Dsb.

[FinsToTheLeft]

I keep reading different articles and posts and am getting a little confused about DSB's.

I thought anything deeper than 3" was good. But I just read either go 5"+ or 1". Anything in between is bad. 6" is alot.

I am about to add water to my new 75 gal setup but now I want to know if I should take some sand out.

Any thoughts?

[drparker]

I'm at about 2 to 2.5 inches. I like the look and to me 1 inch just doesn't look right. With enough flow and critters it wont become a nutrient sink.

[imcosmokramer]

Hi fins,

Take a look here:

http://wetwebmedia.com/deepsandbeds.htm

Hope that helps.

[tmz]

There is no real consensus on the use of a dsb which is why you are getting mixed messages.

A dsb in a display can serve several functions including: denitrification and poviding habitat for benthic microfuana(sand dwellng creatures). if improperly managed it can beco e a nutrient sink over time which can cause problems in managing nuisance algae and other pests.

For denitrification the general rule is 4 plus inches . This generally allows low oxygen zones to form where bacteria which complete the denitrification process by converting nitrate to free nitrogen can thrive. The exact depth and efficiency will depend on the amount of open sand and to some degree the current flowing over it which creates variations in water pressure and the pulling down of water to the deeper parts of the sand. By the time it gets there most of the O2 has been used creating the necessary anoxic zones.

Many who keep dsbs use remote dsbs and keep ther display free of sand otr use a shallow bed of .5 to 1.5 inches of sugar fine sand for a beach effect.

Others use no sand bed at all and rely on the live rock ,exclusively, which also has anoxic zones inside it. Some with very shallow beds for aesthetics.

[FinsToTheLeft]

Thanks for all the info... I feel better. Got a little nervous reading some other posts, but i am now confident i am got it right.