Taking DSB out of fuge. good idea?

D

Diego

New member
I've been suffering from primarily Hair Algae for quite some time. It started as HA, then went to Bubble Algae, then to Cyano, now back to HA with cyano in the sump.
Since the initial rounds of algae occurred, I've upgraded to RO/DI, bought an ASM G3, and feed 3 cubes every other day for approx 14 small fish, the biggest 2-3".
Its been about 4 months since. The HA will not go away. Luckily I am a very patient man.
I am thinking my DSB in the fuge which is sand from an upgrade which is about 3-4years old now might be the cause.
I'm thinking of taking it out.
My display has a 2-3" SSB.
I still have cyano in the sump - it used to be in the fuge until I moved the chaeto and the light from the fuge to the sump to get it to tumble.
Think this will help? When I empty the fuge I'll also clean the sump which honestly might also be a problem since I havent cleaned it since day 1. Approx 1.5 years ago. I have rubble in one of the baffle areas to reduce the microbubbles I had when I first set up.

Sound like a plan? Should I clean the sump first, then see if it helps or should I just go ahead and remove the DSB from the fuge? Make it BB?

thanks!
Diego
 
I'm not going to ramble on about all of the benefits from using starboard or barebottom compared to having sand of any kind.

Get rid of the darned sand! In any amount it becomes a septic tank.

I'd advise you to get rid of the DSB and the SSB. Be careful though... If you have a reef, consider using starboard for the display tank. If its fish only, or only softies, use crushed coral.

Good luck.

Check out the SPS forum for more info on barebottom or starboard.


Steve
 
Get rid of the DSB, but you could also replace it. Sand beds aren't all bad, there are benefits, but they do have a shelf-life.

Many have gone back to ssb after bb. At least there is awareness of this issues with dsb and ss.
 
im just wondering what ssb is??? i think bb is bhare bottom right?? and dsb is deep sand bed, so id ssb short sand bed or sumthing??
 
BB = bare bottom

Starboard = using "cutting board" as substrate (basically bare bottom)

DSB = Deep Sand Bed

SSB = Shallow Sand Bed


I think there is a huge list of acronyms somewhere on RC.

I betcha that Gary could find it!


Steve
 
I find I get a decent amout of red hair algae that grows in the fuge when I run the light 24x7. When the algae gets to be too much I change the photo period to 10-12 hours at night only. Usually in a couple weeks the red hair dies off.
 
What is a ideal depth for a SSB? I am in the process of slowly removing some of my sand bed as it is a septic as Steve calls it. I had started out with about 2" or more. My tank is fairly new and that is to be expected but I am trying to get my tank to a clean state and it seems as though it is a never ending battle cleaning up the sand bed. Without going totally BB would a depth of 1/2" or less lend to a cleaner tank?
 
Diego,
How much water is in your current system? The more fish you keep, the harder it is to maintain an algae free aquarium. I keep 5 clowns, 2 Bangai cardinals, and one wrasse in my 150 gallon. I keep a few fish in the tanks in the basement whcih are connected to my system. The total volume is about 400 gallons for 13 small fish and I do minimal water changes.

More water changes can help your algae problem, but getting rid of the sandbed can't hurt either.
 
Thanks all!
So the SSB in the display should go as well :( <-- I'm only sad bc I am one lazy SOB.
How much for a starboard for an AGA 125g and where the best place to get one near BUF?

I current have about 125+15g ref +40g sump = 180g total.
I've got 6 chromis, 2 pj carindals, 1 dwarf flame, 1 purple firefish, 2chalk bass, 1 royal gramma, 1 yellow watchman, 1 mandarin, 2 clowns.

Thanks chrisguy on the tip for the 24/7 lighting which is exactly my problem as well. I've been thinking about changing that to alternate w the display, but it is current my only lighting in the basement, so I'll have to rig something up. My wife likes to describe the basement as one of those "No way in heck I'm going down there" 100 year old city basements - so imagine walking to the sump room in total darkness. At least the spiders are friendly.

Anyone think the LR rubble between the first and second baffle to prevent microbubbles may be a detritus trap? My baffles are also 'down' 'up' 'down'. Did i screw that up? Should the first baffle be 'up'? I thinking it should be inorder to prevent the tank drain water from immediately going over and into the next baffle area.

Thanks again!
 
Diego it seems that most everyone that has answered your post are BB people. I don't have a preferance for either DSB or BB but you may want to keep asking until you get some anwsers from DSB folks, before you switch.


Mar:rollface:
 
:thumbsup:

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6331079#post6331079 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by maro1
Diego it seems that most everyone that has answered your post are BB people. I don't have a preferance for either DSB or BB but you may want to keep asking until you get some anwsers from DSB folks, before you switch.


Mar:rollface:
Click to expand...
I believe most (or all) of us that answered here have experience running DSB's, SSB's and BB's. I know that I have. I'm not a "BB person". ;)
 
do you keep any LR or rubble in the fuge? also, what kind of "self-life" are you getting out of fuge substrate, DSB's, and/or SSB's?

thanks
 
I keep LR in the fuge and LR rubble in the sump (originally to help stop the microbubbles).
I haven't seen much life in my fuge in a while. I think its time to restock. Not sure where they all went. Life left when I originally moved the chaeto to the sump to get it to tumble and I turned the light off in the fuge. It seemed as if life followed the red slime - They started showing up in the sump but not in the fuge. Red slime is gone, and with it, apparently, so is life.

Even tho my mandarin is pretty plump, I have not seen as much life in the fuge as I used to, but again, this stopped before I removed the DSB. (Life in the display has also been minimal).
 
I cleaned all the crap out of my sump/refugium. No more sand, chaetomorpha (macroalgae) etc.
I have a few pieces of "live rubble" that I keep in it for purposes of mounting corals.
A clean sump is best, IMO. This isn't to say that remote DSB refugia are totally useless. This is what works best for me.
I have areas in my main display aquarium that perform a function similar to refugia.
I currently have the smallest population of sandbed worms that I've ever had in the past 9 years and my Acropora (what I use as an indicator along with Xenia) are growing great.
The "high price" of maintaining a DSB which accumulates detritus over time is not worth it, IMO.
Xenia and Acropora can do just fine without all the sandbed infauna. So can Mandarinfish if you have enough pods living in your liverock.
 
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