Benthic zones in sump.

[sasquatch]

A while back I added a sump/fuge with the sand bed raised on egg crate, water flows over and under dsb and is pumped back to display. there are filter feeders and sponges doing quite well. My question(s) are what if any benefits does this provide?,is more better,can it crash and does it need to be fed?

 

[Woodstock]

Tagging along to learn...

 

[cheeks69]

water flows over and under dsb and is pumped back to display

How are you able to keep the substrate suspended can't be egg crate alone right ? I don't think you'd develop an anaerobic zone with the water flowing under the DSB, do you have a pic of exactly how this is setup ? I'm having a difficult time understanding exactly what you did.

there are filter feeders and sponges doing quite well

This is a good thing it'll help remove dissolved organics but using a filter sock will not be beneficial long term for these filter feeders since the socks trap everything. I use a filter sock 24/7 and all the pods, mysid shrimp, snails, bristle worms etc. get trapped in there.

 

[BHinAK]

I have one, watch the top left video about the sump setup. Rubble rock (GARF grunge from garf.org) is what I use. I'll find pictures of how mine looks.


http://www.reefvideos.com/reefshowcase_04_content.html

 

[BHinAK]

This is a 20g High with 2 1in outputs to a 20g long.

P.S I don't know if they are still alive but there is a signal and clown gobbie in the refugium benthic zone. They went for a overflow plumbing ride. I saw the a few times.

 

[sasquatch]

BHinAK!! thanks thats where I got the idea for mine. Robert if you check the link it shows it quite well, also makes it simpler to rotate out the sand every 2 yrs

 

[BHinAK]

Are you going to grow aptisia like that guy. Not me

 

[sasquatch]

LOL...what you mean going to.

 

[cheeks69]

If you going to have a benthic zone then I wouldn't add a DSB since you won't have any anaerobic/anoxic zones, maybe just a thin layer of sand, some LR and macro-algae.

 

[sasquatch]

Robert Im confused,are you saying that a benthic zone wont allow a dsb to work? Have added this quick sketch(hopefully)

 

[cheeks69]

If you set it up like in the video I don't see how it can work. A DSB needs areas of low to no oxygen for anaerobic bacteria to survive, I just don't see how these zones will develop when you have water rich in oxygen traveling under the Sand Bed.

 

[sasquatch]

Robert the sand bed is sitting on a glass plate, the bottom of the sand is cut off from the water going under, imagine suspending a 10 gallon aquarium 4 inches off the bottom of a 40 gallon, fill the 10 with sand, thats the dsb. the water going under the sand has no contact its just a tunnel. I thank you for the effort you have put forth to see this sometimes a concept is very hard to explain

 

[BoomerD]

A deep sand bed needs to be at least 4" deep in order to work properly. Some people try to get by with 3", but IMO, that's not a fully functional DSB. I don't understand what you're trying to accomplish with that, but it doesn't seem like it will work properly to me...

 

[Witfull]

i dont see how this design is called a Benthol zone, due to the light that is growing the macro. it seems much more a Littoral zone. a true Benthic zone is below light penetration, has lower oxygen levels, and under great pressure.

 

[sasquatch]

Well thank you BoomerD and Witfull, this was worthwhile as I have learned something. My sand bed is 4 '' deep and the ? zone is light free, not sure if I could ever arrange increased pressure.So getting back to my question. Is there a benefit in providing an area for filter feeders and sponges.I must confess the mechanical explanation has been harder than I could imagine and leads me to think this is not a common practice

 

[cheeks69]

Robert the sand bed is sitting on a glass plate, the bottom of the sand is cut off from the water going under, imagine suspending a 10 gallon aquarium 4 inches off the bottom of a 40 gallon, fill the 10 with sand, thats the dsb. the water going under the sand has no contact its just a tunnel. I thank you for the effort you have put forth to see this sometimes a concept is very hard to explain

Oh ok I thought you were going to use the egg crate mentioned in the video. I can see it work just don't know if the DSB will be large and deep enough to provide a noticeable ability at NNR.

I don't understand what you're trying to accomplish with that, but it doesn't seem like it will work properly to me...

With providing a benthic zone your creating an environment conducive to the gowth of natural filter feeders such as sponges, tunicates, aiptasia and fan worms etc.

 

[fishcrazy]

Different strokes for different folks.

I watched the video where he was discussing that this would help a poorly working protein skimmer that had fanworms growing in it. My first thought was to replace the protein skimmer with a good one rather than create a place for detritus to collect to feed benthic critters.

 

[sasquatch]

Well Robert the hope was some is better than none and it is self generating, couldnt hurt to try,40 lbs of live sand and miracle mud should have some impact my tank is much better than before but thats hard to gauge because of the upgrades to everything else in the last 4 months. Fishcrazy the fact that this (area) is lowest in sump means it is a detrius trap and very easy to siphon off at water change , I would much rather it be here than settling else where

 

[BoomerD]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benthic


You're still not likely to get a true benthic zone, based on the actual definition of them. What you are trying to do, is basically the same thing that occurs in most refugiums. A "safe haven" for pods, feather dusters, macroalgaes, and such to grow without predation from the fishy population.

Edit: there seems to be some differences in definition on this. Some list it as only the deepest parts of the body of water, others just consider the bottom, (ocean floor) at any depth to be the benthic zone, so under that description, then you ARE creating something of a benthic zone refugium...

 

[Witfull]

a true Benthic zone is devoid of light though.