Diy- Dlsb

Hello forum readers, ok ive now got my two DLSB,s up and running - tech details are as follows two plastic trays 60cm x 42cm by 20cm - filled with special filter sand to a depth of 15cm - took exactly a bag each of 40kg sand - situated at the bottom of my sump box under the return flow from the tank - the sump is outside of the house but in shade and protected from rain - no artificial lighting at all. have "seeded" both trays with .5kg of sand from my fluidiser. spead evenly over each filterbed. as its low tide this sunday afternoon (17.53) im gonna go and collect a couple of kg of sand lifted from the bottom of a pool that does not ever stand dry at anytime - intend to try and skim off the top 50mm or so over the area of the pool, until i have about 10kg and will then spread this over the two trays - hope this will then give a "kickstart" to the life in the trays. anybody have any ideas on checking the viability of DLSB,s?
like a before and after test on my tank water? and any ideas as to how long the system should take to mature? cheers dave nyland

 

Sounds like a good experiment, i think it will take up to 2 months to really get going, keep the tests going and report with your findings.

 

ok so far my "pre DLSB " tests show nil ammonia, nil nitrate and 5 on the visual comparator scale for nitrate - ph at 8.0 - SG at 1.023 - TEMP 23.c any other tests i should be doing?

 

The only other one is phosphates, i think, DSBs are primarily for nitrates and phosphates, how about coral growth pics too? ust to see if the DSB actually benefits the tank, rather than just remove/export baddies?

 

running a fish only tank sorry, but will buy a test kit for phosphate and add to my testing sequence which im doing on a weekly basis. dave

 

oops, i should have read that first good luck and keep us informed

 

hi people, just to follow up on my previous reply, got my "live" sea sand this week end. found a shallow pool (one metre deep) at dead low tide - im sure this pool will remain covered even at spring low - scraped off the sand from the surface from all areas of the pool - got about 10 kg of sand and split it between my two DLSB trays at the bottom of my sump. so ive got 25mm live sea sand -then a generous "seeding" of sand from my fluidiser- then 150mm of clean filter sand - so now its a question of waiting for the system to mature. its got a good flow of water over the surface of the sand and i notice both trays recieve some sunlight for a brief period each day, but otherwise remain in shade. no other form of lighting provided. can someone please help me in terms of testing my water to see if i can monitor how well the DLSB is working? cheers dave

 

ooops sorry folks! forgot to mention i also bought a red sea pharm phosphate liquid test kit and it shows zero phosphates in my water right now - not crazy about these kits though i cant get any colour in my water at all so there is no way i can compare to the ppm colour scale on the box. can only assume my phosphates are too low to register with the test kit? is there anyone that offers a service to test tank water for say the important parameters ie ammonia/nitrite/nitrate/phosphate just as an "independent" analysis? cheers dave

 

Hi Dave - generally, you should see a LOT of tiny pods starting to propagate and move around. They will act as food for the fish (you should see a difference in your fish at least, as they are now getting more live food)..... Also, I have found that the water clarity definitely improves (due to the amount of bacteria in the "live sand" in the DSB)..... Otherwise, you will see your nitrates go even lower - mine stays between 0 and 2 on the nitrate test kit..... Even if you add fish, this should stay in that region.....

 

Hey thanks jacquesb, ok will keep an eye out for any thing appearing in my tank that i havent seen before (must confess ive never seen anything crawling/swimming up to now) perhaps the fish eat anything that moves? cant really keep an eye on the sand surface because its nearly 1m below the surface of the sump box,do notice some tiny shells came with the sand scrapings that have some sea weed growing on them. suppose i could use their growth as a measure of the DLSB maturity/health? -cheers dave