DSB depth in small refugium?...

[thebigblue]

i am adding a small (12"x12"x19" tall) refugium to my sump of my 125 gal reef...the display has a 5" DSB...the fuge will be setup next to the under tank sump and will gravity feed into the sump...

i was planning on adding a DSB (depth unknown) in the refugium, realizing that i should seed this bed with some live sand from a couple sources if possible...

everything has really been going great with my tank (setup for 9 months)...and i dont want to do something wrong with the fuge setup and screw things up!...

so...

how deep should this relatively small refugium DSB be?...

is there even a benefit/need for a DSB in a fuge this small?...

or are they just personal preference/cosmetic?...

is there any risk to making this refugium DSB too deep or too shallow, which in some way will screw up the DSB ive worked so hard to establish in my display?....

thanks

brad

[Reefland]

Welcome to Reefland!

I guess you have that username because you live in In., but are truly a Wildcat fan?!

If you have a functioning DSB in the display, there is no reason to go with a DSB in the refugium other than added filtration capacity. If your nitrates are already acceptable, I would just put a couple of inches in the new refugium.

Just my opinion,
Scott Z.

[Mr Neutron]

I would prefer a shallow bed in a fuge. In my 2" bed I can see lots of worm trails and pod growth is great. A tiny DSB won't provide any useful benefits so there wouldn't be any reason to run one IMO.

[thebigblue]

thanks guys

i went with a 1-2" bed...

scott,

i actually got the user name from the Luc Besson movie "The Big Blue" about free diving...

thanks for the help, and the nice welcome

brad

[bongobrian]

I have my sand bed in the fuge just about matching my display.. which is 4-5 inches deep. According to the Ecosystem method, which is Leng Sy's company, the guy who pretty much invented the refugium, You don't need a DSB in the main tank, but actually only need it in the refugium. Now I don't quite subscribe to this idea, and there is no harm in having a DSB in both. It's kinda like having a larger skimmer than what your tank actually requires. The only thing that can happen, as with any DSB, is the build-up of hydrogen sulfide which can end up poisoning your tank. There shouldn't be any need to worry about this if your nitrate levels are already stable. I like having a nice deep substrate in the refugium for the same reason Mr Neutron does... you will be providing a place for the infauna and micro infauna to grow and thrive. You made a good decision by adding the sb in your fuge, but you may even consider making it deeper.

[thebigblue]

bongobrian

very interesting...

wont the critters that i wanna propogate in the fuge (pods, etc) do just fine in a 1-2" bed?...why would they need the deeper bed?...

thanks for the help...


brad

[bongobrian]

Naw, there is no reason that a 1-2" bed won't do just fine. I was just saying that you shouldn't be afraid to make it as deep as you like. You sounded like you were being cautious about adding an actual deep sand bed (4+ inches) and I was just saying there's no problem in doing this. It's good that you do the research before taking a step like that. That's good reefing! Having a deeper substrate just gives you more surface area for worms to burrow, and bacteria to grow. I can only see good things coming from making it deeper. ;)

[Kate]

Hi,
My refugium has a one inch deep sandbed, and I've got LOTS of little critters growing in there!