DSB questions?

[Hookman]

Hey everyone, My 55 is almost complete, I just need more LR. I also think I'm gonna add more sand before the rocks though. I read the referred article on DSBs by Shimek, and I don't know where to find a detrivore pack. He also said not to put a sand-sifting star in, but my LFS said to put in at least two. I don't want my sand to clump from lack of movement. After I get and cure my LR, what should I get to sift the sand. One more question, I have the cheesy plastic light fixtures that came with the tank, and I was gonna put two 75 watt 50/50 bulbs in them, 24 inches each. Would those bulbs melt the plastic, because the two 15 watt bulbs it came with get a little warm? Thanks for any advice! Keep Phishin!

 

[fishfreek]

the sand siftering star sifts the sand in search for food. it will and can destory your sand bed because it will eat all of your natural sand sifters like pods and worms.

If your upgrading your lights your probably going to get VHO or PC bulbs. BOth of these will take a different ballast than the NO florecents you have now. And yes they will both run hotter than the NO bulbs. Most of us build a caonpy to hold the higher output bulbs.

 

[BillyZ]

You can find "detrivore packs" at a couple online retailers.. there was just a discussion about them here not too long ago, doing a quick search should let you find the discussion threads. You can also simply suppliment your current sand with Live Sand purchased from a LFS or from a friendly hobbiest in your area that already has an established DSB. (this is basically all a detrivore pack is anyway)

The critters in the DSB do all the "sifting" you need. They move in and through the DSB constantly and they will keep the sand from clumping not only by moving it around but more so by consuming what actualy clumps the sand together. I noticed some initial clumping in my DSB when I first set up my tank. Over time, as the detrivores became more abundant and the DSB more well established the clumping dissapeared.