DSB or SSB?

pws

Premium Member
Setting a 35g cube. I use to be in the hobby but been out for some time. Last take I had a DSB. What is the current thoughts on dsb? I am going to have a small 10g sump with small skimmer. Not sure how much more I could fit in the stand.
 
I've always had shallow in the 5 different aquariums I e set up. I just did a 210 and went bare bottom. I wasn't sure about it at 1st but now... I love having no sand!! You can crank the flow way up with no worries of sand storms. There are some fish and creatures that need sand but just remember that when you are stocking the tank( if you go that route).
 
Adds complexity, but I keep aesthetic sand in my display (SSB) and a DSB in a remote tank where it can be more easily managed. Problems with DSB's tend to be more imagined than real IMO. Algae problems .... must be the sandbed. Fish dying .... must be the sandbed. Corals aren't thriving .... well, you get the idea. Opinion and suspicion masquerading as fact.
 
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BB/SSB/DSB

All have been successful and all have failed.

Pick the one you like and research the heck out of it.
 
In my 24g sump I have 3" of play sand and 2" of aragonite. I think that it's well worth the volume that it occupies. 14 months and counting w/o any problems.
I think that it adds a lot of bio stability to the 50g DT.
 
Tried all three (BB/SSB/DSB). Go with visual criteria. You can have successful tank with any type above.
 
Deep sandbeds seem to kind of fallen out of fashion though some people still use them. I think the consensus is that with a quality skimmer and rodi water you generally don't need the denitrification power of a dsb. Some people still love them though.
 
i like SSB or BB. if you like DSB, you could setup RDSB. it's easier to take offline if you don't like it anymore.
 
Also, an R(emote)DSB is easy to add if you decide you want it. So it's not like you are set in stone if you just put a couple inches in the tank for looks.
You can search for a thread that's called something like "dsb in a 5 gallon bucket" you'll know it when you find it cause its a million pages long :)

Welcome back!
 
Not true in my case. DSB is aesthetically ugly to my eye, and I don't wish to waste display tank depth on 6" of sand, thus the 'R'.
 
Just out of curiosity, do you have any sand in your tank or is it just a matter of inches? If it's a BB tank, then there was no faith in the sand to begin with, right? (aesthetics aside)

To each their own though. Differences is what keeps the world spinning...
 
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Just out of curiosity, do you have any sand in your tank or is it just a matter of inches? If it's a BB tank, then there was no faith in the sand to begin with, right? (aesthetics aside)

I typically keep a few inches of sand in my display, a bit more in some places, a bit less in others. It's primarily for aesthetics, though it clearly plays a biological role because there are countless worm tracks visible. I also keep some sand burrowing wrasses, so need some for that too. Not deep enough in the display to function as a nitrate reducer though.
 
Ford or chevy?

There is no right answer, just lots of opinions.... so here is my:

I don't care for the look of a bb or dsb in the display so I went shallow (0.5" or so).

I wanted the benefits of a dsb, so I installed a remote deep sand bed plumbed into the sump. This can be as simple a placing a bucket inside the sump, filling it with sand, and running a powerhead which pump water across it's surface before it overflows back into the sump. If it creates problems (as some have reported) it as simple as removing the bucket.
 
Problems with DSB's tend to be more imagined than real IMO. Algae problems .... must be the sandbed. Fish dying .... must be the sandbed. Corals aren't thriving .... well, you get the idea. Opinion and suspicion masquerading as fact.

I agree w/ this, people want to figure out what went wrong and tend to go w/ most probable suspect going by what they have heard.
All can work, all have benefits depending on your setup and what you keep, some animals require sand, some sps dominant tanks need too heavy of flow to have sand, so plan out ahead what you think you wish to keep or what are your must haves and set up accordingly.
I've had DSB's mostly over my 30 years in this to provide for sand dwelling sea anemone's and never once had any issues.
 
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