. Was always worried about disturbing it / releasing deadly gases but it never happened. It has been a while, but I think I replaced portions of it over the course of a month to try and solve an issue. YMMV

My "DSB"s was probably 5" deep so might be on the shallower end. I have a smaller tank so couldn't go much deeper than that.

[corallivore]

I'm going old school.

I always had "shallow" DSB's like you're describing.

This time around, I dropped around $300.00 for sand, around 160lbs.

It's probably 8-10 inches in my 36" tank.

I used 1/2 live sand and 1/2 of some dry sand I soaked in substrate sauce.

There was almost no cycle. (I used bleach cured live rock I've been cooking for months as well).

I don't run a sump (RSM 250) but agree, with the option, it's a cleaner way to achieve the benefits.

[albert_dao]

You'll never be able to address 'old tank syndrome properly once it has settled in if you have any form of DSB.