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I second that.Diamond gobies!!
How does mother nature take care of this? Is there some magical creature we don't know about in the final stage of detritus consumption that consumes but puts out no waste (I think this would be the proverbial unicorn) or do you think it eventually settles to the very bottom over the millenia and simply becomes a new layer of the earth under the sand (which of course we don't have the luxury of waiting for in our aquariums? Or maybe it just stays where it lands (eventually becoming buried) and if a big siphon came along and disturbed it there would be one huge cloud of nasty stuff in the ocean's water column.
Sounds like you would be better served with the undergravel filter board, connected to a return pump. Then the water will flow up through the sand keepi g detritus out. This has been done for decades by at least 1 reefer.
Awesome. Thanks! I will look into that. I was always curious what happens out in the wild. Obviously we try to replicate nature as best we can but can only go so far hence manual intervention like periodically cleaning equipment, water changes, siphoning, etc. It's always interesting to know how nature handles these housekeeping chores.Of course the ocean boasts bio-diversity no tank can hope to match, but I'd imagine most of the detritus generated on natural reefs ends up as silt beds in the deep ocean (google marine snow). Nature's form of geological storage.
This is old school stuff from Bob Goemans Live Sand Secrets booklet, 1996. Still have it! At the time the concept sounded like it was a good idea, but I never tried placing 4” of sand in display much less a dedicated sump. What I did start working with and still do is 1” of mud in refugium. My displays all have either no sand or 1/2” or less. Purely, aesthetics. I have found that no matter how you try to maintain a sand bed, you always end up with cyano on the surface and detritus/ nutrients accumulation over time. Everything starts out fine, but over years, things start to deteriorate.
Back when we transitioned from under gravel filters with 1-2” of crushed coral gravel on top, either in reverse flow or down through the gravel for fish only aquariums, it was said that this was not good for corals. That the constant flow of water through the gravel favored aerobic bacteria, nitrosomas and nitrobacter, similar to a wet/dry trickle filter. And this left an incomplete nitrogen cycle producing nitrates, harmful to your corals.
Did you set it up with plenum under it or just 8” of sand with no flow thru?When I set up my system 6 years back, I did establish an eight inch deep sand be in a section of my sump. In all that time, I cannot identify any specific benefit from that setup. So, when I upgraded the sump this year, the deep sand bed was not a part of the new build. I can say, I did not see any negative from the deep sand bed being a part of the system.
Awesome. Thanks! I will look into that. I was always curious what happens out in the wild. Obviously we try to replicate nature as best we can but can only go so far hence manual intervention like periodically cleaning equipment, water changes, siphoning, etc. It's always interesting to know how nature handles these housekeeping chores.