Egg Crate

OK I am going with ReefBruh's suggestion of egg crate then rock then sand. My question is what and how does this effect sand sifter's. I dont want them to hurt there little noses.

 

It will not effect them at all. Especially if you go with a DSB.

 

It wont affect them - but sand sifters are pretty difficult critters to care for in the long term.

You need a tank of 200+ gallons and an ESTABLISHED DSB for them to thrive. Then they will effectively kill out all of the microfauna of your DSB over the first few months and likely end up starving to death before the end of the first year.


There are certain things which are taken for granted in this hobby and the fact that we can get so many species which are well-known to be fragile and often hopelessly fickle is one of them.

If you really do have a build going of a really large tank - then by all means - egg crate is a great way to protect the bottom of your tank and in a DSB it will not affect the feeding/grazing habits of a SSS.


Putting a SSS in a smaller tank that has only completed its initial cycle will be almost certain, slow death IMHO.

 

protect it from what? I don't understand where this idea comes from. do people's tank bottoms really shatter when an unsecured rock lands on a pile of sand?

 

I would never encourage a DSB in a DT.

 

To each, his own I guess?

Are there particular reasons you do not like DSBs in a DT?

I mean besides the obvious drawback of if power goes out the DSB is a FREIGHT TRAIN of oxygen consumption and can lead to issues.

Of if you do not know how to tend to it it can become a huge problem. But cannot the same be said of bioballs? If they are properly maintained they will be effective - if neglected only more headache.



But other than that, a properly maintained DSB has been, at least for me, very good with nitrates (zero consistently for over 8 months).

I think ppl with bad experiences perhaps did not treat their DSBs as they needed to be treated. Introducing most gobies, SS Stars, etc will KILL a DSB faster than it was established. But using the proper CUC and proper methods of DSB husbandry - IME at least it has not been any problem at all.

But as I said, to each his own as DSBs will not work for everyone just as much as one person may be able to keep a mandarin while another might fail attempt after attempt. There are a lot of variable and very few "blanket" solutions.

 

I have never been unfortunate to experience this. I agree - not sure where this idea comes from.

Probably more of a security blanket thing.

 

Well, for starters, I would also encourage people to stay away from bio-balls.

Bio balls, like a DSB in a DT, are just a harder way of doing something. There are easier ways to accomplish the same thing that don't require extra work and maintenance.

Yeah, bioballs and filters work, if you feel like cleaning them constantly. Or you can get lots of LR and never clean it... But the world is full of people that don't mind extra work for whatever reason... They can keep using bio-balls.

There are multiple ways to skin a cat. Agreed. I like ways that aren't prone to going bad if you make a mistake.

I'm not against DSB mind you, just DSB in the DT. Mostly because it is unworkable in there. If it were in the fuge for example, and something was amiss with it, you could dump it, start a fresh one, whatever. In the DT, if it goes bad, that's it, you're stuck with it. That's the main thing for me, is that it's inaccessible in the DT.

 

I hear ya about not recommending Bioballs - i would never either. Guess that was a bad example. But like you said - it's best to stay with methods that aren't prone to going bad if you make a mistake. The same can be said of the tank in general - if you accidentally introduced flatworms, briopsis, or some other invasive nasties - you might have to tear the WHOLE tank down - wouldnt matter what sand bed you had then.

But you are right in that the DSB does not have a lot of "fixes" if/when something goes wrong. That's all the more motivation to me to keep on top of maintenance and to research the stuffing out of any and all additions to the tank.

Your points are all well made, and well taken tho.

 

Thanks again