sump sand

[Mschmidt]

Q:
When I was setting up my tank, I dumped a 10 pound bag of black (reef) sand in the sump. I now want to do something more productive with it.
my options as I see them are these:
1) create a deep sand bed of sorts. I will 3d print a box to hold it (about a 7 inch cube) with holes throughout for flow and move the substrate in. Leave it in the same chamber of the sump where it will get flow as the water moves through the unit.
2) leave it alone, trapped detritus has created anerobic areas and I risk nuking the tank if I disturb it.
3) make the box with solid sides so it gets water moving over the top, but not through. since the chamber is post skimmer, it may be well oxygenated.
4) make it low for the same reason as 3.
5) move it to the return chamber or the display to keep too much oxygenated water from flowing through the bed.

 

[Reefing Madness]

 

[dochoot]

Personal experience has convinced me bottom of the DSB can become toxic.

 

[brandon429]

Remove it, it's not doing you any benefit in any iteration. It only catches waste and prevents the waste from being removed

 

[The_Paradox]

Depends if you’re a sump cleaner or not. If you are, I would remove it so vacuuming is easier. If you’re not I would move it to slowest moving chamber of the sump where stuff seems to settle and add sanding sifting clean up crew. I haven’t cleaned any of my sumps in decades. I have about 40mm of sand and keep it chockers with snails and a few display tank exiles.

 

[Cristy17]

Beware, there is a black sand that was popular a few years ago and it turned out to be a nightmare because it's magnetic. I had a friend that used it and it got everywhere. Eventually the tank was taken down due to a leak (Red Sea) and now it has Caribe Sea sand.

 

[twentyleagues]

I had a dsb on my last system. One of the tanks 90g had 6-8" of sand in it. My original plan was garden eels but I could never source them. After about a year of it up and tied into the system along with my 75g display fuge my nitrates became stable and within a reasonable water change schedule to control. I had a lot of large "fish" in this system. That ran that way for 5-6 years before I got out of the hobby. I will say when I sold it off the sand in that tank stunk. I mean it was pretty bad but not unbearable, so did it have hydrogen sulfide yes. Were there tank ending bubbles no, at least not while it was running.

For simplicity's sake pull it. If you do a container no holes deeper the better and get two containers. Fill one and use it for a year or two fill the other and put it in 6 months before you pull the old one. This will cut down on the possibility of creating a large quantity of hydrogen sulfide while still providing the possibility for nitrate reduction.

 

[Mschmidt]

I am barely a tank cleaner, less so a sump cleaner.
It's Hawiian black, courser than sand sifters may like. but I'm willing to trial with a few nassarius.

I can keep it sequestered low and slow for a while. sump tinkering is near the top of my to do list.

Thanks for the input.