Deep Sand Bed

[Tankrogue]

Anyone using DSB out there im new to hobby need some advice. I have a 100 gallon Mixed reef system DSB in main display and and 35 gallon sump with refigium DSB Some Cheato and protein skimmer. Tank is about 90 days old everything has been running great till last 15 days. Nitrates seem to staying around 5-10 ppm even after water change, which I do weekly 10 percent changes. I also run a phosphate reactor and have a bag of carbon in overflow slot in sump. I have Mp 40 for water movement in display and about 500 gallons per hour through the

Sump. Clean up crew in main display 30 nasssius snail 10 turbos 20 other kinds about 15 red legged hermit crabs. I'm also using RO water which test fine.

 

 

Fish in tank

 

Bellus Angel fish. 3 in

Yellow eye tang. 4 in

Golden Rhombo Wrasses male female 6 in

3 Blue eyed cardinals.

3 Green chromis.

2 Firefish.

Yellow carney wrasse

[smallreef]

Well i dont personally have DSB though here is the little bit i know about them...

for your sump the problem I think you are having is too much flow... DSB need very SLOW constant flow in order for the nitrates to be absorbed by the sand and the bacteria to start the reaction...

and same would go for in the tank though its harder to slow the flow through there...

 

that all I have about it.. Im sure theres more out there but that is one reason I have never done it

[Origami]

500 gph through your sump is fine. Nitrate reduction happens deeper in your sand bed where water is present not so much by flow, but by diffusion. Your 10% water changes are probably not large enough to register much of a decrease in nitrates (you'd only get a 10% reduction from the change. It's possible that you're phosphate-limited and that phosphates are not plentiful enough to complete the reduction of nitrates. However, we normally get plenty of phosphates from our food. I had a situation like this once and addressed it by pulling my GFO reactor for a few weeks. I started noticing nitrates decreasing about a week after this adjustment. In my instance, it showed that my biological filter was in fact limited by available phosphate.

[Tankrogue]

That is very interesting about pulling phosphate reactor

I've been running that since day one with Rowaphos

And have always tested 0 on phosphate might be worth a try.

[Origami]

In my instance (this was a few years ago), it was what seemed to break the situation I was in: That is, zero phosphates but 10-20 ppm nitrates. I actually pulled the GFO and began dosing vinegar, and watched the nitrates drop over the course of 2-3 weeks.

[Tankrogue]

I'm also just debating if it ain't broke dont fix it

All of my SPS look great everyday growing full extension.

10ppm should not hurt SPS correct??

[Origami]

Incorrect. It may not kill it, but they won't thrive and you may see colors brown out. You really want your nitrate levels well below 1 ppm for SPS. See this article for some good information:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php

[LanglandJoshua]

That is very interrupting that phosphates have such a key part in the reactions that remove nitrite. I don't have a DSB but have cheato instead. I'll be following this! I've always been curious how a DSB worked.

[Tankrogue]

Origami after you saw the nitrates fall down did you

Fire back up the phosphate reator or just never needed it?

[Origami]

Interestingly, I never needed it afterwards. I also dose kalkwasser, though, which precipitates out phosphates when it hits the water. It can help control phosphates which is what we use GFO for.

 

Joshua, phosphates and nitrogen play an important role in living organisms. Phosphates are a component of ATP (Adenosine Tri Phosphate) - you may remember that from your Biology classes as an molecular energy store for cellular processes. Likewise, the DNA molecule has a double-helix phosphate backbone. Nitrates serve as an oxygen source (electron acceptor) for anaerobic respiration.

[matt bills]

I have a 5 inch sand bed 0 nitrates

[matt bills]

Go dsb. Needs to be over 4 inch

[sen5241b]

DSBs in my opinion are a waste of time. Dr Shimek the marine biologists and hobbyist says all you need ios 3 or 4 inches of sand. see the recent article in Coral mag.