Hybrid Reefbowl with Plenum
Attaining a true anoxic condition in the deep sand bed of a nano reef aquarium is said to be impossible. Typically the beds have considerable exchange rates with the surrounding water column because they lack volume.
If a nano aquarium could be designed to reduce nitrates through the mechanics of a miniature plenum-based sand bed, the maintenance requirements of nano and pico-sized aquaria will decrease even further.
Creating these oxygen variations in the bed will involve careful consideration of circulation and depth of the bed, relative to the water column above it. The circulating water column housing the corals is the carrier of oxygen that permeates the sand beds of typical nano reef aquariums, halting the final stages of natural nitrate reduction. Slowing circulation throughout the critical regions of the Mini-DSB would likely get us one step closer to creating a working model inside a two gallon tank.
Various algae will encrust and grow within an average sandbed, especially if it receives light from a window or reflections from the lights above the tank. To prevent this growth and its subsequent oxygen production, the tank will likely need to be painted black around the sides(only the sand bed portion) to prevent light passage into the miniature DSB. The drawing reveals sand bed divisions and tiny plenum void that will be covered by the paint.
Circulation will be provided in this new design test via the worlds most freakishly-small powerhead I recently found in the most unlikely place. The total water column housing the corals is around 5 inches tall, about the same as my other pico reefs, and a small powerhead will work fine in this space. The sandbed will compose 80% of the volume of the two gallon vase.
The dimensions of this aquarium are warped to provide a function, not for amusement. I really think this design, or one very close to it, holds the key in getting some form of actual nitrate reduction in nano and pico reef aquariums. Initial tests will run without corals, in a system fully stocked with LR and the sand but no inverts for a few months until things are balanced. There is certainly no harm in testing the system with just aged LR and copepods in the system, and that will fully process the food pellets just as the year-old system will. It will reveal the oxygen, carbon, nitrogen and ph trends of this sandbed/water column ratio.
Brandon M
Attaining a true anoxic condition in the deep sand bed of a nano reef aquarium is said to be impossible. Typically the beds have considerable exchange rates with the surrounding water column because they lack volume.
If a nano aquarium could be designed to reduce nitrates through the mechanics of a miniature plenum-based sand bed, the maintenance requirements of nano and pico-sized aquaria will decrease even further.
Creating these oxygen variations in the bed will involve careful consideration of circulation and depth of the bed, relative to the water column above it. The circulating water column housing the corals is the carrier of oxygen that permeates the sand beds of typical nano reef aquariums, halting the final stages of natural nitrate reduction. Slowing circulation throughout the critical regions of the Mini-DSB would likely get us one step closer to creating a working model inside a two gallon tank.
Various algae will encrust and grow within an average sandbed, especially if it receives light from a window or reflections from the lights above the tank. To prevent this growth and its subsequent oxygen production, the tank will likely need to be painted black around the sides(only the sand bed portion) to prevent light passage into the miniature DSB. The drawing reveals sand bed divisions and tiny plenum void that will be covered by the paint.
Circulation will be provided in this new design test via the worlds most freakishly-small powerhead I recently found in the most unlikely place. The total water column housing the corals is around 5 inches tall, about the same as my other pico reefs, and a small powerhead will work fine in this space. The sandbed will compose 80% of the volume of the two gallon vase.
The dimensions of this aquarium are warped to provide a function, not for amusement. I really think this design, or one very close to it, holds the key in getting some form of actual nitrate reduction in nano and pico reef aquariums. Initial tests will run without corals, in a system fully stocked with LR and the sand but no inverts for a few months until things are balanced. There is certainly no harm in testing the system with just aged LR and copepods in the system, and that will fully process the food pellets just as the year-old system will. It will reveal the oxygen, carbon, nitrogen and ph trends of this sandbed/water column ratio.
Brandon M
