A deep sand bed or a shallow one ?

[David Burton]

All,

Another question which still perplexes me is this concept of sand beds and
whether they should be shallow or deep. The guy in my LFS swears blind that
you should keep it shallow as he says a deep bed just holds rubbish,
nitrates etc. To this end I have always had a sand level in between the two
...

What are your thoughts / opinions ?

David

[Richard Reynolds]

> Another question which still perplexes me is this concept of sand beds and
> whether they should be shallow or deep.

and for answer #1 out of a zillion different ones :D

>The guy in my LFS swears blind that
> you should keep it shallow as he says a deep bed just holds rubbish,
> nitrates etc.

to that point so what!!! be happy they are not in your water column !!!! as for them
"holding nitrates" no but phosphates and *other* yep. but whats the problem! the point is
to not have them in your water, IF it comes down to the DSB holding the phosphates and
*other* and every 5+ years you really do have to replace your DSB (something that is
significantly lacking in proof!!!) then go for it replace it, it did its job!!!

>To this end I have always had a sand level in between the two
thats a bad idea, there are reasons to pick one or the other, one of many, inbetween sizes
will have the anoxic zones, but they wont be large enough to work and wont be protected by
the sand above them.



--
Richard Reynolds

[Benjamin]

Richard,

Kinda great "proof" is in the mind of the beholder huh?

I am glad the toilets in my home are "flush to drain" porcelain and not
"sleep with sewage" plastic porta potties! I'd rather be glad the nasties
are outta my system than miserable wondering why they are simmering inside
of it. So long as a DSB (or any sand bed, device, etc.) is attached to the
water column, it is part of it in my book.

Seems to me the question was which is better, DSB or SSB. I think they are
different tools designed to accomplish different things, same way with a
plenum, no sand bed, refugiums, lighting choices, any other tank device,
etc.... one is not better than an other until one knows what the specific
application is. They each have benefits, rules to follow, best case
application, and so on. Using one (or more) incorrectly is where many,
myself included, have fallen. Learning how to intermix more than one is the
hard and time consuming thing. Even more difficult when many people seem to
follow the current BS (*******ized Science..hehe) fad at the time instead of
learning the how's and why's first.
--
--

My Web Site: http://showcase.netins.net/web/reefpage/



"Richard Reynolds" > wrote in message
news:s79Yc.4741$bT1.4512@fed1read07...
> > Another question which still perplexes me is this concept of sand beds
and
> > whether they should be shallow or deep.
>
> and for answer #1 out of a zillion different ones :D
>
> >The guy in my LFS swears blind that
> > you should keep it shallow as he says a deep bed just holds rubbish,
> > nitrates etc.
>
> to that point so what!!! be happy they are not in your water column !!!!
as for them
> "holding nitrates" no but phosphates and *other* yep. but whats the
problem! the point is
> to not have them in your water, IF it comes down to the DSB holding the
phosphates and
> *other* and every 5+ years you really do have to replace your DSB
(something that is
> significantly lacking in proof!!!) then go for it replace it, it did its
job!!!
>
> >To this end I have always had a sand level in between the two
> thats a bad idea, there are reasons to pick one or the other, one of many,
inbetween sizes
> will have the anoxic zones, but they wont be large enough to work and wont
be protected by
> the sand above them.
>
>
>
> --
> Richard Reynolds
>
>
>