Silica sand

mekaeel said:
this is a bit off topic,but should the display be bare bottom,


is there a specific size of a DSB?not depth but rather length and width?
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On BB vs DSB:
There is merit to both but I think there is more merit to BB especially since remote DSB's and refugium techniques are as effective as they are.

On DSB Area:
Maybe Millepora or DragonReef can comment on this, his current one is apparently to small.
 
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Is there a specific size ?? - No not really it's the technique.. :)

Guy's remember a DSB is not an essential requirement but rather a tool which aids us in filtration. I'm not sure wether there's an exact science to this, ie x amount of surface area to water volume and your sand bed should be x.
IMO any DSB that you can link / incorporate into your system will be beneficial if it is set up correctly. It stands to reason, that the bigger your system volume / bioload is the bigger you would want your sand bed to be, in much the same way as the bigger and heavier a car is the more powerful the engine should be in order to get decent performance.

I have a 60 x 30cm Remote DSB on my system. It's the biggest I could accomodate without a serious redesign of the entire sump. It's defineatly adding benefit to my system, although my preference would be to go double that size.

Bottom line ? Try and get the biggest DSB in, that space and practicality will allow :)
 
nice info anthony!and yes fickie,ive seen the size of andrews DSB it is quite small,yet the system is thriving!
 
In my opinion it’s the quality not the quantity (within reasion) that’s important.
Having said that I am seriously contemplating adding a 3meter by 1meter DSB refugium on a tank I’m busy setting up. Why so large, well the tank is no baby either, it’s going to be about 18 000 liters.
The biggest/deepest dsb I have set up to date is an in tank dsb to a depth of 800mm using beach sand. Recon I must have used close to two tones of sand.
 
When I say quality I am referring to a few things, the type of substraight used, the correct flow rate for the type and depth of substraight, the quality and quantity of bio diversity in and on the substraight and how the DSB is managed by the aquarist. I agree with Anthony that you should always try to add the largest possible DSB that you can practically accommodate.
 
a little off topic here but ina dsb what should one look for regarding "life " !!! i have lots of tubewoms in my dsb but havent seen anything else , what shud i look for ???
 
Good question, also Mille maybe just touch on what you mean by managing the DSB.
 
millepora said:
When I say quality I am referring to a few things, the type of substraight used, the correct flow rate for the type and depth of substraight, the quality and quantity of bio diversity in and on the substraight and how the DSB is managed by the aquarist. I agree with Anthony that you should always try to add the largest possible DSB that you can practically accommodate.
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cool info andrew :)
 
Afsal a healthy refugium/dsb should house things like, detritus eating brittlestars, serpent stars, worms (many types), snails, pods, certain small cucumbers, Mysid shrimps etc.

By managing I mostly mean helping to increase or at the least maintain the live forms that are so beneficial to the sand bed. If left for long periods without your interference, you will generally find that only a few types of critters will dominate while the others either starve, or get consumed. It is good practice to regularly exchange even half a cup full of sand from fellow reefers refugiums. I’m a little luckier than some as I sometimes get new live rock in and the bottom of the boxes are absolutely teeming with all sorts of life forms that are great for adding to the fuge.
 
Yeah good one, you are very lucky to bring in live stock with critters on ( although don't you risk adding disease ) I have often thought of getting a cup or 2 from other reefers cos my DSB is still very new and besides a few worms is looking very bare.

Muz
 
Sounds like you referring to cracker/pistol shrimps, I’d say no. You are looking for much smaller life forms things like Mysid shrimps are perfect to cultivate in refugiums.
 
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