DSB thing of the past?

[Big Fishy]

A year ago i remember people talking about dirving days to get Southdown sand to make the perfect DSB. Now people talka s if its not the way to go. Was DSB just a fad or a solid reef keeping practice?

 

[Len]

IMO, DSB is a solid reefkeeping methodology that has been unfairly maligned lately. I know that the tanks I've used ran better with DSB then with bare bottom.

 

[Anonymous]

The overexaggerated DSB is a fad.

 

[Big Fishy]

I have always used a DSB in my tanks but never over 3.5 inches more than that i think is over kill. A bare bottom tank in my opinion is just ugly and lets fae it we are not in this hobby to raise what we perciev as ugly.

 

[Unarce]

I wouldn't call it a fad. The introduction of sand beds made it easier to raise certain species of coral that feed on animals that were smaller than phytoplankton. Unfortunately, the old "Tool Time Syndrome" that more is better led to the arrival of DSB's, which was just a simple misunderstanding.

 

[Anonymous]

The misconceptions of DSB's went even farther - some vocal proponents claimed they were all you neeeded and that they could handle anything you threw at them. In reality, they are a 'filter' like any other.

 

[Unarce]

Here's a quote I made in a previous thread:

...it would be incorrect to claim that a sand bed provides 'more capacity to nitrify and denitrify' simply because it's deeper.

"As much as 70 to 90 percent of the overall denitrification was located in the uppermost centimeter. The remainder was found at 1-3 cm depth"
-T.K. Anderson 1984 "Diurnal Variations of Nitrogen Cycling in Coastal, Marine Sediments."

The misunderstanding is that areas with low levels of oxygen are a must for denitrification. Since we now know that aerobic and anaerobic bacteria exist together in the upper portion of the SB, than the heavy oxygen levels of our tanks would not be a factor. It's unlikely that denitrification will occur in the deep areas of a DSB, especially if nitrates never reach it in the first place.

I'd also like to point out that a deeper sand bed doesn't necesarily equate to more biodiversity of life. A shallow sand bed of numerous grain-size will create a number of different environments housing more life than a DSB.

 

[Big Fishy]

I agree there is a over kill. But this thing about most of it happening in the upmost centimeters of the SB!!! Well lest just say that i would need some proof from a scientific study that the other 2-3 inches of SB was useless. Would also help me to believe if it was from a study more recent than 20 years ago.

 

[Len]

I agree with Righty; I think part of the problem with people's current opinion of DSB is that DSBs were often "abused" because people had trumped it up as some kind of miracle filter. It is not.

 

[Unarce]

This one's more recent.

"anaerobic habitat can be as small as 1mm, that aerobic and anaerobic bacteria essentially coexist, and that as little as 0.08mm distance is sufficient for nitrification and denitrification to take place simultaneously."

Ecology and Evolution in Anoxic Worlds. Oxford University Press, Fenchel, T. and B.J. Finlay. 1995.

Glad to see people asking for scientific literature. If that were the case, most would have avoided a DSB.

 

[shr00m]

lets not start this again.... DSBs are great if you set them up right.... no need for the 6-8 inch beds either.... 3-4 inches works good and is less mess.... if your bed is live and has lots of critters to stir DSB owns the monkey.

 

[Unarce]

I agree. 6-8 inches is just too much. 2-3" is money. 4" is pushing it.

 

[John_Brandt]

...if your bed is live and has lots of critters to stir DSB owns the monkey.

Own the monkey!

 

[cdeakle]

I laughed my arse off at that pic. Thanks for the good laugh at work :lol:

 

[shr00m]

LoL, nice John!

 

[fishkiller II]

I have tried the DSB as well as the 1 inch sand bed, and no sand bed. I had the easiest experience w/ the 1 inch bed. The only advantage the DSB had over the shallow is that I never had to do water changes. With anything less than a 4inch sand bed, I have had to stay consistant w/ water changes (15% every 3 weeks) to keep my nitrates at optimal levels. Not that they ever got high, but the tanks w/ the shallow sand bed have to have SOME water changes. I have recently slowed down to 15% every 5 weeks. I have had to increase my dosing, but that's nothing. I hate doing water changes!

 

[Big Fishy]

Thanks all for responding with your opinions. To each man his own. I've always stuck to what has worked in the past for me. Another looming question on my mind is how greatly fads affect our hobby or if they are just growing pains? Seems like every year people dig up new scientific research on a topic and the craze happens. GOTTA HAVE IT DISEASE is very contagious you know. But i guess with out people striving for better things we wouldn't have a hobby at all.

 

[Anonymous]

John..Looks like you own two! LOL...Honestly i dont know either the Pros or the Cons..actually i dont really care..i have a 3" sand bed..if that is considered DSB than so be it...K.I.S.S .....i just like the Asthetics of it....i think there are Pros and Cons to all sides..whether it be DSB or bare bottom or in between...I guess it depends on where you wanna go with it?

 

[John_Brandt]

John..Looks like you own two! LOL

Lordy, those aren't my kids. I don't have any

 

[Ben1]

I had a 7" FSB in a 40 gallon tall for several years, around 4-5 untill I broke it down to upgrade to the larger tank. It was the most succesful tank I ever ran. Every coral did well and water parameters were never better.

What it really comes down to is how much current you have in the tank to keep the particulat matter in suspension. If you have a DSB and a weak current flow then the bed will quickly fill up with detritus and need stirring/vacuuming. If the stirring and vacuuming is done in small sections of the bed once a week or so depending on the bed then the sand bed will never become oversaturated and start leaching back to the tank.

JMO