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02-12-2008, 08:12 PM
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#1 (permalink)
| | Coral Banded Shrimp
Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Myerstown, PA Age: 22
Posts: 357
Karma: 127
 |  dsb questions
ok, so everyone seems to very on this one and before my tank is fully up and running I need to know if I should remove some sand, its a 12 gallon nano-cube, its gonna be a reef tank, mostly soft corals, inverts, couple fish, right now I have 20 lbs. in there and its a solid 2 inches level across the tank, should I remove some or leave it...
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...AGA 46 gal. bowfront, coralife 192watt aqualight, koralia 4, aqua c remora w/surface skim box, 40 pounds black aragonite reef sand, 50 lbs. LR...2 green chromis, 2 smiths damsels, 2 3 stripe damsels, 2 talbots, 2 blues damsels, ocellaris clown, lawnmower blenny, peppermint shrimp, skunk cleaner shrimp, 2 emerald crabs, 2 electric blue hermits, 20 some dwarf hermits, 3 mexican turbos, 4 jubo ceriths(with hundreds of babies), 9 astreas, zoas, porites | 
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02-12-2008, 08:14 PM
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#2 (permalink)
| | Peppermint Shrimp
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 431
Karma: 175
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It depends on if you want some substrate to look nice or a DSB. Personally I'd leave it as is, but some people will have different opinions. 
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55gal,216 watt Tek T5, 45#LR, 45#LS, 3 maxi-jet 900's on a natural wavemaker timer,phosban reactor, 5 gal fuge (built out of standard 10 gallon tank) with chaeto and feather caulerpa, sealife systems protein skimmer, wet/dry, 3 blue/green chromi, 1 skunk cleaner shrimp, 1 coral beauty,1 scopas tang, 2 false percs, 5 mexican turbo snails, assorted dwarf blue leg hermits, astrea snails, and nerite snails | |
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02-12-2008, 08:21 PM
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#3 (permalink)
| | PICTURE POLICE
Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Miami, FL Age: 40
Posts: 6,280
   
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I personaly like 1"-2" sb. If i where you, I would just leave it. _________ 10 yr old system, 90g Corner-megaflow DT, custom 55g sump/refug, 692w lighting, Mag-18, AquaC EV 180, AC-Jr, Pin-Point Cal monitor and too many corals and fish to list. Happy Reefing  | |
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02-12-2008, 08:23 PM
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#4 (permalink)
| | Coral Banded Shrimp
Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Myerstown, PA Age: 22
Posts: 357
Karma: 127
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I figured the DSB would provide more natural filtration, plus I figured thats more realistic to have deeper sand but I read that 1-2 inches would be good so thats what I put in, hopefully more ppl will chime in, I also read it can be a bit of a ticking time bomb...so i dunno? | |
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02-12-2008, 08:30 PM
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#5 (permalink)
| | Peppermint Shrimp
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 431
Karma: 175
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Yeah, I've gotten mixed reviews on DSB's. They're good for the tank no doubt, but I've heard nasty stuff about problems occurring when its stirred up to much, something about anaerobic stuff in the bottom of it. I don't remember the details. Although this is just hearsay so if someone chimes in with experience with a DSB listen to them because they actually have one.
Although if its a biocube do you really want to take up a lot of room with 4+ inches of sand? You don't have a lot of height to deal with anyways do you?  DSB are probably better suited to non-nano tanks so once again just my .02 leave it as is. | |
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02-12-2008, 08:33 PM
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#6 (permalink)
| | Coral Banded Shrimp
Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Myerstown, PA Age: 22
Posts: 357
Karma: 127
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well its only 2 inches deep so its not taking up a huge lot of room, I like the looks, so we'll see what others say and then make a choice, looking like its gonna be left alone | |
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02-12-2008, 10:45 PM
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#7 (permalink)
| | Vlamingii Tang
Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Columbus, Indiana Age: 24
Posts: 1,887
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i've always heard under 2 1/2 your fine. mine is pushing it so the main thing i've heard is to make sure it is stirred up. will be putting in some nassarius snails before long, that should do the trick. so what i've heard you should be fine but i agree lets let some others chime in _________ 55 gallon reef aquarium, Tetratec PF500 filter, 2 110 watt URI Super Actinic VHO actinics, 2 250 watt metal halides, Reef Optix 2 reflectors, Blue Wave 3 ballast, AquaC Remora skimmer Born 1/3/08 My Tank Thread My Tank Video My 2nd Tank Video  | |
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02-12-2008, 10:50 PM
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#8 (permalink)
| | Giant Squid
Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: TN Age: 32
Posts: 3,915
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You're good on sand, I always use 1-2"s...
Deep sandbeds have a reverse effect over time and will become a solid. Ive seen it first hand. We broke down 2 tanks that were both DSB's and we pulled out huge chunks of black rock like crap that use to be sand. They had only been set up 3.5-4yrs. 125g and a 120g with tunze's and seio's for flow, both were RR. Had sand sifting stars and snails, various sand sifting gobies and it still fouled up.
Lets just say he doesnt use DSB's anymore. _________ [center]Renaming Our Corals "Believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it." Andre Gide | |
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02-13-2008, 05:40 AM
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#9 (permalink)
| | Coral Banded Shrimp
Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Myerstown, PA Age: 22
Posts: 357
Karma: 127
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alright, in that case its staying that way, I see how that could cause a mess in a larger tank though, I make sure there is something in there to stir the sand up when I start adding things, or I'll do it by hand every month or so... | |
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04-05-2008, 06:54 PM
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#10 (permalink)
| | Plankton
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 23
Karma: 19
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Just throwing in my 2c's in here. Sry Its a little off topic.
I will start by saying that I have'nt set up my reef tank as of yet, but have been doing heavy research for some time in preperation for my plunge into salt water, so all my knowledge is academic. I want to share some of the info i have found re dsb.
Sry geekdafied not truing to argue with you, more in the nature a friendly dispute...
I might suggest that perhaps the bed was incorrectly setup. Quote: |
Deep sandbeds have a reverse effect over time and will become a solid
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we pulled out huge chunks of black rock like crap that use to be sand
| Yes clumps are bad, but they only clump if set up incorrectly. Particle size seems to be a importiant factor for a sucessful dsp (0.05mm to 0.2mm ). To large grain size is belived to be the cause of the clumping. I also remember reading somewhere that gobies can be bad for dsp to much disruption of the layers or some such thing. Quote: |
Lets just say he doesnt use DSB's anymore
| Sry to hear that, Allthough they are not truely needed they are very beneficial.
More on topic. 2 inches isnt generally thought of as a dsb, so shouldent cause any problems associated with dsb's only problem i can forsee it if is large enough size to trap waste (a problem i have in one of my cichlid tanks).
Any how here are some good articles that have won me over to the dsb way of thinking.
The first is by Ph. D. Ron Shimek Quote: |
With some 35 years of experience as a marine ecologist behind me, I can say that THE most important component of a coral reef aquarium is a deep sand bed
| Deep Sand Beds
the second is by Peter Cunningham The Deep Sand Bed - One Of The Most Effective Filtration Methods. | Aquarists Online | Saltwater Aquarium Resources And Information | |
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