Mr. Demeanor
New member
What is the minimum DT sand bed depth you would want if your keeping some small wrasses and maybe a watchman goby? Is 1-1.5" enough?
I will have a 5-6 DSB in the fuge.
I will have a 5-6 DSB in the fuge.
Deep sand bed in display or?
- Thread starter ZombieExistence
- Start date
davocean
Active member
Both deep and shallow will work if done properly, they just work different, and different animals may benefit from one or the other.
1" or less, vac'd, or 4" or deeper(preferably deeper) and undisturbed seems best.
"Tweeners" seem to be problematic, but as mentioned someone will say it's working for them, lots of variables/reasons for that.
I personally keep sand dwelling creatures that require a DSB, so I go 5" or better.
If I had a sps dominated tank that had very heavy flow I would go shallow(or bare being an option if you like that look, I personally don't)
I've had many DSB's long term over the years and never had an issue.
I think most issues w/ DSB's are brought on when not setup or maintained properly, and many hear the horror stories of those and just shy away from them.
It also takes a little time for a DSB to become established and do what it is intended to do.
1" or less, vac'd, or 4" or deeper(preferably deeper) and undisturbed seems best.
"Tweeners" seem to be problematic, but as mentioned someone will say it's working for them, lots of variables/reasons for that.
I personally keep sand dwelling creatures that require a DSB, so I go 5" or better.
If I had a sps dominated tank that had very heavy flow I would go shallow(or bare being an option if you like that look, I personally don't)
I've had many DSB's long term over the years and never had an issue.
I think most issues w/ DSB's are brought on when not setup or maintained properly, and many hear the horror stories of those and just shy away from them.
It also takes a little time for a DSB to become established and do what it is intended to do.
I agree that a bed of sand at any depth .No 1inch or 4inch rules make much sense to me since denitrifation occurs in less than an inch of sand and to some extent in deeper areas depending on how much flow occurs there) provides useful surface area . Many wrasses and gobies and some anemones need 3 to 4 inches at least in pools of sand. A for sps tanks high poorly directed flow blows around a shallow bed as much as a deep one. But I like heavy flow 50x to 90x volume in tanks packed with sps and I like the beachy look, surface area and habitat I get from sand. I've learned directing andtweaking the flow can bloing sand ; it does on my tanks and they have shallow 1 inch beds of fine oolictic sand with some areas up to 4 inches .
As for deep bed maintainenace it becomes more diffiuclt as the bed ages in my experience and since dentirification can be accomplished very well without a dsb I've moved away from them. Honestly, I prefer to spend my time keeping corals ,fishes and other critters and not to spend lots of time managing an aging deep sand bed but that's my choice. Istill get interseting sand critteres , lie feather dusters and a variety of other fuana in shallow beds. Others may like the idea and aesthetics of keeping a dsb and it's certainly a valid choice.
As for deep bed maintainenace it becomes more diffiuclt as the bed ages in my experience and since dentirification can be accomplished very well without a dsb I've moved away from them. Honestly, I prefer to spend my time keeping corals ,fishes and other critters and not to spend lots of time managing an aging deep sand bed but that's my choice. Istill get interseting sand critteres , lie feather dusters and a variety of other fuana in shallow beds. Others may like the idea and aesthetics of keeping a dsb and it's certainly a valid choice.
ZombieExistence
New member
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