Hammer0331's Tank

[jenglish]

Whoa, you are asking a debated question right there!! Sand can serve as a place for beneficial bacteria to live that convert Amonia to nitrite to nitrate. THey also can hold huge amounts of nutrients and all the bacteria that are still a bioload that eats, breathes, excretes etc. THere are those that will say sand is a big liability to water flow and detritus build up. THis is the more popular idea at the moment. THere are those that still advocate deep sand beds but bare bottom is more popular these days

[jenglish]

http://www.inlandaquatics.com/info/faq_lsand.html
theres a link to a rough guide to some positives to DSB setups. This store follows a ecosystem strategy outline by Adey and Loveland in Dynamic Aquaria. This is an idea that was more popular a few years ago and used a DSB, refugium and ALgal turf scrubber and had no skimmer or other filtration. To my knowledge most of the larger aquariums that were using this idea have switched to skimmers what we consider modern reef keeping strategies. Depending on your inhabitants and what you want your tank to be has a lot to do with how a sand bed does or does not fit into design.

[Hammer0331]

I had no idea this topic was such a controversy. I like the asthetics of the sand bed though, so I think I will stick with it. Thanks for the link, very insightful. What does "DSB" stand for though?

[aquawolf]

DSB = Deep Sand Bed
SSB = Shallow Sand Bed
FSB = Fake Sand Bed
BB = Bare Bottom

HTH

[crvz]

Originally Posted by Hammer0331

I was thinking about 4". It acts kinda like an in tank fiter to a degree, right?

Filter is probably a bit strong, but it does yield a bit of forgiveness for newly established tanks.

[Hammer0331]

And I thought the Corps had a lot of acronyms! lol...guess I need to brush up on my aquatic lingo. thanks guys

[aquawolf]

Yeah, it is an acronym filled world everywhere you go now a days.