dsb in main tank overflow chamber

[ivans75]

I have an idea of throwing in 12" of live sand or even more in my main tank overflow chamber. Would this a good idea in terms of controling nitrate or even phosphate? Might grow some macro algae in there too...

My overflow chamber is on the corner of my tank with stand pipe on the middle. It's 12"x12"x40" so I got plenty of head room for 12" dsb

Any odds of doing that?

[crvz]

I doubt it would make a big dent in terms of nitrate and phosphate reduction, as there a 1 square foot area is not very significant. What size is the tank? I would be much more inclined to do that in a dedicated sump.

[thegrun]

It would be of minimal help due to the small footprint. Deep sand beds should only be between 4" and 6" deep by the way. Deeper than 6" will cause problems. Recent studies indicate the actual denitrification takes place in the narrow zone between aerobic and anaerobic conditions which typically is in the 4" range.

[ivans75]

tank is 250g and I already have sand on the bottom as substrate, but the sand is about 3" deep in average, there are some area with less than that. I have a small space in my sump of around 12"x13"x10" (L W H) Would that be good enough for refugium with dsb? At the moment I have a bag of Y shape crushed corals in there.