DSB in a bucket for nitrate control

Read Randy's article on silica. It is not proven in a lab, but it looks as if any leaching would be so slow it would actually be beneficial to the system. Randy even talked about dosing silica in his tank, an interestinf read. Don't feel bad about the advice, I did the same thing after my LFS told me it would cause issues. I used it in mine and still have never had visable diatoms in my tank.
 
Thanks! I found it.
I also feel much better about my position on this matter. He did the test with the bucket and proved that silica sand does leech silica into the water. The question now is wether or not the system has low silica to begin with. I live in Florida. Half of the state is made of silica sand. We have silica in our tap water. Back in the day it was hard to get good clean water for my tank so I ended up with high levels of silica to begin with. I guess adding any silica based material to that old system was enough to fule the diatom bloom. Today this is just not much of a concern. I don't know what is worse. Feeling like I was wrong about silica sand or being old school. lol.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7877287#post7877287 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Atomahawk
Just a personal comment. I know this hobby can become expensive and DIY cuts down on some of the cost. But please remember that your LFS needs to make some money. Livestock is not a huge money maker in general and requires a lot of time and expense. From personal experience I have seen many people ask for recommendations and advice on setting up there tanks just to turn around and make their purchase elsewhere to save a couple of bucks. Mail order, Big Box stores etc. don't support your hobby, all they do is is price and sell. If your fair with the LFS store when it comes to purchasing your dry goods, I'm sure the owner or managers will be more than happy to work with you to make it a bit more affordable. Remember a good LFS works hard to make money and have a lot of expense's to cover to stay in operation. If they continue to get cut out of the loop for a few bucks, your only hurting yourself.

If a moderator feels this part of my post is out of line I won't be insulted if it's erased.

Best regards [/B]
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Recently I went out and purchased a Euro-Reef RS-80 from a LFS, yes I've been researching prices, they charged $319.99 + NJ tax 7% total is $342.39 I paid.

MarineDeopt.com sells the same exact skimmer for $248.99 + SH for a total of $253.04

The difference was $89.35. Do you think its worth almost $90 to purchase that skimmer from a LFS? Plus the gas to drive there? I'm still not to sure. Do I regret it? Right now, not really. If I had to do it over again will I? Maybe not. I will go to those LFS that are helpful and have great reasonable prices. And for other items its the internet for me from now on. Tired of getting ripped a new aaa hole.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9709367#post9709367 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pitogo

MarineDeopt.com sells the same exact skimmer for $248.99 + SH for a total of $253.04
Click to expand...

$4.05 for shipping a skimmer? doesn't sound right .
 
has anyone figured the max effective depth of a remote sand-bed? I have 30 gallons of sand in a barrel that i removed from my main tank, i want to turn it into a DSB in a bucket, or a box or whatever is required to effectively use it as a nitrate digester. Right now it is about 40" deep, would that be effictive or a waste of sand?
 
I'm also curious about that as well as what's the general consensus on the size of the RDSB needed to be effective. I've got a 180 that I was thinking of adding one to but want to add it inside my existing sump (a 75G tank). My thought was to build an acrilic tank to go inside it 17x10x14 deep, run the sand 10-12" deep and have the output flow into my fuge which will be the same size and finally return to the sump. Does that sound effective or should I change dimensions etc.
 
Another question, does shape of the bed really matter or is it more an issue of overall volume? IE is it better to be 12 deep by 20 long and 8 wide or 13 long and 12 wide or doesn't it matter since it's the same overall volume?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9410464#post9410464 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by percula99
I set up my RDSB a few months ago and was running with nitrates over 50ppm all the time. I tried everything to get them down and nothing worked. Since the RDSB my nitrates are almost undetectable. I used a 17 gallon Rubbermaid Roughneck container and put 180 pounds of aragonite sand in it. It is eleven inches deep. I had a problem with a rut being dug out by the water entering the container so I made a spray bar out of PVC. I use a Mag5 with a pre-filter attached to feed water to the RDSB. The RDSB is in the laundry room next to my tank room, so I had to drill holes in the wall to run the hoses through. There is always a cover on, but I took it off so you can see how it works. I hope this helps somebody out.

RDSB.jpg
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Hi there !

May I ask what kind of sand grade you used for this set-up?

Thanks,
-JackRyan
 
I is a matter of surface contact, but the surface must be deep enough for the bacteria to thrive. I read earlier in this thread about 8" was the min and there is really no max. There is however a point of diminishing returns. 40" sounds pretty deep, but that is not all bad. If you had argronite below it it would be even better.

MLB, sounds right, that is the most common and proven way of running a dsb. Filter or skim before and keep the water moving over the sand, and no critters. You should be fine. Give it 4-6 wks to cycle.


Jack,That apprears to be cheap ole silica , it works great. No blooms here.
 
i have not read all 54 pages of this thread yet, but i have questions...

im setting up a new 75g tank.... w/ regular ish sump under it... im thinking about the dsb bucket... and im curious about setting my rbsd in my sump.

either with the overflow going to the bucket then to the sump

or

should i skim the over flow first and feed that to the bucket?

i think option 1 puts the least oxygen in the bucket, but more solids, and option 2 should be more oxygen and less solids...

i guess option 3 is dont do it either way...
 
IMO the primary target is 0 solids. Then o2 becomes an issue, but not critical. I wish Anthony was still posting on this topic. I believe a deep 10"+ would simply have a little deeper but not much o2 enriched layer, the remaining sand should be plenty to handle a 75. To skim or not to skim? Well IMO either skim or filter with a sock filter before you hit the dsb, your choice.
 
How large of a RDSB do I need to have for a 210 gallon tank that has 10-20 ppm in nitrates. I don't have much room - that's the reason I ask.
 
I've been having a nitrate problem for years and I am going to try a RDSB. But I have a question:

Would it be okay to use live sand from a dispay tank for this application? I suppose the aerobic bacteria, solids, and any organisms that get buried would perish and decompose but this would be a minimal spike correct? And it would decompose? I have good biological filtration, except when it comes to my 4" DSB in my display, and my refugium, both of which seem to do little.
 
depending on how old your DSB is, i think you would be best leaving it alone. IMO stirring it up may only worsen the problem at this point.
 
JackRyan

I used CaribSea Aragamax sugar sized oolite. I could have used a cheaper sand, but seeing as I had so many problems in the past with nitrates I decided to leave nothing to chance and went with the good stuff. I have no regrets as it has worked out very well for me.
 
so my system is BB and around 600-700 gallons... i have either a 32 gallon rubbermaid or a 25 gallon. which one would work. i am going to just get sand from HD how much do i need how deep should it be in the bucket... what is too deep??????
 
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