not sure on a substrate for nano tanks

[mmm55645]

I have a 10, 15 and 20 gallon tank, at least one of which I will be using as a saltwater tank.

My plan is to run the tank with ample LR and flow, very lightly stocked(FOWLR) without a PS(until I create a DIY one), and 10% water changes a week or every other week. I will probably only keep fish in the tank until I am sure I can keep parameters in check.

I have read contrasting views about what works best as a substrate.

Is it true that it is not worth trying to have a DSB in a small tank? I thought I heard something about there not being enough space for the DSB to be effective.

I was thinking of making a rock bottom with quick setting cement if a DSB would not make sense., or just having a small sand bed.I haven't read much about this though... I would like to learn more.

If I go with a small sand bed and the tank is FOWLR I'm not sure what I will do to keep the sand bed sifted. I'm not sure that I want a sifting fish if the tank will look like a sandstorm. How do you clean(or is there a need to clean) a sand bed when there are no organisms to do it? Do you siphon it out like cleaning gravel beds in FW tanks, or will the sand be too light?
You can't just let it alone or bad stuff will happen, right?

thanks for any feedback

[stevelkaneval]

i have a 20 long and dont have much hieght i have a 2.5 ish inch sb and i use the snails that burrow into the sand they turn it up pretty good. i also vaccume the gravle every water chang.

[mmm55645]

so you have gravel or sand?

[saltyshoe_nano]

I only have 8.5" of height to my tank so I have a 1-1.5" sb....I have sugar grade sand in my tank, I have the sand burrowing snails (a bunch) and they do a good job, I also use a vac. during water changes..the sand is light, just dont suck up a hole lot of sand do small burst of suction(dont just hold it there) you should be fine..there will be a little bit of a sandstorm but the filter will clear it up

[phenom5]

Is it true that it is not worth trying to have a DSB in a small tank? I thought I heard something about there not being enough space for the DSB to be effective.

Here's a link to a thread where I posed the question about the effectiveness of DSB's in nanos to Dr. Ron Shimek back when he had a forum on RC.

Nano DSB

I was thinking of making a rock bottom with quick setting cement if a DSB would not make sense., or just having a small sand bed.I haven't read much about this though... I would like to learn more.

The problem that I see with the cement bottom, is that you'd essentially have a BB system. But without a smooth surface (glass or starboard) you'd have tons of little nooks and crannies where detritus could collect. With a BB system, you want to avoid letting detritus settle on the bottom to rot. In a BB setup, you want lots of flow along the bottom of the tank to keep the detritus suspended in the water column, so that it can be removed by heavy, wet skimming. IMO a setup like this (with the cement rock bottom) would be difficult to keep, and ultimately not work very well.

If I go with a small sand bed and the tank is FOWLR I'm not sure what I will do to keep the sand bed sifted. I'm not sure that I want a sifting fish if the tank will look like a sandstorm. How do you clean(or is there a need to clean) a sand bed when there are no organisms to do it? Do you siphon it out like cleaning gravel beds in FW tanks, or will the sand be too light?
You can't just let it alone or bad stuff will happen, right?

If you go with a shallow sand bed, there will still be organisms in it. And there still is the potential for pockets of toxic gases to form, so IMO siphoning would be a bad idea (the caveat being, if you siphon it on a regular basis, there wouldn't be a chance for the gas pockets to form). I would not add a sand sifting goby to a tank this small, instead, I use nassarius snails. The do a good job of churning the sand, without causing a sandstorm, and without eating all of the organisms that live in the sand.

GL

[stevelkaneval]

i have the argonite, but im gonna switch to play sand.