Another DSB thead... yeah
- Thread starter Reaper
- Start date
ratherbediving
New member
OK-- I'll bite 
-- a tank set up with a DSB will have lower nitrates than a BB system if the aquarist is not diligent about removing detritus.
-- a tank set up with a DSB will have lower nitrates than a BB system if the aquarist is not diligent about removing detritus.
Wiskey
New member
I feel BB is better, most people only syphon deatris once per month with their waterchanges once the tank is established. Once you have it running right the skimmer will take out just about everything, there was a poll around here asking if any people running BB ever had detectable nitrate, and the majority did not.
You need to spend a bit more on equiptment in the begining, and BB is probably not good for beginners because the system is a bit harder to setup, and there is less room for error, but for an sps tank I think you get healthyer corals.
The tricks are big skimmer, bigger than you could ever imagine (you can always turn it down) and tons of flow, on the order of 70-114X using seio or tunese style powerheads, or punductors on a CL.
HTH,
Whiskey
You need to spend a bit more on equiptment in the begining, and BB is probably not good for beginners because the system is a bit harder to setup, and there is less room for error, but for an sps tank I think you get healthyer corals.
The tricks are big skimmer, bigger than you could ever imagine (you can always turn it down) and tons of flow, on the order of 70-114X using seio or tunese style powerheads, or punductors on a CL.
HTH,
Whiskey
Sindjin
New member
I disagree.
My BB has had zero Nitrates since the original cycle ended.
I even had a major die off of Astreae snails (about 15) and not a single level in my BB rose.
A BB will give so much more control over your system than a DSB.
Wanna run an SPS tank? BB is easily kept clean and its easy to have high flow. Wanna a Softie tank? No problem. Leave the tank as clean or dirty as you want. How about a Combo SPS, LPS and a couple of softies thrown in? You're in, with a BB!
Now, a DSB will capture and hold detritus. How much? Who knows. Will those nutrients ever be leached into the water column? Probably. At what rate? When? Who knows. You have no control over that with a DSB. Need high flow for those SPSs in your DSB? Unless you love sandstorms, you're outta luck.
IMO, a DSB is a lot harder to maintain. The sand bed needs to treated like another living organism.
ratherbediving
New member
I think it might be. If you have enough flow (like Whiskey was recommending) maybe you won't have any detritus settle out, and it will be taken out by some kind of mechanical filtration. But most likely some will still be there, behind the rockwork etc. In cases where detritus does build up and decays, a DSB will help process the extra nutrients. A skimmer won't remove nitrates, just some of the organic compounds that form them later on. In some setups, this will mean that nitrates will build up over time.
People who have setups with tons of flow, a large skimmer and SPS that enjoy tons of flow, might be very happy with a BB. For those of us with LPS (which IME don't seem to appreciate too much flow) and skimmers that aren't too large... who don't want to worry about manually removing detritus.... then I think a DSB is a good way to go.
I am not saying that you can't go BB, just saying there is no one method that will work best for everyone. There are definite advantages to a DSB for some folks.
I'd also like to add that people who run BB tanks may not want to declare victory over nitrates until their tanks have been up a few years. It seems to me that the latest popularity of BB tanks mean that there are a lot of people who haven't had their tanks set up this way for a long period of time.
Finally-- regarding BB-- I thought this provided good arguments for being cautious:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-10/eb/index.php
IMO
Mike
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