Dr. Ron - What do you think about the trend of Shallow Sand Beds? DSB Crashes?

[Super Girl]

Do shallow sand beds offer any benefit over a deep sand bed (Considering that a DSB is comprised of the right particle size, 4 - 5" depth and is restocked with fauna reguarly.)?

There is alot of talk about DSB crashes. What can be done to avoid this?

[rshimek]

Originally posted by Super Girl

Hi,

Do shallow sand beds offer any benefit over a deep sand bed (Considering that a DSB is comprised of the right particle size, 4 - 5" depth and is restocked with fauna reguarly.)?

None that I can think of.

There is alot of talk about DSB crashes. What can be done to avoid this?

Simply use a salt mix containing low concentration of heavy metals, and ensure that the sediment fauna (= sand bed animals) abundant and a sand bed will last indefinitely.

[romunov]

Always be sure to ask the person telling you his DSB crashed what did he do, what kind of sand did he have, what kind of fish etc... You will often find that most of them made a rookie mistake, like putting huge crushed coral in there or something. They should try jaubert with that. :)

[FastFish720]

In regards to fauna in the livesand. Would you say that the majority of it is lost to fish? besides fish what other sources largely contribute too?

[romunov]

If there are predatory fish in the tank - a limiting yes. Because our tank is so small, there is not enough room to really get a proper diversity. So, in time, things settle down, get monotone... We would have to provide a predator that would eat just a tiny bit of animals - or a larger tank. Right? :)

[rshimek]

Originally posted by FastFish720

Hi,

In regards to fauna in the livesand. Would you say that the majority of it is lost to fish? besides fish what other sources largely contribute too?

No, most of it will be lost to hermit crabs or shrimp. Some fish are bottom feeders but, generally, fish predation is unimportant.

Probably most of the loss over time, is simply due to random variations, and low reproductive rates of sexual reproduction, probably largely caused by heavy metals in the salt mixes. The populations "random walk" to extinction and slowly fade away.

Additionally, these animals are generally walking the thin edge of malnutrition. Although it may seem that our tanks are well fed, this is almost always NOT the case, and even small variations in the feeding regimes can cause some species to die out.

[MDboyz]

Super Girl - I'm sorry for stealing your thread.
However, rshimek, what brand of salt you are recommending for low heavy metals? Right now I'm using Instant Ocean Salt. I'm thinking to switch to Oceanic Salt. I'm running a 5" DSB for more than 2 years now. The tank is looking healthy.

[rshimek]

Hi,

I use Crystal Seas Marine Mix Bioassay Formulation. I haven't seen any analyses of IO that I would trust. I don't know anything about Oceanic salt.