rDSB question

[Jongalt26]

Long time lurker first time poster, hows everyone doing?

Anyways, i'm in the process of upgrading my reef tank from a 93 gallon cube to a 150 (and will start over with a FOWLR on the 93)

I have a remote deep sand bed, less than 1 year old, attached to my current reef tank and it has been an awesome nitrate sink. With that said, i picked up a marine pure 4" block and spheres for the new tank so I'm questioning the need to install the rDSB on the new system. (In conjunction with a chaeto fuge) Unfortunately I wont know for sure until i see if nitrates climb.

I would like to keep the rDSB and the current sand to solve any future nitrate issues but Im concerned about any negative side effects or decay in the sand bed. Is it possible to just open the lid and let it dry out over time, or keep some minimum flow of water over it?

Thanks,
Jason

 

[PSU4ME]

Have you ever thought about adding both with an eye towards removing the rdsb once the tank/mpb takes hold?

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

to ReefSanctuary, a real Sanctuary of reef forums, with lots of very nice members

Start a new tank thread & share your tank with us so we can follow along - we love pics

 

[Jongalt26]

First off, thanks for the video on curing rock with muriatic. I have some pukani thats taking too long to cook so i'm going to acid wash it.

In regards to the DSB I have thought of keeping it online on the new tank for awhile and pulling it off but when I do that then the same situation will occur. There will be at least a few days, or longer, for nitrates to climb. (If they climb)
Hrmmmm, I think what i could do is put it on the new reef tank while i rebuild the old tank, let the old tank cycle then move the dsb to the old one while I watch the levels of the reef tank.
J

 

[DaveK]

To maintain a rDSB you need to keep it in the system and running. I would plumb it into your new system. No reason not tho have a rDSB and a refugium with macro algae. However you don't really need to do this.

While you can clean it and save the sand, unless the sand is something special you are usually best of discarding it and replacing it if you need to have any form of DSB. Don't try to save the sand "as is". It will just turn into a smelly mess.

 

[DaveK]

First off, thanks for the video on curing rock with muriatic. I have some pukani thats taking too long to cook so i'm going to acid wash it.
...

How long have you been "cooking" you live rock? This process can take months, but it's the best way to do things. When your done, you still have live rock with bacteria.

Doing a "cure" with muriatic acid is first off extremely messy, and you do need to be extremely careful. "Play with it outside" so to speak. The big downside is that when your done all you have is dead rock, with no bacteria, and it's got to be seeded and given time to develop again as live rock.

Because it's such a drastic method, you should only consider muriatic acid when you need to resolve some very unusual or difficult problem. In my opinion this is very rare.

 

[Jongalt26]

To maintain a rDSB you need to keep it in the system and running. I would plumb it into your new system.

While you can clean it and save the sand, unless the sand is something special you are usually best of discarding it and replacing it if you need to have any form of DSB.

The reasons I didnt want to risk discarding the sand was the cost and more importantly the time it took to rinse the sand. It just occurred to me that petco has the sand at $18 a bag compared to twice that at my LFS...
Anyways, i think i'll just plumb it in, temporarily at least.
thanks!
Jason

 

[Jongalt26]

How long have you been "cooking" you live rock? This process can take months, but it's the best way to do things. When your done, you still have live rock with bacteria.

Doing a "cure" with muriatic acid is first off extremely messy, and you do need to be extremely careful. "Play with it outside" so to speak. The big downside is that when your done all you have is dead rock, with no bacteria, and it's got to be seeded and given time to develop again as live rock.

Because it's such a drastic method, you should only consider muriatic acid when you need to resolve some very unusual or difficult problem. In my opinion this is very rare.

I've been cooking for about a month now with weekly water changes and the levels are off the chart. I have another 2-4 weeks of time left before i need to use it. I'll be using a lot of the rock from from my current tank and I have a box of dry dead rock as well. I dont mind turning it into dead rock cause I already have 100 lbs of live rock along with the marinepure that has been seeding for a month as well. If i thought the rock would cure in another month then i wouldnt use the acid bath.
Thanks
Jason

 

[DaveK]

I would just leave the rock where it is and let cook. Since you have the other rock, there is no pressing demand for this rock. By the way, when you cook rock, you should not be making water changes. This slows down the process. Since your willing to wait another month, leave it alone and see how you are close to the time you'll need it.

If this is an initial cure of the rock, then you can use it when ammonia and nitrite fall to 0 and stay there. If this is old live rock your cooking because of phosphate or algae issues, then the rock should cook until ammonia, nitrite and nitrate all fal to 0. Nitrate reduction is an anaerobic process, and this goes slow, so it can take some time to get going.

I would also recoment that you soak the new dry dead rock in tap water over night, and then measure nitrate and phosphate. Ideally these readings should be 0, but some dry rock will leach stuff and give you non zero readings. If that is the case, you should consider doing the muriatic acid bath on that rock.

 

[DaveK]

The reasons I didnt want to risk discarding the sand was the cost and more importantly the time it took to rinse the sand. It just occurred to me that petco has the sand at $18 a bag compared to twice that at my LFS...
Anyways, i think i'll just plumb it in, temporarily at least.
thanks!
Jason

Yep, sand, dry rocks, and often salt are items your usually better off getting at your LFS. They get that stuff in by the truck load, and pay bulk shipping rates on it. Although sometimes an online store will offer free shipping on everything, and you can get a good price.

 

[Jongalt26]

I would just leave the rock where it is and let cook. Since you have the other rock, there is no pressing demand for this rock. By the way, when you cook rock, you should not be making water changes. This slows down the process. Since your willing to wait another month, leave it alone and see how you are close to the time you'll need it.

If this is an initial cure of the rock, then you can use it when ammonia and nitrite fall to 0 and stay there. If this is old live rock your cooking because of phosphate or algae issues, then the rock should cook until ammonia, nitrite and nitrate all fal to 0. Nitrate reduction is an anaerobic process, and this goes slow, so it can take some time to get going.

I would also recoment that you soak the new dry dead rock in tap water over night, and then measure nitrate and phosphate. Ideally these readings should be 0, but some dry rock will leach stuff and give you non zero readings. If that is the case, you should consider doing the muriatic acid bath on that rock.

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it. I did the water changes because all of the levels were off the charts and would require dilution just to verify the numbers.

I'll definitely soak the new dry dead rock, most likely in rodi though, to measure any leeching. Our water here (downingtown PA) comes stock with nitrates and phosphates. After examining the surface of the dead rock last night I noticed that it is crumbly so either a power washing or the acid bath will take care of that.
Thanks
Jason