Biotope refugium-Tropical Pacific Estuarine Refugium (Thooughts?)

[Geoff]

i have come to the realization that 90% of our reef problems are from phosphates. the rest is user error.

the problem with using the skimmer, kalk, macro, and other export mechanism is that the phosphates have to be in the water column for them to remove them. bacteria are far better at binding these nutrients. the bacteria in the sand and LR will uptake these nutrients before they can. this leads to hidden escalation of nutrient levels untill the sand/LR is full and starts leaching the nutrients back into the water column. at this point the above mentioned mechanisms will gain usefullness in their ability to export the nutrients. this is why people have such a hard time growing macro algae at the start of setting up a tank. the sand is uptaking all of the nutrients that the algae needs. it is not untill it starts to fill up that it will start leaching out of the sand and into the water column to feed the macro. this is also why phospban reactors become more usefull as the tank matures. it then is able to remove enough phosphates from the water column to keep the phosphates in checkish.

this is why it is important not to let any detritus settle on a sand bed. the quicker you remove it the less that can be taken up by the bacteria/calcium carbonate in the sand. the lower you can keep the nutrient levels in the sand the longer the bed will be viable.

i will switch gears. what is necessary to keep a DSB running as long as possible. for the longest time we were told that DSB's were maintenance free. the critters in the sand did it all. because of this there are very few DSB systems running now that followed the original thinking of how to run a DSB.

sorry, will finish in a bit. got work to do.

hopefully what i have said makes sense, only using half my reef brain right now.

G~

[Mike01z]

yes phosphates are horribly bad for us, I agree its the root cause for almost every type of nuisance algae problem we have.

We need some type of transporter that can remove phosphates like on Star Trek,

Like beam out 95% of phosphats bound or other wise

[Geoff]

the most important thing to do if you want to keep a sand bed in the display of any kind is to get it off of the sand itself. allowing the top layers of sand to see flow will greatly extend the life of any sand bed.

there are a couple of ways to accomplish this. you can use acrylic/PVC posts to suspend the LR above the sand bed. you can also create a platform in the tank that the LR will sit on, then around this platform you can place your sand bed. that way you can easily remove the detritus from underneath the LR, yet still have the look of a sand bed.

G~

[jadefox]

Geoff,

Will get back to phosphates shortly...lol...but I agree with your approach to DSBs. I use a PVC rack to support my rock structure at a height of four inches (equal to the depth of the DSB). The PVC rack is also a closed loop system that forces flow near the surface of the DSB and behind and inside all of the rock.

Here's a before and after pic, along with one showing the rock rack with no substrate in the tank. The base rocks have been drilled to pit onto the pvs pipes so all of their weight is supported by the PVC rack instead of the DSB. The rack is drilled for flow.

[jadefox]

The fuge is now running, and here are a couple of pics (before and after mangroves). Please let me know your thoughts.

[Geoff]

make sure to spritz the mangroves daily with FW or the leaves will die, followed shortly by the mangrove itself. it is a good idea to make sure the area around the mangroves are able to be sprayed daily with water without damage.

G~

[jadefox]

Thanks, Geoff. There is an automatic misting system that mists with freshwater each mangrove several times a day. I know that deep mud bed must be making your teeth hurt...lol. I'll keep you posted.