Deep Sea Bed

[cowgum]

Hi guys,

i am new to setting up a sw tank and had been reading the threads for the past few days which i find to be very informative but all alot to absorb.

I had just set up my tank and had been just running the water thru the tank and sump to check for leaking and probs. I will probably be getting LR next week or so when the frame for my light arrive.

I read in several threads about the DSB but never really get a full idea of what it is and what it does. Can someone kindly explain it to me or show me a thread that explains it.

And also is that a thread that says about what to test for and look out for in a tank with LR but prior to introduction of fishes. I know there r tests for ammonia, nitrate and nitrite and PH, but are there anything else or a list that says something.

I must apologise if the topics are repeated, but I had gone thru so many of them until i abit blur now.

thanks a million!!!

[spade]

DSB is Deep Sand Bed

the following links will be useful to u

Jaubert's Method, the "Monaco System," Defined and Refined by Julian Sprung

The Basics of Filtration for the Reef Aquarium

[cowgum]

they are a good read!! thks for the links!!

[sunny03]

hi hi

been reading a lot bot deep sand bed here i would like to know if i have a 23in by 11in by 14in tank and like to have a deep sand bed is 3in of sand is enough for the effect of the DSB ?? is it too much or less so far i still cant find any info that show how deep is the sand for a 2ft tank and some suggest 5in but their tank is much more bigger so i think is 3in enough ???

[mAriNe_enthusiast]

For a 2ft tank, having too thick a sand bed will look quite weird.

there wouldn't be much space left.

U can compensate by having more LR, they also house bacteria to reduce ur ammonia, nitrite and even nitrate.

The LR will also form the backgrd of ur tank.

Just my 2 cents worth...

[sunny03]

thanks i had just put in about 1in to 2in of sand and 1.2kg of live rock but i have in my mind of have total weight of LR to 5 or 6 kg do you think is it too much

[okieguy]

hey IMO 5-6 kg of live rock is just nice. my 3ft tank i put in 20kg base rock and 15kg live rock still abit empty leh.

[sunny03]

tks but the LR that i brought today are with sea weeds and a small crab but however the crab goes missing and the sea weeds turn white so i think it dies and i remove leaving those that are still green on it am i doing it right

[mAriNe_enthusiast]

I normally removes all the weeds thingy...Then just rinse the LR clean b4 placing them in.

[sunny03]

den what about those red and yellow coralline algae,tube worm and some small spongy stuff on the rock i dont think they are suppose to be taken off. am i right ???

[Kalib]

Ya but what are the spongy stuff you referring to? Not quite sure.

[sunny03]

i also dont know cos when i press it it squit out water so i guess it a spongy stuff i try my best to describe it i have two type of it ..one is tube the length of the tube is about 2cm and the top about the size of $1 coin when it close up as i goes near it. it also has the so call "tentacles" like "a xmas" (green in colour) (now turning white i guess it going to die soon) when it opens up and in the middle i guess is the mouth which is dark in colour. and it does not moves around ..

another is a tube also but it has only one branch i think it has the look of tree coral which i found on the book just only that it have only a branch and it is brown in colour i guess also going to die liao ...

as from i know when cycling the tank that time it is always not good to on the light as it promoto the algae growth but if i dont on the light the coral will also die am i saying right ??? and so far i had worms and small white dots "thing" moving around the tank which i think every cycling tank will goes through but what the white dot think call

[Kalib]

Not sure what's the spongy stuff.

Those small white stuff which you saw i think are pods.

Corals? If you're cycling the tank there shouldn't be any corals in there unless they have hitchhiked along with the LR you bought to cycle the tank. Anyway, lights are not the only things that'll sustain corals. Corals require good water conditions as well and the water conditions during the cycling period are not good at all.

Or are you referring to the coralline algae on the LR itself? If you're talking about the coralline algae, there's no need to turn on the lights. I cycled my tank without lights and my LR still have coralline algae on it.

[sunny03]

ok tks will try to take a pic of my tank after i got a CARD READER maybe you guys can give me some tips of placing the LR.. the corals and the spongy stuff came with the LR

[Kalib]

As for the corals and spongy stuff i'm not sure of where to place as i'm not too sure of all the coral requirements. Example: Some need current(some need stronger,some weaker) and this factor would determine where you will want to put them.

As for placing LR, this is what i usually do:

- Make sure the LR which is to be stacked above the base LR is secure and would not topple over(would be disastrous if they do)

- Try moving around with the LR, like stacking them ontop of each other and see what kind of effects you can get(Like caves, valley effect(2 stacks of LR side by side with middle gap),arch etc.).

- Can look at various tank photos to get ideas on how people landscape their tanks.

Think there should be more... anyone care to add on??

[zephyros]

DSB is Deep Sand Bed 

the following links will be useful to u

Jaubert's Method, the "Monaco System," Defined and Refined by Julian Sprung

helo frens,

it is mentioned in the above article that the DSB needs to be set up above

a plenum (of abt 2-3cm). The purpose of the plenum as mentioned in the article,

The plenum provides a layer of water that maintains a level of dissolved oxygen above zero. Therefore the gravel in Jaubert's system is sandwiched between the highly oxygenated aquarium water circulating above it, and the plenum water, which maintains a low but generally stable level of dissolved oxygen. Being sandwiched between these oxygenated zones tends to prevent the formation of hydrogen sulfide, a common occurrence in deep sand beds without a plenum

Can anyone confirm the above claim with regards to the prevention of the

formation of hydrogen sulfide?

Cheers

Zephyros