deep sand bed care

[Aidanflower]

I have about a 5 inch deep sand bed in my 90 gallon reef that has been running for about 10 months. I have heard about stirring the sand bed to prevent it from building up harmful stuff. some have said it is a must do and others say that you should disturb your sand bed as little as possible. i think that it sounds logical to stir your sand bed. I am curious what are your opinions on stirring a DSB. I am thinking about doing little sections, about a 7 by 7 area, every few weeks until i have stirred the entire sanded. would complete string be good or just "rake" it to loosen it up and release gasses and such be better? what are you thoughts? thanks.

 

[Ricksreef]

Fighting Conch,get three or four and they will do a great job keeping your sand bed stirred .
Plus they are fun to watch when they are out.

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[Aidanflower]

Thanks for the idea. I will most likely get a few in the near future. Will i see them much? When i feed the tank will the pop up like my other snails?


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[PB_Smith]

if it has been running undisturbed for ten months, then use caution when stirring it up and look out for any black spots in the sand bed. They could be areas of anaerobic bacteria that could release hydrogen sulfide into the tank if disturbed, and that is not a good thing.
If when stirring it you notice bubbles coming out of the sand and/or detect a rotten egg smell, then STOP and monitor the fish and be ready to possibly take them out.
I'm being a little alarmist, I know, but it is a possibility that you should watch out for.

Nassarius snails are also pretty good at stirring up the sand, but are smaller than the conch's

generally, in theory deep sand beds are to be left undisturbed except for the top couple of inches.

 

[Aidanflower]

In stirring up the sand bed this prevents the build up of hydrogen sulfide. And doing this little by little prevents a large release or the gas, correct? Also on occasion i see a small bubble of gas come out of the sand bed. Also up against the glass under the san i can see little bubbles. I assume the bubbles are hydrogen sulfide


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[PB_Smith]

In stirring up the sand bed this prevents the build up of hydrogen sulfide. And doing this little by little prevents a large release or the gas, correct? Also on occasion i see a small bubble of gas come out of the sand bed. Also up against the glass under the san i can see little bubbles. I assume the bubbles are hydrogen sulfide


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yes to all of the above, but if it hasn't been disturbed for ten months, proceed with caution. any nasty patches should be black.

 

[carey]

I had a 7 inch plus sandbed in my 125g for almost 3 years and never ever stirred or disturbed the sand myself. I had snails and hermits do some sifting but never more an inch or so into the sandbed. I never had any spikes or other issues and the system ran great.

I think the idea of a dsb is to leave it be and let it do it's thing.

 

[jonny_raff]

On youtube New York Steelo has a really good 2 part video on the dsb that really helped me understand more about it! Stirred his sand bed and took you day by day of what was happening and also talked about why a dsb is really benifical and also animals that are good and bad to have with a dsb!


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[mr_X]

NY Steelo loves to talk, but I'm not sure he's got the right idea. His sand beds are too shallow according to experts in the field. You need low oxygen zones in the sand bed or there is no point to it. stirring them up would be counter productive. I would leave that to critters to do VERY slowly.
Just google "deep sand beds" and you'll find a lot of good information.
Ron Shimek's Website... About Me
Deep Sand Beds

 

[PB_Smith]

After reading through the links above (thanks mr_X, good info) I would say it sounds as if your DSB is probably functioning as it should and you should probably just leave it alone.

You may want to consider "re-charging it" with a fresh stock of little critters for the DSB as mentioned in Ron Shimek's article.

Maybe one of the more experienced members could point you to the right vendor for such a thing.

 

[Aidanflower]

Thanks for the info guys. I think I'm going to get some more critters to stir it naturally. I have read that most snails and critters "stir" the top inch or so. Are there any that go down deep?


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[mr_X]

I don't think you want them to go too deep. The only life down there are creatures that can survive in low oxygen zones.

 

[Ingy]

The same bacteria that CAN survive in the O2 depleted zone are denitrifying bacteria. That is the whole purpose of a DSB. They feed of Nitrates and produce non-organic nitrogen gas, and of course the bad by-product of some H2S gas. Stirring the DSB will prevent any potential build up of H2S, but it also will oxygenate the DSBs deep zone, killing the Anaerobic bacteria, feeding the nitrogen cycle, and rendering the whole purpose of a DSB futile.