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10-09-2003, 05:40 PM
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#1
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Big Fishy
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Colorado
Posts: 645
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What constitutes a DSB?
Is it 3", 6" or what? Also what kind of maitenence is involved? When I set my tank up I added about 4" of substrate in the front and about 2" in the back. I had no idea about the pros or cons of a DSB, heck I didn't know there were pro's or con's. I raised the level to 4" so that I could keep a jawfish...Does anyone have a rule of thumb or opinon, backed with factual evidence regarding this?
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10-09-2003, 05:52 PM
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#2
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Professional newbie!
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Waukesha, WI
Posts: 404
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...groan.....Here comes Spanky...
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Offical member of "J" crowd by blackmail!
Card carrying member of the CLR crew!
55 gal AGA, 100lbs 4" DSB, 60lb LR, 2 Maxijet 900 PH, US Aquariums PS, 4x96w PC lighting 2 actinic 03, 2 10k
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10-09-2003, 06:09 PM
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#3
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Administrator
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Tampa, FL
Posts: 8,762
Reviews: 1
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The DSB proponents generally say 6" minimum to do it right.
IME, jawfish need at least 6" to be able to build a proper burrow, so that kind of gives you a starting point.
I won't even touch the "controversial" issues of the pros and cons of DSB's. They've been beaten to death in other threads. I will say that none of my current systems have DSB's, but I don't keep jawfish at the moment either.
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Want to see thousands of reef tank and diving pictures? Visit my website at www.SaltyZoo.com
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10-09-2003, 06:20 PM
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#4
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Big Fishy
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Southeast MI
Posts: 680
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From what I have read 4~6” is recommended with 4” being the minimum. Also a minimum size of 12”x 36” to have enough surface area. As for the maintenance required you will have to keep replenishing the little sand critters (bristle worms etc) as they die off or are eaten.
IMO with the jaw fish & other sand digging critters you would never end up with a true DSB anyway because of all the sand being sifted? (I could be wrong which won’t be the first time.  )
I'm sure Spanky will jump in soon help clear things up. |
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10-09-2003, 06:39 PM
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#5
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The Border Collie Mod
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: right now? in my chair
Posts: 13,218
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Tah Dah! 
Here's the nuts and bolts of it Toad.
It depends on what criteria you use to define a DSB. If you go by construction, then people will tell you that you need X inches. If you go by functionality, then you need a anaerobic zone. Either way, the one defining term that says DSB is that bottom no oxygen area - anaerobic.
The courser material you use in the beginning will require a deep layer in order to achieve that anaerobic area on the bottom, the finer material the thinner the layer can be. Ex. Mud filters pack very tight and don't have to be thick to have a anaerobic area.
Sort of the rule of thumb seems to be when you see hair/nuisance algae starting around the base of your rocks, you've let it go too long without a good cleaning.
Take a minute (OK few days) and read the threads on DSB's in the Think Tank and make up your own mind. It's all there in gory detail.
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10-10-2003, 12:26 AM
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#6
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Stress Monger
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Posts: 3,186
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ROTFLMAO... Jerel to the rescue... Just don't read the threads late at night before going to bed. They can lead to sleepless nights and even possible fits of anxiety..  It's amazing how late it can get if your too busy reading to look at the clock...  |
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10-10-2003, 01:31 AM
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#7
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senior member
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Walnut Grove, SC, USA
Posts: 15,170
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Tom <"))))>(
(TDWyatt)
Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something. -Plato
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10-10-2003, 11:03 AM
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#8
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Summer's Daddy
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Lawrenceville, Ga in a van down by the river
Posts: 2,675
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K. Back to jawfish. Remember to provide some coarser stuff for the jawfish to build a burrow. I have a 6 inch sandbed for my jawfish and he took the rubble and old snail shells and you can see where he constructed a burrow using the coarse stuff as a frame. I was lucky that with one of the denizens he built his burrow right next to the glass and I can see him in his house.
Ray
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All your base are belongs to us
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10-10-2003, 03:42 PM
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#9
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Big Fishy
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Southeast MI
Posts: 680
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Ray
Does the burrowing & sand sifting effect the performance of the DSB? Got any pic's of your jawfish & his house?
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10-11-2003, 10:55 AM
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#10
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senior member
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Walnut Grove, SC, USA
Posts: 15,170
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As a purely speculative statement, the presence of a jawfish burrow in a closed system DSB may actually be good to some extent, in that it does extend the aerobic zone down into the deep sections of the sand bed in the immediate local of the burrow. This would theoretically be good in that it would extend the environment of the partial anaerobic activity to that area surrounding the burrow (such that the entire deep section would not be totally anaerobic). Keep in mind that this is speculation only, I have no data to back this up.
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Tom <"))))>(
(TDWyatt)
Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something. -Plato
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10-19-2003, 10:49 PM
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#11
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Nothing to See Here
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: South Cali
Posts: 1,541
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I like my DSB, and so do my gobbies and sand siffting stars
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10-20-2003, 05:06 PM
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#12
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Blacktip Shark
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Middleburg, VA
Posts: 2,113
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So would 2" of Aragonite and 1" oolictic (?) (the fine stuff) constitue as a dsb (please say no!) HOw do you tell what is anerobic, besides guessing!
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Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want
He who fears the thorn, should never crave the rose.
-favorite TRT quote
Forecast for tonight: dark, continued dark overnight, widely scattered light by morning
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10-20-2003, 10:57 PM
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#13
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Little Fishy
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: columbia, mo
Posts: 257
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a coupla posts ago, spanky stated that when one sees nuisance algae around the base of the rocks it's overdue for a good cleaning. so, define "good cleaning."
-hayday |
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10-21-2003, 12:24 AM
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#14
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Big Fishy
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Pensacola, FL
Posts: 807
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I think that's when Jerel thinks it is time to remove all the sand.
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135 gal mixed reef
Reefing is NOT a hobby.......................It's an OBSESSION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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10-21-2003, 09:03 AM
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#15
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The Border Collie Mod
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: right now? in my chair
Posts: 13,218
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You know something, I'm thinking long and hard on this and I can't come up with what I think is the right answer either. 
If you think of it as what it really is, a filter, then a good cleaning would be to replace it. But that's just not practical for everyone.
If you try vacuuming it, then you end up with the whole "start the sand bed over" routine and have to deal with everything you deal with when you establish and new sand bed. Plus all the added nutrients you missed.
I just don't have a good answer for that one. Or at least one I'm happy with.
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