Howdy folks. Something just occured to me. I have a 3.5-4.5" DBS in my 30 and as I add more and more rock I have less and less bare sand. I probably have 15% bare areas now. My scarlet legged hermits do a bit of the sifting but they can't get to the spots underneath and my fire goby sometimes dives down there, but I think I'm left to relying on my bristleworms to do the work. Will the amount of live rock in a tank have a direct impact on the quality of the DSB? Thank you.
Effectiveness of DSB
- Thread starter VoodooChild
- Start date
Not at all... The concept of the DSB is based on the anerobic areas, meaning the parts that get no air mixed in to them... The top layer takers care of ammonia and nitrites, and the bottom layer handles nitrate.. My coverage is about 85% also, and i have 0,0,0 respectively at all times... Yer fine =)
[The top layer takers care of ammonia and nitrites, and the bottom layer handles nitrate.. My coverage is about 85% also, and i have 0,0,0 respectively at all times... ]
With that said, is there a need to change the water? I too have a 4" dsb but am still changing the water about every 2 weeks. I also have 0,0,0 , maybe I could stop
Thanks for any input.
With that said, is there a need to change the water? I too have a 4" dsb but am still changing the water about every 2 weeks. I also have 0,0,0 , maybe I could stop
Thanks for any input.
Absolutely.
Regular water changes serve to replace essential trace elements, reduce nitrates (if necessary) and remove waste.
Thanks alot guys. I was worried I was going to have to start skyscraping my LR to leave more bare spots.
Basically the one real issue you will have with DSB's is making sure you don't get any predatory fish and inverts (ie, Triggers, Puffers, Lg Wrasses, Sleeper/Sifter Gobies, Sand Stars, etc) that will eat the organisms in the DSB. I have a 3" one in my 209 but don't know how functional it is with several triggers and a couple lg wrasses in there. Rarely does it get disturbed though.
How about a yellow watchman goby? I figured one of these little guys will be great for sifting and I haven't heard anything about them munching on my sand critters.
My mom has one in her 75 gallon reef and it doesn't sift at all. It just found a little home on the bottom in a rock structure and lives there. Watchmans are not sifters. They might dig a hole and excavate it every once in a while but they don't sift sand like the Sleepers do. Hope this helps.