RDSBs
RDSBs
Hi Folks
I`ve been out of the loop for a good while but, i`ve been keeping tabs on this site. I moved about 1.5 years ago into what will be my home. I`m building much of it myself, hence my reef has gone into holding mode for that time. However, i will now have a nearly 400 sq foot area for a fishtank room in my daylighted basement. "The Tank", itself, is a standard 150 gal which is going to be behind a Bar. This tank is going to be replaced by a 155 gal reef rdy bow front, as it will conform to the shape of the bar.
After reading this thread on RDSBs, i`m convinced it`s the way to go. My holding tank is a 150 gal Rubbermaid holding tank. The type you can buy at a feed store. It comes with a built in bulkhead and a place to tap out another on the otherside. I`ll either use this tank as an equipment sump,(bare bottom), or buy a 300 Gal Rubbermaid and use that. Either way, the holding tank will have my skimmer,ETSS 600,(it`s old,Pat pending is hand carved on the back heh...i used to help make them in his basement
![Wink ;) ;)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
...). Anyway, the overflow from the Bow will go into the sump.
Some of this will be taken up by the skimmer and gravity fed into a 5 gal RDSB bucket. Each year, i plan to add an additional 5 gal Bucket until i have 4 total, daisy chained together. The discharge from the RDSB Bucket will then be dumped right back into the sump. An Iwaki 55 will return to the tank. Yet another pump,(LG MDQ 3-SC), will supply flow to a Fuge that will have a 6" DSB. This DSB will be devided up into 12 compartments using simple plastic windowscreen. This way i can change 1 compartmet out every 2 months, when the time comes to do so. I have 900Lbs of SD playsand which i will draw from for the RDSBs and DSBs. Now here is where i ask question and like to have some advice.
1) what to do with the old standard, undrilled, hvy as hell glass tank? Use it as a fuge? I`d have to elevate it 4' + to let it gravity feed into the main, i don`t want to kill any of the critters by having them go through a pump back to the main. Or, i can use either the 150 Rubbermaid as a Fuge, or the 300 i may buy.? Id have to look at it through the top to view, but i`ts a hell of alot lighter, trust worthy, predrilled and the surface area on those holding tanks is huge. Plus its shilded from stray light, as i will light it on a night cycle to help offset Ph swings.
2) SD sand in a RDSB is good, you want an inert substrate. However, My main will also have a DSB with 6" of SD, devided by 12 compartments. My point is this, the purpose of a DSB ether in a Fuge or your Main, is to create a stable envirnment for the critters the live "in" the sand. Reason being ,that you want them,(in the Main, to get rid of Detritus build up), which they will do nicely. In the Fuge, to do the same, plus Breed to help feed your main. Why then, would you use Araganite sand as part of your substrate? As this desolves, it creates a static envirnment for the critters living in that subtrate and thus stresses them to the point that they will not thrive well. Besides, if your Araganite is desolving, doesn`t that indicate that there is something seriously wrong with your tank in the first place, that the Ph should drop that low whereby desolving the Araganite?
Later on, i will plumb in a frag tank, deviding 50% of the Fuge output and diverting it to the Frag tank, then have the output from the Frag tank rejoin the flow from the Fuge, back to the main. Even later on,(and also,also"WIK"), i`ll plumb in a Mangrove to the living room up stairs cause i think they are really cool.
All your testing is good, i`m happy to see positive results. However, before you test, you have a set Nitrate level right?
Why then, aside from standard good husbandry practices, would you all a sudden go in to super husbandry mode after installing your new RDSB bucket?? Woulden`t that skew the actual results?? If you want acurate results, keep doing the husbandry practices you have been doing and when you add the RDSB, THEN faithfully test your water without doing anything extra. How can you expect to get a percise idea of what you RDSB is doing, if you then start doing all this extra stuff after? As your RDSB kicks in, you`ll see your Nitrate level slow down it`s climb, or stop right?? Either way, it should give you a new set point to work off of. From their, approach it from a logical level.
When i`m finally at the point of restarting my tank, i`ll do this first.
I now have well water,(i`ll have it tested). From there, i`ll decide how i`m going to use my RO/DI.
2) I`ll decide what brand of salt i`ll use, and as i make it up, i`ll airate and treat the RO/DI water if it comes to that. Then i`ll let that new salt water age a bit.
3) Scrub all your new containers with fresh made salt water, 6-7 times. I made that mistake once,(my poor snails).
4) i `ll set up a evap top off system....somehow, this will stablize my salinity. Then i`ll mix up fresh Kalk and drip in or invest in a reactor.
5) Baste or power blast your LR, get that Detritus down to your DSB crits to eat.
These are just some of the basic good husbandry practices you can adopt OR then try one at a time to see if that makes your Nitate level go down after. There`s no point in saying your RDSB dosen`t work, if you can take a turkey baster and blow out 5 lbs of Detritus form a single piece of LR
![Roll eyes :rolleyes: :rolleyes:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
.
So, please, tell me what you think of the new setup i`ll be making, and if you have any ideas i`d love to hear them. I do have one more question. From what i read the "Flow-over type RDSB in a standard 5 Gal bucket is good for about 2 years. I ruled out the "flow-over"/"flow-through"combo type of RDSB because it would make my setup more complicated and touchy but, does anyone know just how much longer than 2 years a "flow-over/flow-through" combo RDSB will last vs. a Reg. "flow-over"? If it will at least double the time or better, maybe it would worth the effort.
Thanks
Nomadic aka Tony