Dsb

[Gealcath]

Well i am rather new to whole sand filter concept, currently i am converting my exhisting aquarium from coral gravel to sand. I using a mixture of live Arogonite sand and silica playbox sand (sterilized, screened, and kiln dried). I am currently using a penguin 170 bio wheel filter, and i plan on having around a 4" deep sand bed. I also am not using a protien skimmer since their too big for my 15 gallon aquarium.


Would this sand set up work?

[Guy W]

don't know much about the bio-wheel filters, but your sand setup should be fine. 4 inches the the low end for a DSB, but it's probably deep enough. The playbox and aragonite sand is fine.

There is a lot of debate on the effectivness of long term DSB use lately... In my 125gal tank, I have a roughly 3 inch sand bed, because that is visually what I like. for what it's worth.

[frazin78]

Is it necessary to have 4" for a DSB? I have about 3.5 inches all around but what are the advantages of having 4" or more.

Thx

Jc

[OrionGirl]

Do a search on FishWhisperer's posts. He's done some studies on the effective depths of sand, as well as some on crushed coral. Pretty sure he indicated that anything more than about 2 inches worked, depending on the size of the tank in question.