lets talk about DSB's & Plenums ?
- Thread starter coralfarmin
- Start date
i honestly know very few people that have either.
most DSB have done a polar swing to BB although there are a few still holdong tight... i have never known anyone that did a plenum other than the very few that have posted on bulletin boards that i visit.
me.. i got a sandbed.. but it is less than three inches.
actually it is more like two and am satisfied with it.
i had a DSB in my last tank and it did fine for five years.. then i had some problems that were not associated with the sandbed and took the tank down.
most DSB have done a polar swing to BB although there are a few still holdong tight... i have never known anyone that did a plenum other than the very few that have posted on bulletin boards that i visit.
me.. i got a sandbed.. but it is less than three inches.
actually it is more like two and am satisfied with it.
i had a DSB in my last tank and it did fine for five years.. then i had some problems that were not associated with the sandbed and took the tank down.
Out of cuiriosity do those with BB tanks, who recently switched, plan on having anything there? Coraline? Starboard? Corals?
The only vision I could come up with, that would make me want to go BB, is have some sort of coral grow along it, GSP would probalby give a nice grassy look, if you could get zoos to attach to the glass (can you??) it might look like a pretty little flower garden especially with different colors, I've seen xenia and that doesn't look terribly pretty, would you want to use an epoxy and attach SPS to the bottom? or some LPS?
I'm just curious as to what others plan on doing, and of course what those who've had barebottom will do. Seems those who are saying reasons for that talk about "massive flow" are primarily concerned with the growth of their SPS corals.
The only vision I could come up with, that would make me want to go BB, is have some sort of coral grow along it, GSP would probalby give a nice grassy look, if you could get zoos to attach to the glass (can you??) it might look like a pretty little flower garden especially with different colors, I've seen xenia and that doesn't look terribly pretty, would you want to use an epoxy and attach SPS to the bottom? or some LPS?
I'm just curious as to what others plan on doing, and of course what those who've had barebottom will do. Seems those who are saying reasons for that talk about "massive flow" are primarily concerned with the growth of their SPS corals.
The BB vs. DSB debate usually is a cycle for indecisive tinkerers :lol:
Much like the 7 year itch, people have been switching back and forth between the two ever since the introduction of the Berlin Method (i.e. the trends change when people didn't think BB denitrify enough, or that DSB's cause cyano). Most just assume and point a finger when something's wrong. Fact is, disaster or long-term success occur either way.
Personally, I use neither. 1/2" sand bed with fine and very coarse grains.
Much like the 7 year itch, people have been switching back and forth between the two ever since the introduction of the Berlin Method (i.e. the trends change when people didn't think BB denitrify enough, or that DSB's cause cyano). Most just assume and point a finger when something's wrong. Fact is, disaster or long-term success occur either way.
Personally, I use neither. 1/2" sand bed with fine and very coarse grains.
I've tried all, Bare Bottom,Plenum,DSB's,3/4".
The biggest problem with 3/4" and bare bottom is that its a good way to kill a clam if you ever want to move it, and I love lots of clams.They attach to the bottom like super glue.
Also with the bare bottom if you set some fancy frilly shrooms on the bottom then change the current or just want to move them you'll find yourself ripping them away from the bottom.
I dont like the looks of the DBS's and prefer not to have one in a display anymore, but that said ,I think they have helped with the overall health of my systems,just will have them in seperate containers in the future so they could be removed if needed.I think they help add needed trace elements that I would neglect to test for and add.
I had a few plenums,even in a 10 gal belive it or not and they seemed to work ok as well.
The biggest problem with 3/4" and bare bottom is that its a good way to kill a clam if you ever want to move it, and I love lots of clams.They attach to the bottom like super glue.
Also with the bare bottom if you set some fancy frilly shrooms on the bottom then change the current or just want to move them you'll find yourself ripping them away from the bottom.
I dont like the looks of the DBS's and prefer not to have one in a display anymore, but that said ,I think they have helped with the overall health of my systems,just will have them in seperate containers in the future so they could be removed if needed.I think they help add needed trace elements that I would neglect to test for and add.
I had a few plenums,even in a 10 gal belive it or not and they seemed to work ok as well.
To make a long story short.. 3 tanks, 3 different substrate methods. 1 with a DSB (two years old), one BB (one year old) and one brand spanking new, with just enough sand to give me a beach.
I've experienced algae problems in both the DSB and the BB tank. The DSB tank settled out of its algae blooms about a year ago, and I haven't had any problems since. The bare bottom tank.. well I'm hoping it will soon, but it looks like I am going to have to strip the rock out of it, scrub it all down and hope I don't kill the xenia growing on the rock in the process.
Cotton candy algae was imported into the BB tank, but the hair algae was not.. and it's so got to go.
Moral of the story? I don't think either method works better than the other. I think you should just go with what you like and what's better for the animals you want to keep. I wouldn't dream of keeping a mandarin or sleeper gobies in a barebottom tank, but if you want animals that don't survive on critters living in your substrate.. go with whatever method you want.
J.
I've experienced algae problems in both the DSB and the BB tank. The DSB tank settled out of its algae blooms about a year ago, and I haven't had any problems since. The bare bottom tank.. well I'm hoping it will soon, but it looks like I am going to have to strip the rock out of it, scrub it all down and hope I don't kill the xenia growing on the rock in the process.
Cotton candy algae was imported into the BB tank, but the hair algae was not.. and it's so got to go.
Moral of the story? I don't think either method works better than the other. I think you should just go with what you like and what's better for the animals you want to keep. I wouldn't dream of keeping a mandarin or sleeper gobies in a barebottom tank, but if you want animals that don't survive on critters living in your substrate.. go with whatever method you want.
J.
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