DSB?

[s_stinger]

What's the verdict on this? because lately i've been hearing that it doesn't work after a long period of time.
Personally, i've used DSB the first time i started marine tank about 2 years ago and i never have any problem with NO3. but i'm getting a second tought now. If i remove the DSB, what's the best way to do this, should i go slow? also what about the NO3? coz i'm afraid if i start removing the sand then i'm gonna have problem with NO3.
Is there any way to keep the nitrate level down, apart from just doing water change in a none DSB tank?

 

[Len]

Not sure what the popular opinion is, but I've got a tank with a 4" DSB that's still "working" well after 9 years. The thought has never occurred to me to remove my substrate.

 

[Anonymous]

My DSB is 4.5", going well for 4 years now.

When I set up my new reef in 2 months, I'll be doing with at least a 5" DSB if not more...

Peace,

Chip

 

[Anonymous]

The last thing I would do is eliminate the DSB from my setups. It has worked well for me, and I'm not going to change things without a VERY good reason! Some people are over it, some people never used them - there is more than one way to do this. Having said that, I can't imagine doing without the incredible waste processing capability that the sand bed affords me.

Cheers
Jim

 

[fungia]

i am still planning a dsb for my 100g. i havent heard too many bad stuff about it. can you tell me what kind of stuff you have heard?

without dsb, i think you just need to do more water changes and use more protein skimming or carbon to remove the nitrates. maybe macroalgae too.

 

[Anonymous]

i am still planning a dsb for my 100g. i havent heard too many bad stuff about it. can you tell me what kind of stuff you have heard?

a lot of what I have heard seems to be more speculation that fact. The best suggestion that I can recommend is keep good tank maintenance and do not overstock. As to the long-term stability of a DSB will all have to wait and see. As People's sand beds get older we will get a clearer perspective on its long-term usefulness.
_________________
Mercedes B Class

 

[Anonymous]

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/showt ... adid=16741

 

[Anonymous]

A DSB is fine if your going to have a big tank but if you have a 50-60 why would you have all that sand. I ahve a 55 gal for a year nw with about 1" and is has been perfect. Now if you have a 100 gal maybe a different story.

 

[s_stinger]

thanks for the link galleon

It's good to hear that there are mature tanks with DSB as the case with Len, Marillion and Jim because i have no first hand experience in keeping tank with DSB for longer than 2 years. However have any of you or anyone you know has a tank with DSB that actually crashed (due to DSB)? Just wanna look at the statistics if possible.

I'm planning to set up another tank, a 6 footer (150 or 180G?) with DSB. So I would be in a very difficult situation if it turns out later that the DSB has to be removed. Dont get me wrong, coz i really like the idea of DSB and it seems to work for my tank so far. It's just that the thought of me probably having to redo the system in a few years time doesnt appeal me at all.

Questions for Seawiz and those of you that has 1" sand or less, what is the average NO3 level in the tank and what do you do to keep the level low or how often do you do water change?

 

[s_stinger]

BTW that's a very nice tank Seawiz

 

[Will C1]

dsb's work great i use them in all my tanks and i reccomend them to all of my friends. i have had no problems with it for 4 years now. andi moved it once!. no as for the mud junk i have had a tank crash from it.

also if you dont like that huge layer of sand you can use very fine stuff and go a little shallower. a 2" dsb of south downs or olitic sand will work the same as a 4" dsb of live sand.

 

[Anonymous]

From what I gather, and I've watched the events unfold pretty closely over the past year, the most recent negative DSB press came out as soon as Ron Shimek's "model" DSB tank crashed. All of a sudden he's writing articles about how they are actually heavy metal sponges that work until they are "full" and then they start leaching nasties back into the water column (and so does your live rock, of course).

Personally, I think it was only food to feed his current reef-tanks-are-toxic trend and his reasoning is the only one I've heard of in which the crash was attributed to the DSB. Most importantly, he has no proof that it was the case in the least. I know of plenty of folks with 3+ year old DSBs - myself included.

To me, the biggest drawback of a DSB is that it can limit the type/amount of water flow in the tank. Some people end up with either a perpetual sandstorm or 80% of their sand in a hill on one side of the tank. If this is not a factor or issue for you, I can't really think of any reason to not use at least a 2-3" layer of sand. My new 120 will have a 4" layer of the ol' Southdown...with 6" of silica in the sump :? ...we'll see how that goes.

 

[Anonymous]

"My tank crashed, and it has a DSB" is not evidence that DSBs crash tanks. Causation.....correlation......
A lot of folks think that because a tank crashes after 4 years--and it has a DSB--it must be the problem. One could use this logic to say that just about anything in the tank caused the crash.