DSB maintenance

[BennieV]

Hello all, I was reading the thread with " what did you do for your tank, I read that Arian siphoned his DSB. I was always under the impression you leave your DSB alone, don't disturb bacteria growth

Just a few questions on it.

Best ways to siphon DSB.
Life cycle of DSB, do you change it after x amount of years.

 

[RiaanP]

If you do get detritus settlement on top of the sand. Then you siphon that off. I use those thick plastic tubes they sell for freshwater.

If you disturb the top 5mm of the sand, its not going to kill the DSB function. I do one half one week and the next time I siphon it clean I do the other half.