Dsb

[Pufferpunk]

OK, I know this subject's been done to death here but as I'm getting ready for my upgrade, I'm wondering if a DSB is the right thing to do for my tank. I have tons of creatures living in mine but it takes up a lot of room & looks ugly. I also have nitrates between 20 & 40 all the time, even w/25-50% weekly WC on it! So why would I want to move it & how would I go about it, if I did?
Other options?
Anyone familiar w/Whirly's old sump I bought, can you tell me if I can add sand to that anywhere?
Or how would I go about connecting a refugium to it (I can take a pic of what I have)?
I have an empty 10g, do I need to drill it?
Is 10g enough?

I no nothing of these "extras"--that's why I have no sump now...I'm so confused! Maybe someone can come by & look at what I have & give me some ideas?

 

[BreadmanMike]

If sand is what you like, then by all means keep using it. There's a million ways to be successful in this hobby.


I would suggest not using your old sand bed in your new tank. I would use some of it to seed new sand. Old sand beds can create problems when moved.

 

[FISHMAN350]

puffer ive only been back in the hobby for a short time but i like my dsb. mine is only about 4 inches deep. have you bought your other tank yet? if not get a deeper tank and put the dsb in. i also have a refuge with a 3 inch dsb but it has chaeto growing in it. tons of life all over. i would not give it up as it is working great for me. i carry no nitrates and i think its because of the fuge. i do 10% weekly water changes but thats it. i dont know all the particulars of your system but maby if you give everyone some pics and an idea of what you want im shure everyone will give you some input and figure it out.i really wish i new about rc before i put my tank up i would have asked for a group design/help it would have saved me alot of time and $$$. lmk if i can help i would be glad to. thanks

 

[Bryan89]

Puffer,

Have you considered setting up a sulfur reactor to lower your nitrates? It essentially is a sealed vessel in which sulfur beads are placed and reverse flow is provided. The flowrate is very slow until anaerobic conditions are established and then flow rate can slowly be raised. Nitrogen gas is slowly released from the reactor in the effluent flow stream.

I put my reactor online during the curing of my liverock. My nitrates went from 120 ppm to 5 ppm in 3 weeks and then to zero the following week without any water changes. My reactor is huge compared to what you would need, but it is an easy enough thing to setup a smaller one. I also happen to have some extra beads if you are interested. The only difficult item in the setup is ensuring that the flow rate can be very finely controlled via a needle valve.

One small caution, because the reactor does involve some acidic byproducts, your tank pH may end up slightly lower, say 0.1 pH units lower. If you already have chronic low pH, this may not be an ideal solution for you.

Let me know what you think. BTW, the reactor is mentioned in Delbeck and Sprung's newest book (Volume 3) if you happen to have a copy.

HTH

Bryan

 

[Pufferpunk]

Sounds nice, but way to complicated for me. I'm still trying to figure out how to plumb a sump to a regugium for my 90g upgrade.

Nitrates, 120?! I guess I should be happy that mine are only 20-40 then.

 

[EdBurhop]

With a 4" dsb, you should have NO nitrates.... do you have a power filter or canister filter running - these usually just generate nitrates

 

[Pufferpunk]

Nope, I have a CSS 125 & about a month ago, added an Aquaclear 300 w/cheato in it for some help. I do feed pretty heavily (every 2-3 days) but also have tons of creatures in there to eat it--snails, crabs & tons of corals. Just a few small fish (about 7).

 

[NewSchool04]

you can set up a remote DSB in a salt bucket or something similiar if you are looking to stay away from a DSB in your display.

 

[Pufferpunk]

I am considering that. How would it be plumbed?

 

[NewSchool04]

it would be difficult if you are planning to keep all your equipment under your tank. If not, I would have the overflow connected to the sump and skimmer, then to the remote DSB, then the refugium you talked about and then back to the tank. Using gravity to get the water from each stage till the pump returns to the main display.
You could also have a small DSB in your sump.

 

[ostrow]

If you don't like the look of the sand in the display, put it in the fuge. That's where your critters are going to be thriving anyway. IMO that's the logical place for the sand if you don't want it in the display.

But my reef has sand!

 

[Pufferpunk]

Yeah, my DSB is pretty ugly. Definately considering a fuge now. What kind of lighting can I use? I have plenty of extra strip lights laying around. Can someone please post a pic of how I plumb all this togther? Hubby is a pipefitter but wants a diagram to go by.

 

[Racenrich]

puffer,
here is a shot of my 55g sump as well as the 120g sump setup.
Really its not hard....think about what you want and DO IT!

55g sump setup

120g setup

Hope this helps....

RK

 

[Pufferpunk]

OMG, that really does look complicated! Hopefully not so, to a pipefitter. I'm gonna take pics of the sump I bought so you can tell me what I can do w/it--whether I can add a sand bed in there, a fuge or what.

 

[bboersma79]

Rich is a professional!! Nice work!

 

[Pufferpunk]

OK, here's what I've got for a sump:

 

[Racenrich]

puffer,
sell and get a bigger one....heck a 30g AGA with a few baffles would be more sufficent than this.....granite you want to have a refuge and all....this is better suited for a FO tank. could become a fuge though??

Pump looks fine...GPH? and max head?

 

[Pufferpunk]

Uggggh! This one's 20g. Just bought this from whirley. Maybe I can sell it. Can I get one w/a fuge section built in?

As far as the pump:
19GPM
13.4 max head

 

[Racenrich]

aaa...1140gph is perfect for you 90g.....they 20 may or maynot be suffice for what you want.....but could be used with a little thinking and configuring.

RK

 

[Pufferpunk]

Well, I'll take all the help I can get! This part's totally new to me. Been running my 55g on a CSS 125 skimmer & weekly 12g water changes.