Deep sand bed or no deep sand bed debate

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Gti_Leo

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what do you guys think, is a deep sand bed worth having. do you need one to house burrowing inverts and fish? right now i have 1.5-2 inches os sand bed is that enough to house pistol shrimp and yellow watchman goby as well as some nassarius snails?

i've been hearign with a deep sand bed you should never move the sand around to much, as you can cause hydrogean sulfide into the water if you get decaying food and detrius under the sand bed
 
i have heard of people's tanks crashing due to a sand bed expelling toxins. it was with beds that were 5 years old or more. i've never tried a DSB though, and state this is only hearsay.
i have always been told that the best way to have a DSB is in a separate tank. something that can be closed off from the DT if necessary.

i have also heard that the filtration benefits are excellent.

i will be implementing one in my next system, but it will be a separate tank from the DT.

i guess we need the folks with 10 year old DSB's to speak up.


btw- what's in the bed is not what keeps the nassarius snails fed. it's what you put in the tank. they eat meaty foods. uneaten fish food is their main diet IME.
 
i feed my fish pellets and once a week mysis shrimp. i eventually plan on makign my own frozen fish food as i stated in a thread a few weeks ago but right now i just have two clowns and they are still small.

i'm also not talkign about whats in the bed i've just read that they need a 4 inch deep sand bed since they are sifting snails
 
I`ve never tried a deep sandbed either but only because I dont like the look of them.
 
i agree it takes up a bit of space, i more consider it for the burrowing inverts.

i think i may eventually do a HOB refugium and put a DSB in there and see how much nitrate it sucks out
 
I have had DSB for awhile now. I like the look. there is just some pros and cons.
One thing i have found is that yes if you stir it up it will cause your tank to crash(trust me it has happened lost tons of corals that day) But truly if you are looking into burrowing fish they help fro my past experience. This may not be it but i think they help because they are constantly moving the sand so therefore making it were toxins cant be in there or at least stay in their long. Although i must admit just my opinion having a DSP you always run the small risk that your tank will crash. But burrowing fish will help. If i remember right if you have a DSB You do not want to go above 5 inches. Then you have a high risk of crashes
 
i've been watchign some videos on youtube by a guy named newyorksteelo and he is extremely knowlegdable and has only had a deep sand bed in his when hes never vaccumed and the only time hes had a crash was at the beginning when he moved the sand slightly while cleaning the glass.

the sand stores little air pockets and slowly releases them, and it slowly reduces the nitrates. he says the first ince has critters that act like the critters i nthe live rock, and in the lower part of the sand there are critters that live there that require less air which turn the nitrate into other gases that are slowly released to the surface of the water
YouTube - Marine Aquarium Deep Sand Beds Pt. 1 of 2

 
Hey is knowledgeable but annoying with the length of time he takes to explain things
 
fair enough but would you rather wait and get the right information, or get the wrong info and kill everything
 
The only reason I have a DSB was because I wanted burrowing fish and I didn't want the rocks to fall and hit the bottom glass. Also, since the rock shelves and floor are a few inches higher, I have a better chance of keeping corals that need better light (also keeping me from "needing" to buy MH).
 
imo those beds in the videos are too shallow. he also says you can disturb an old sand bed, but not a new one. that doesn't make any sense to me. disturbing a brand new sand bed will have no ill effects.
he also says that dead spots or areas of low oxygen are bad for a DSB, and i was told that's the whole reason for the DSB in the first place. anaerobic bacteria, which colonize these low oxygen zones are the reason nitrate get's broken down into nitrogen gas. you don't want to stir the bed up and allow oxygen rich water to reach these areas. might as well have a 1" sand bed then.
this is a good read-
Deep Sand Beds

another-
The Deep Sand Bed – One Of The Most Effective Filtration Methods. | Aquarists Online | Aquarium Fish Resources And Information
 
Im currently running about 1.5" of sand on the bottom of my tank. I've stirred it up a few times by accident (cleaning glass) and have had no ill effects. Made the water a little cloudy but that's it. I don't think its necessary with all the filtration devices you can run these days. I know its more natural but is it as effective? Probably not.
 
thanks i'll give them a read when i get home tomorrow.

he said in the videos at the beginning in the lower half of the sand is where the nitrates from the top layer ar broken down into oxygen and slowly realeased to the top which is how you explained it. he also said that in newaly formed beds its not good to stir it and get food and such under the sand where it decomposes and turns into ammonia and nitrites. there are no critters there that have established that will break down these into nitrates and the lower part has not established the critters that turn those nitrates into air.

i realise later on in the video he gets a little confusing but at the begining he does talk abotu how it works and then stirs up the bed a little and you see the air bubbles rise to the surface of the water

Im currently running about 1.5" of sand on the bottom of my tank. I've stirred it up a few times by accident (cleaning glass) and have had no ill effects. Made the water a little cloudy but that's it. I don't think its necessary with all the filtration devices you can run these days. I know its more natural but is it as effective? Probably not.

true with the media available these days there may bot be a total benifit to it, but in my eyes its always better to be clean, the cleaner the better as well the media does not last for ever and in the long run it costs more to firlter it then to have a natural growing critter that constantly reproduces as others die off
 
DSB's are effective. i'm just not sure about the long haul with them. is there anyone reading that has a 10 year old tank with a 5" sand bed?

in a short time i'll be doing some research on this. i will post my findings, but it's going to take a while.
 
I did quite a bit of reading before i put my DSB in and I feel like it really did help to reduce my nitrates. Full disclosure I only had the tank for a little over a year. I just had to take it down to move so i can't speak to the long term of a DSB.

From everything i have read it can only cause a crash if you disturb it. If you want burrowing fish or inverts i would probably put 3-4 inches in and that will be good enough for most of them. Because they constantly turn up the sand you will not see the nitrate reducing effects of a DSB. They are keeping the sand oxygenated and so the bacteria that consumes nitrates will not grow.

If you want a DSB i would strongly suggest donig a remote bed. I kept mine in the sump (approx a 2' x 2' x 7") for my 90 and it was great since i was feeding so heavy because of my anthias. This also allows you to cut it off from the system if you ever need to disturb the bed. I believe some people suggest changing out about 1/4 of the bed every 2-3 years. You would need to make sure none of the water gets in the display when you do that though.
 
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