I think my DSB is offically crashing!!

[captivereefs]

Well if anyone read my last DSB post you know that my bi color blenny dug a hole to the bottom o my 5" DSB. THats when all the trouble began. I have since lost the blenny and some zoo's. My corraline bleached and now all my corals are starting to bleach out. I just lost some brown/green fuzzy mushrooms, blue zoanthids (this really bums me out) Most of my other zoo's are fading dast and my green ricordia is already starting to bleach! My PH will not go over 7.89? Time for a tank teardown i guess! I think I am now anti DSB. It worked good for 5 years than it was gone in a week!

 

[SquishyFish]

Did you ever rule out a sulfide pocket? If the dsb isnt aerated properly, "lumping" will occur and trap pockets of sulfides.

Excerpt from Dr. Rons article on DSB

Lump formation is a disaster for the biological filter. The lumps restrict water flow and trap organic material where it can rot. Additionally, lump formation shuts down the biological filter by covering the bacteria and preventing them from metabolizing nutrients. This, in turn, causes the tank nutrient levels to skyrocket.

 

[scuba_steve]

has to be an answer to this ! do ya have a 2 year old that might of tried to help clean the tank when ya wasnt looking ?? hehehe have had that happen to me before but was easy to tell due to the foam pouring all over the place heheh

sorry to hear your loss !! like to know the cause of this though !! i dont feel it was your sand bed imo !! or the blenny the reason !! i have 3 jaw fish that dig non stop so im confused

 

[SquishyFish]

But if your sand bed has more infauna than his, yours wouldnt suffer from the "lumping" syndrome and wouldnt develop the pockets of sulfides.

 

[Doan]

I'm with steve that seems a bit drastic for your DSB to be the sole cause. However there has to be way to correct it with out a complete tank teardown. Perhpaps (and I am just trying to help with some suggestions please don't redicule me ) Perhaps adding some buffer and if you have it a mechanical filter just to help your biological filtration get back on track if indeed something has happend from the sand bed. I also might consider if the filtration is indeed destroyed picking up a bag of marine bio spira and perhaps adding that to help the bacteria recover. Or at least piciking up a bag and getting your zoos out of there and into a different tank as if you have something toxic in there you don't wanna put it in a med tank. Also there was an interesting article in the Reef and saltwater fish annual that came out this month about coral desiease and how it spreads scarry fast causing bleaching and alot of the things you are describing.. Perhaps it's the dieoff that is causeing the water problems not the other way around.. Also last but not least have you added anything new that might be putting voltage into the tank. That also could be something to look at faulty powerhead etc.. Ok I am going to shut up now cause I really want to help (you have been great for me) but I don't wanna ramble too much on stuff I am sure you have already thought of. At the same time I dont' wanna see you take down a tank when you may be able to avoid that.

Good luck and keep us posted

Doan

 

[scuba_steve]

squishy ya might be right !! only southdown i have is about 3" and then the rest is from the gulf of mexico !! my fuge is all florida sand !! so tons of worms and what not !!

 

[jamal-188]

I think it could possibly be the DSB, I've been reading up on this a lot lately on RC and many have had problems around 5 year mark, even the experts that have been doing this for years and years. I believe the bare bottom is starting a comeback. Some of RC are using a product called starboard(white cutting board material) and it looks very nice. Bandaids are no longer even needed such as fuges w/ macro algae to soak up excess nutrients because detrius never settles to the bottom and dissolves. With a high flow rate all the garbage is just kept in circulation until removed by a skimmer or mechanical filtration. I think I"m going this route on my next tank.

 

[Guest]

I'm sorry to here about all this. I hope everything works out for you. I myself have scratched the whole DSB thing..I figured since there is really no telling when it can and will crash I'd rather not lose any investments made.

 

[SquishyFish]

For anyone interested. The article on DSB is

http://www.reef-aquarium.net/resources/rocksubstrate/dsb.html

 

[captivereefs]

There was nothing added to my tank. The wierd thing is is that anything up high is OK! SPS included. Everything that is bleaching is down low on or near the sandbed so something is leaching out! The fact that my blenny died after digging down into my DSB is enough to scare me off the DSB method.

 

[vermonter310]

Wow this whole thead bums me out as I am nearing the end of cycling my first SW with a DSB! I'm wondering if I should do away with it now before I start to add livestock.

I'd be interested in hearing more people's thoughts on this. What are those of you that are moving away from DSB's going to use ?


Mike

 

[vermonter310]

Would like to read the article but the link is forbidden.........at least for me

 

[SquishyFish]

go to www.reef-aquarium.net and go down to the link for "Deep Sand Bed"

 

[captivereefs]

Alot of people are going back to bare bottom! I personally like the look of some sort of sand bed. Mybe i will just use a 1" sandbed. That is easy enough to get rid of should something happen to it!

 

[vermonter310]

Thanks Squishy

 

[SquishyFish]

No problem...let me know if it helps.


The dbs is obviously a hot topic right now, but I would strongly encourage anyone that is worrying about theirs or deciding what direction to go w/ your substraight....please read that article. Its by DR. Ron, so you know that its from a reputable person in the hobby and its very informative. Its very easy to read.

 

[reefrunner69]

Would like to read the article but the link is forbidden.........at least for me

I fixed the link, if there is a defined abbreviation in you link, it will screw it up, if you don't parse them.

please read that article. Its by DR. Ron, so you know that its from a reputable person in the hobby and its very informative. Its very easy to read.

It was also written prior to his salt study and his OTS findings. Since that article was written, he is (and this is complete hearsay, I haven't read it from him, one of those I read it somewhere) reported to have said a DSB CANNOT work long term.

I would suggest you research as much as possible and then make an informed decision. Do not take the advice of just one person, get as many educated opinions as possible, then form your own from that info. People jumped on the DSB bandwagon several years ago...now they seem to be jumping on a different bandwagon.

I personally do not use a DSB in my display tank, I do have a DSB in my fuge, where it can be removed. I no longer encourage people to use DSBs, I do encourage them to research and make a decision, then if they need help, I will tell them how to set one up.

 

[SquishyFish]

Reef...

Would you have a link to any of his more recent opinions? We definately want to keep the most current info on the site. That article was out of an online magazine from a few months ago, so unless they put an old article in a new mag...How could it be out of date?

 

[reefrunner69]

It looks to be very close to this one, which has been around for years...

http://www.rshimek.com/reef/sediment.htm

OK, I did a search of RC and found that the good Dr is still recommending DSBs. Here are a couple of threads, related to OTS that I found interesting, the first being the thread that started it all...

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=105166&highlight=old+and+tank+and+syndrome

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=229700&highlight=old+and+tank+and+syndrome

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=233200&highlight=old+and+tank+and+syndrome

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=292735&highlight=old+and+tank+and+syndrome

So, apparently the article is not "out of date", but is still simply him throwing something together, cause many places are simply quotes from his original DSB article. In a way, I am glad to see that the reports are false, but I think EVERYONE, needs to get information from more than one source and consider all opinions, the reason being, they are all opinions, and a phd behind someones name makes their opinion only a tad bit more valid than someone that has been doing the research for years, but happens to be a house painter by profession.

 

[vermonter310]

but I think EVERYONE, needs to get information from more than one source and consider all opinions, the reason being, they are all opinions, and a phd behind someones name makes their opinion only a tad bit more valid than someone that has been doing the research for years, but happens to be a house painter by profession.

I couldn't agree more. And house painters don't seem to be as full of themselves as Dr's

Mike