treesprite November 29, 2009 Share November 29, 2009 (edited) I'm wanting to see others to compare mine, to help me see if there's something wrong, given that it seems to me like the DSB is still not working like it should. Here's some pics of mine - the first 2 are close-ups: You can see from this last picture that I made the mistake of using a little bit of sand that is extra fine grain size - fortunately it was only a small amount not a whole bag. I hope that no one else makes this mistake. I should add that my DSB is about 8" deep in a 29 gal refugium fuge tank (30x12), to service a 65 gal tank with a 29 gal sump & the 29 fuge Edited November 29, 2009 by treesprite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind November 29, 2009 Share November 29, 2009 Why do you not like the extra fine grain size? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite November 29, 2009 Author Share November 29, 2009 Why do you not like the extra fine grain size? If you look at that 3rd picture you will see that nothing moves through it because it's too compacted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryL November 29, 2009 Share November 29, 2009 over time the area will get some critters in it....it offer more surface area for good bacteria to grow. if you want to jump start the sand bed get like a cup from an aged reef to seed the new one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite November 29, 2009 Author Share November 29, 2009 The sand in that un-changed area is fine to the point have being nearly of soot texture when wet. I re-did the sand bed over 6 months ago (can't remember what month) - I should think by now there would be some kind of change in the appearance of that area if the sand were any good for this use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k November 29, 2009 Share November 29, 2009 these things take time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L8 2 RISE November 29, 2009 Share November 29, 2009 It shouldn't take that long. Did you seed it at all? If not, you should. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite November 30, 2009 Author Share November 30, 2009 It shouldn't take that long. Did you seed it at all? If not, you should. I was already using about 50% of the sand in a smaller DSB - got a bigger fuge tank so I started it over again, put almost all the new sand on the bottom and then the old sand on top, though some is mixed up and I had tossed in that super fine stuff as sort of an after-thought when I realized I had it. Doesn't anyone else have pics, or does most everyone have their DSB in an opaque container? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryL November 30, 2009 Share November 30, 2009 these things take time... +1 even if you dont see things moving through it it still has a bacterial benefit which you cannot see. 6 months should be fine for the 1st couple inches of the bed. i had a 4" dsb in my 150 and critters only went as far down as about 1 1/2 to 2" if that much of the sand bed. further down becomes an anaerobic layer and few things in it will be visible to the naked eye. its just one of those things to set and forget, and dont stir up the bottom as it can lead to a tank crash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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