Confused DSB

[kattsue]

I switched from CC to medium grade aragonite DSB (about 4"). I think maybe I did that all wrong. It looks bad. Seems like a lot of green collects on the glass under the sand. I have hermit crabs which now I read I shouldn't have and a starfish. Is there something I should do to correct this?

 

[chrisp074]

Algae along the glass is normal and no big deal. Hermits can be problematic but if you only have a few I would not worry about it too much. Sand sifting stars on the other hand will pretty much remove all the microfauna from the sand bed, then starve to death.

 

[mm949]

DSB are better with oolite sugar size sand...

 

[kattsue]

So for my sandbed to work right, I have to change it again? Some pictures of what it looks like now. It looks so dirty.

 

[kattsue]

Pictures aren't too great.

 

[Aquarist007]

I would make sure I had a flow of between 20-40 times your tank vol in gph and then take a turkey baster and lightly baste the surface to the sand bed and the reef rock. Do this once a week. With excellent flow the phosphates ect that are causing the algae or diatoms on the sand bed will be basted back into the water column where they can be filtered off

For the side which is natural as the posters above said, take a scraper and scrape the glass between the glass and the sand. This will clean it up probably for a week and then you will have to repeat

 

[kattsue]

The side where the algae is the worst, is the side the morning sun hits. Does that make more algae?

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12947563#post12947563 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kattsue
The side where the algae is the worst, is the side the morning sun hits. Does that make more algae?

yes, definetly, there are activities going on in the sand bed that you might not be aware off

this article explains it very well
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-06/rs/feature/index.php

 

[kattsue]

Should the sandbed be changed again to something finer?

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12947865#post12947865 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kattsue
Should the sandbed be changed again to something finer?

No, usually real fin sand is used in deep sand beds over 5 inches. But it is a real pain--disturbed really easy and you get a dust storm.
Medium grade argonite that you have is great. With the weekly maintenance it will clean up fine

 

[reefworm]

not to differ, entirely. I agree that the fine, sugar sized grains are most beneficial in a DSB, but I'm still a believer in it for the greater surface area and smooth surfaces to encourage bacteria population and benthic life - such as bristleworms and other helpful cleaners. It's what I have in the 29, which is really too small to sustain a DSB, but the critter population stays up far longer than when I had larger, more coarse substrate material [crushed coral in my case]. I recharge the numbers once a year. Also, I blame that coarse material for the system crash two years after set up. the detritus level within the sandbed was more than the small infauna population could handle. Within a matter of a few days all my nitrogen compound levels went through the roof. lost everything, even with massive water changes. call me gun shy, but that's my story and I'm sticking with it

 

[mm949]

finer subsrate keeps the detrius on the surface instead of seeping into the gravel creating a nitrate/phosphate issue over time

 

[Aquarist007]

I agree with you both but if you do the maintainence you should not have the problems.
Kattsue just changed the substrate---IMO no need to change out a recent new sand bed to a fine sandbed?