Hey guys. Just wanted to show how my dsb is working. And how you know its healthy.
A healthy dsb should be whte with exception to algae between glass and sand. When you disturb it the shifting of the sand will kill micro and macrofauna. The death of which will create a pocket of bad gas in the sand which will show as black in the sand. If a dsb endores too much death the entire thing can die and cause this gas to build which is where the horror stories come from. Release of this build up into the water column will cause mass death in your reef.
On the other hand, a healthy dsb will repair itself as long as the damage is not to bad. The micro and macrofauna will eat away at this bad gas and cycle it out of the sand like waste. Returning the afflicted area to health. I just happen to have an example as I recently added a mangrove.
So I dug up the corner of my dsb and planted the mangrove. In a day or two the black death appeared. The first pic was taken a week or so later. It did not occur to me it would be a good example until later. But the second pic is about a month later. You can see how the bed is cleaning the area. Its my understanding that a healthy dsb is no worry. My bed is about 8 months old when I disturbed it with no ill affect on the tank. The large black area in lower right corner and a half dollar size spot to the upper left of it. See the almost dissappearence of the smaller area and the reduction of size and darkness in the large spot.
I am no expert, this is my understanding of it. Anyone who can correct, expand or clarify this more is welcome
A healthy dsb should be whte with exception to algae between glass and sand. When you disturb it the shifting of the sand will kill micro and macrofauna. The death of which will create a pocket of bad gas in the sand which will show as black in the sand. If a dsb endores too much death the entire thing can die and cause this gas to build which is where the horror stories come from. Release of this build up into the water column will cause mass death in your reef.
On the other hand, a healthy dsb will repair itself as long as the damage is not to bad. The micro and macrofauna will eat away at this bad gas and cycle it out of the sand like waste. Returning the afflicted area to health. I just happen to have an example as I recently added a mangrove.
So I dug up the corner of my dsb and planted the mangrove. In a day or two the black death appeared. The first pic was taken a week or so later. It did not occur to me it would be a good example until later. But the second pic is about a month later. You can see how the bed is cleaning the area. Its my understanding that a healthy dsb is no worry. My bed is about 8 months old when I disturbed it with no ill affect on the tank. The large black area in lower right corner and a half dollar size spot to the upper left of it. See the almost dissappearence of the smaller area and the reduction of size and darkness in the large spot.
I am no expert, this is my understanding of it. Anyone who can correct, expand or clarify this more is welcome