New sand bed-DSB?

My substrate was hilly when I first put it in too. The flow of the tank eventually caused it to all level out, so I'd expect the same to happen for you.




I have 50lbs in my 55gallon tank for reference.

 

Tangster the rumor mill has it that you really know what you're doing on this subject, and I'm curious if you'd really take a bit of time and elaborate on sand base construction, DSB, and future trends with sand. We went from glass to sand to deep sand, back to sand as we tried to imitate the ocean. Where to next?

 

Very carefully If it has any age on it then you are looking at having to do something .. It will stink to high heaven when you do break it down , Worse then any septic tank

 

Wow that sounds exactly like something I would say to someone...thanx ;D

and I started a new thread [with a plan], cause I didnt want to highjack this one.

 

This subject always ends up in a huge war.. But I started with them in about 1971 or so . failed then for several yrs more always experienced the very same issues always starting at about 16 months up until on average 26 to 30 months then it would reach critical mass and up came all the nasties .. Its simple a festering bacterial sore . And sooner or late all sore erupt and all septic tanks fill up..

When they kept ending up the same results for over 15 yrs I knew they where doomed when the idea was drug out of the mothballs in the mid 90's with a new spin and a new improved sand Even the sand guy did not understand all of what he was speaking about , with every addition of the book there was a new chapter about what you need to change and look out for ..

But when I saw the term sand sifters being used to avoid sand from setting up like a concrete slab and dosing kalk I then knew for sure they did not understand the beast . As the sand sifters where depleting even more what there was not enough of and by adding kalk they where making Portland cement .

And then the simple fact of there is nothing above 5,000 ft of water depth that can turn hydrogen sulfides and methanes into a food source so all they where depending on was at some point enough gas would slowly perk up and out of the sand .. But that cap of crust and then poke stick in to stir the sand then break that crust and then watch what happens .. And then in a later book addition it was touted that they stir the sand with a stick.. and never a mention of having to replace the sand fauna as it dies faster then it multiplies when it hits the life end of the fauna . Its a deep subject and no pun intended and I will not argue the merits or pros or cons of the beast .. And I will say I have known a few to go 6 plus yrs but damn it was a daily ritual of cleaning and tweaking and water changing and all to keep a system running that was sold as a totally hands off self maintain system and the funny part was it was simple to try and naturally reduce nitrates

They even gave it its own acronym NNRS LOL sounds cool though I found out about the late 70's that my coils did a better and far safer job of NNR LOL So if you run a DSB and its working great if not and are thinking about starting one ? I would pass on it , But if you have to complicate stuff build a good plenum system . At least with a properly designed plenum you ca remove the excess bio sludge unlike with a DSB.

 

But plengum still need to be cleaned every couple of years dont they?

 

Yes but its a matter of simply removing the pressure of the excess bio sludge from under the plate, When i build them I always drill and install a pit cock to remove the sludge , But its a certain methoed to remove that even . You have to keep the pressure above the plate equal to the pressure under the plate or the mess will roll up in what is called reverse osmoses . I always simply dripped out from under at the same rate I dripped in new water above the plate..

Like with a DSB all that warm nutrient rich festering water that is anaerobic is just dieing to get to all that cool oxygenated clean DOC free water just above it by only a few inches with air masses it could be called a tornado or at the very least a big summer thunderstorm . and by by tank .. Its also a snake but the plenum can be de-fanged safely with experience..

As for your removal I saw the thread but I would disagree with the methoeds of removal I saw there . It does not look to me many there has ever ran or removed a DSB before.