Dsb in fuge or not?

[3djedi]

In the process of building new sump and trying to decide if I should do a dsb in the fuge section. When I tore down my old fuge it was nasty, stinky, and the sand turned into a thick toothpaste type consistency but I don't know if it really had any positive effect on my system. Iwould definitely like some sand in there for small critters but just not sure about a dsb. What are your thoughts on it? Yes it's worth it or no, skip it.

[Anemonebuff]

I had a DSB in my main tank and removed it when things started going bad. I do plan on a remote MSB(Medium Sand Bed) on my next tank. I plan on using miracle MUD at about 2-3" deep. I already have turtle grass that I will use.

[jhildebrand]

Depends on what kind of refugium you want. If the flow is too slow you'll just end up with a dirty mess over time. A DSB refugium needs better flow than a macro one. What are you trying to accomplish? Too slow of flow through 'fuge just lets deposits settle and eventually you get the silt building up.

[3djedi]

Depends on what kind of refugium you want. If the flow is too slow you'll just end up with a dirty mess over time. A DSB refugium needs better flow than a macro one. What are you trying to accomplish? Too slow of flow through 'fuge just lets deposits settle and eventually you get the silt building up.

I always thought the opposite of this. Fast flow over macro to make it tumble and slower flow over dsb so it doesn't get mixed up.

I think I want something with filter feeders in it and a place for small critter to grow and thrive as food export.

[the other tang]

I am thinking about the same thing. I will feed my DSB with water from the skimmer to reduce any deteris....so the flow will be about 300gph. The DSB will feed the fuge, then to the return. This will require a bypass from the first stage to the last to prevent unskimmed water in the DSB. i will likely add a divider in the center of the DSB, this will allow you to clean it out and replace the sand if needed with out a major dispuption or swing. Then you can do the other side in a few weeks.

Search DSB and RDSB threads there are some great ones on here.

[CorkPullerPHL]

I'm pro dsb and will be adding one to my 150 Gallon fuge

[r-balljunkie]

meh....ran both ways. always found it was more trouble than whatever benifits i could garner out of an extra few inches of sand down there. it really becomes a soupy mess over time. i run my fuge "bare bottom", nothing at all, and my tank seems to be responding well. before that, with sand and mud.

i have to say, bare has been the easiest to maintain.

i have no problems with RDSB, i think they have their place in reefing. not too much of a fan of DSB in tank.

c


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[SleepyMike]

How old was your refugium sump? Did you ever have a problem with it?

[ludnix]

I don't think the refugium is a great place to have a remote DSB. I think it's important not to disturb your refugium but the idea of a RDSB is that you can take it out if it goes sour. While the refugium would be a better place to do it than the display I still don't think it's a good as a "remote" deep sand bed.

I currently have a deep sand bed and haven't had any issue in the close 2 years it's been running, but we'll have to see in the future.