Deep sand bed in display or?

ZombieExistence

ZombieExistence

New member
Hey guys what's your opinions on deep sand beds? I've been watching a reefer on youtube by the name of newyorksteelo, his tank looks great, and he recommends a 4" DSB, to seed it with good liverock, and the more "critters" the better. He said he never does water changes or siphons, or anything. Though, my LFS guy that has been a reefer for 15+ years says to go with only a 2" sand bed, siphon lightly on the top, and keep the DSB in the sump.

What do you guys say? I'm kinda leaning towards DSB in the display... idk.

Help me clear this up please
 
Depends on what you like more but in the past both are correct in that you should do 4 inches or more or less than 2. This like everything else in the hobby will probably change as soon as someone posts a 3 inch deep sandbed with great results.

Why go to one end or the other and not in the middle?
>4 inches anaerobic conditions possible
<2 inches aerobic conditions

Whichever one goes with there are "rules" to follow such as what you mentioned in your post for example.

If you have a shallow tank the sand will take up vertical space more than it would in a taller tank like a 150.
 
I would go with a sand bed of less than 1" or greater than 4". 2" is not something I would recommend as it can trap a lot of detritus but does not have enough depth to really function as a safe DSB. A 1" or less sand bed will allow you to vacuum it without much fear of it releasing toxins in the water as long as you keep a a good maintenance routine.

A DSB is a nice thing to have, but it can affect your aesthetic look of your display tank depending on how tall it is. Both of my current tanks use to have DSBs, but I made one a shallow sand bed and later to a bare bottom after I got tired of the DSB taking up so much room in my display tank.

Before you put in a DSB, remember why we employ them: Nutrient export, water chemistry, and stability. There are other ways to skin the cat. A DSB just happens to be one way that is a popular method. Keep in mind certain fish and invertebrates you keep can defeat the purpose of a deep sand bed as they will constantly sift the sand in search of meals and make your sand bed devoid of life.

This is a good article on DSB:
http://www.ronshimek.com/deep_sand_beds.html
 
I like shallow sand beds 1 to 3inches . Slightly deeper pools of sand here and there are good for wrasses and other animals that need deeper sand to bury in.
 
I wont be keeping any livestock that burrow or anything. I think my question perhaps did not entail what I was hoping to do with this aquarium. I'd like to run a 4" dsb in the display as a natural nitrite/trate reducer as well as the many other things it does. wrasse and blenny / goby / dragonette wont be in my tank for the reason of them being sand sifters/burrowers/etc. My question I guess is, how many of you run a proper DSB in the main display, without touching it, or keeping any livestock that will disturb it in any way, and how many of you say nay, and go the DSB in the sump type-o-thing.
 
I have a DSB 6-7" in my display and say dont do it. It is slowly trapping more and more detritus. The worms and creatures pull it all in.
The main reason I want it gone is it dosent look that good and it eats up a lot of real estate where the tangs could be swimming.
And you cant turn up the flow.
There are better ways to remove nitrate. I think mine is adding to the problem.
 
I ran adeep sand be 4+ inches in a dispaly for about 4 yrs before it started contributing more mess than it was helping. That tank does better since I siphoned out most of the sand several years ago . Personally, I do not choose to use dsbs in new tanks unless there is a specific need to meet for a specific specimen of fish , coral, anemone, etc.
The is no "proper" sand bed. Sand just provides lots of surface area for the benthic denitrifying bacteria to grow. Denitrification occurs in shallow depths probably more so than at greater depths. If you prefer deep sand for the aesthetics and for creatures that need it it it's a fine alternative but it is not a necessity for NO3 control by any means.
 
Okay thank you wipe, and Tom, I will just be doing 1" then, and keep a good siphon/maintanence schedule. Then I'll run a DSB in the sump.

This will save me money so I'm happy haha.
 
It looks like you already decided, but I am in complete agreement with Wipe. It does not look that good IMO, mine is trapping detritus, and mine has not helped at all with the nitrate problems I was having which was the whole reason I put it in in the first place. Honestly, I think that the DSB is contributing to the Nitrate problem at this point.

I just have to pick a full day to tear the tank apart to remove most of the sand and then put the tank back together..... Obviously, I am putting this off!
 
haha sorry to hear that SecretiveFish, for sure a job not looked forward to. And yes, thank you to the people here I have decided just a shallow 1"er with a siphon routine will be the best for me, and will allow my gf to get some goby/blenny/dragonette that she was looking forward to getting and devastated when I told her we can't get any with the DSB
 
Unless your planning on dedicating quite a bit of space for the DSB in your sump, I think it would be better just to pass. Just as an example, a 4" DSB in the footprint of a 10 gallon tank is not going to do a whole lot for a much larger fully stocked tank IMO. It could very well end up being more trouble than it's worth. Buy a good skimmer, use quality water, and maybe incorporate some form of algae growth for nutrient uptake & removal. (caulerpa, chaeto) If you are set on having a DSB though, make sure to do your homework first. They can work if there set up and maintained properly. I had a 4" DSB in my 60 gallon tank for 9 years without a problem. There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that it would still be going strong today if my tank hadn't cracked. (Sep 19, 2008) GL.
 
I don't think a deep remote sand bed in a sump does very much for denitrification and it can get quite messy with detritus accumulation particularly if you put algae over it.
 
Glad I found this thread. Ive been reading up on running a dsb and deciding if I should run one on my 90. Looks like the general concensus is that they are more trouble in the long run than they are beneficial.
 
Yea I too saw newyorksteeloa video and was contemplating On doing a dsb. Some say good some say bad. I probably won't do it
 
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