SkinnyPete
Aquarium Advice Freak
Wow, I'm posting a lot lately.
Without starting a debate regarding DSB / no DSB (been enough discussion regarding that) - I had a question regarding the known dangers of DSB.
I've got a shallow-ish DSB (about 4") and it was working out fine. Tank has been up for 7 months. After a few months most of my Nassarius snails were killed off by an evil crab or two (since been removed) and the only cleaners left in my tank are hermits and Astrea snails, so I haven't had much sand movement as a result A couple weeks ago, a powerhead fell and blew the sand so badly that I had a huge cloud storm and a hole in my DSB to almost the bottom of the tank. My nitrates were all of a sudden elevated and I lost 2 shrimp (I'm assuming due to elevated nitrates).
Now, first off - my hermits really seem to take a liking to nassarius snails - yes I do have extra shells for them in there. Can I get away with just hermits? They don't seem to mix the sand much though. Any other larger snails that I can get to do the job? Also (and the main purpose for the post) what exactly happens, chemically, when an established deep sand bed is suddenly mixed around like mine? Was the elevated nitrates just a coinc.?
- Skins
Without starting a debate regarding DSB / no DSB (been enough discussion regarding that) - I had a question regarding the known dangers of DSB.
I've got a shallow-ish DSB (about 4") and it was working out fine. Tank has been up for 7 months. After a few months most of my Nassarius snails were killed off by an evil crab or two (since been removed) and the only cleaners left in my tank are hermits and Astrea snails, so I haven't had much sand movement as a result A couple weeks ago, a powerhead fell and blew the sand so badly that I had a huge cloud storm and a hole in my DSB to almost the bottom of the tank. My nitrates were all of a sudden elevated and I lost 2 shrimp (I'm assuming due to elevated nitrates).
Now, first off - my hermits really seem to take a liking to nassarius snails - yes I do have extra shells for them in there. Can I get away with just hermits? They don't seem to mix the sand much though. Any other larger snails that I can get to do the job? Also (and the main purpose for the post) what exactly happens, chemically, when an established deep sand bed is suddenly mixed around like mine? Was the elevated nitrates just a coinc.?
- Skins