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Deep Sand Beds Revisited

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algae clean coral dead dsb failure fish fuge gallon goods hair algae healthy lighting ocean par removal sand sps stand tank top
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J

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Discussion Starter · #1 ·
This is not meant to start an arguement!!!

A nice civil discussion would be nice.:D

I am very curious as to why every time the subject of DSB comes up the responses are a resounding "DSB=bad" on this board.

Yet 80% (roughly) of the people whos tank I visit have DSB of some depth and varying particle diameter. Are there really that many of us headed down the road to eventual disaster??

Or is this a case of the vocal minority scewing results.

Both posts where I have posted recently that recent studies are pointing toward there being no "Magic" sand depth and that many ways work well, the posts were quickly silent and disappeared. (not magic just no posts)

Anybody read lately a study where they came to the conclusion that DSB=BAD??

Anybody??:confused:
 
O

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#2 ·
thats funny I havent seen too many posts where dsb is bad. On the other hand alot of people are just doing away with dsb altogether. a dsb is bad if you transfer it from one tank to another is why some people are saying it is bad.
 
R

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#3 ·
I hope I don't get flamed here. But here is my thoughts to the subject. I think there are many ways to set up a system. Which way you choose depends on your equipment and you personal preference. I don't believe there is a right or wrong way to set your system up. If it works for you do it. 2-3 inch bed in a 90 and 2-3 in 10gallon fuge.

If i'm wrong I will have a lot of dead stuff in a few years.

Just my $.02.
 
S

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#4 ·
I don't think it's the DSB's that are the actual culprit in the DSB=bad equation. A DSB in theory is a good thing allowing for further breakdown of waste. I think where the DSB=bad theory comes from is in the fact that it has the possibility of storing excess waste and apon disturbance releases it into the tank causing a crash. Ideally if there was a easy way to measure the point where the DSB goes from beneficial to storage of non-beneficial then I'm sure everyone would have one. currently there is no such method that I know of hence turning a possible good thing into nothing more that a possible time bomb. With the resulting choice between "beneficial time bomb" and "no benefit, no danger" it's easy to see why people are beginning to go without.
 
J

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Discussion Starter · #5 ·
Ya know, I went back and re read the posts I was talking about and what I see was really my failure to see the whole picture :(

I allowed those who posted bad things to cloud out the folks supporting them.

I even had two quotes ready to go including one that said "It seems to be widely accepted that a DSB will crash at some point 3-4 years out."

But the replies, although many not supportive of DSB's were also quick to point out "There still has been no proven, "wrong way" to go." and Tank crashing is anectotal. There's no scientific fact that because someone says their tank crashed that it was due to sand bad

My Bad:(
 
N

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#6 · (Edited)
This was just discussed in this thread

http://michiganreefers.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8106
Click to expand...
As I'm sure most have read it, all the goods and bad came out. Now I like DSBs. Been using them for almost six years. My 180g SPS tank has a 5 year old sand bad that has been untouched for that long. Some hate them, some stand up for them, I just use them. If mine "crashes" as people call it, then maybe I'll change my mind. I've had good results.
 
J

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Discussion Starter · #9 · (Edited)
Yup!

Newts your tank was one of the 80% I was speaking of:)

I have only had an SW tank roughly a year so I am no expert. What has really bugged me about this hobby is the amount of anecdotal items taken as fact. There is almost no scientific evidence of anything, let alone the effects of a DSB.

I see Tide is doing a study on the effects of lighting on coral growth. The SW community as a whole needs more of this.
 
E

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#10 ·
It's all in how you take care of it. Of course you need to understand how it, and your system, works and how to properly maintain it. The key thing is to not overstock\feed or, of course, your dsb will overload and start releasing whatever. The ocean has limitless amounts of water to keep the animals in clean healthy water. If you look at it that way, 1 small fish in a 500 gallon system is overstocking. Of course, you can easily keep that fish healthy in a small tank by doing the proper maintenance. There is nothing wrong with a dsb unless you mistreat it. "Scientific studies" are overrated, conflicting, and you'll end up lost after trying to listen to them. Sure you can get good info from them but they'll never give you a final answer so dont look for one. And, they wont give you an anwer on this topic anyways.

Whatever, this is a tired subject that has all kinds of mis-information. Do\use what you like, just understand and maintain it properly.
 
M

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#11 ·
supplemental info

If you would like additional information on the subject at hand I believe www.garf.org would be a good place to obtain it. The people a garf put alot of stock in the idea of more natural nutrient removal as opposed to mechanical, so they use a combination of plants, animals, and substrate to achieve this. Before you chose any one method you should gather as much information from as many sources as you can, so you can make a better informed decision that you can be comfortable with. After reading the other discussion I very much understand the feeling of confusion over the pros and cons of any sand bed. Just throwing in my 2 bits.
 
O

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#12 ·
Re: supplemental info

mjsalinas said:
If you would like additional information on the subject at hand I believe www.garf.org would be a good place to obtain it. The people a garf put alot of stock in the idea of more natural nutrient removal as opposed to mechanical, so they use a combination of plants, animals, and substrate to achieve this. Before you chose any one method you should gather as much information from as many sources as you can, so you can make a better informed decision that you can be comfortable with. After reading the other discussion I very much understand the feeling of confusion over the pros and cons of any sand bed. Just throwing in my 2 bits.
Click to expand...
Hey hows your 125 going?
 
P

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#13 ·
M

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#15 ·
I hope this dosen't diverge for the context of this thread, but I'm in the middle of moving to my new house and my DSB/plenum system must come down. I plan to use only a inch or two on the bottom now and have a question. Is it safe to reuse the top layer of aragonite I currently have. I recently had a bad hair algae bloom and this is why I'm asking this question.
 
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