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The theory is more or less that when you keep a DSB or plenum, because you want the heavy microfauna population in the sand, and actively cultivate it, that they also contribute greatly to the food web in the water column itself, similar to what you want. Many people who ran these, myself included, would run them skimmerless, because the fear was the skimmer would actively murder the larvae. Same with filter socks or mechanical filtration. That's not to say a hybrid approach can't be done.
The short answer however is, like many of the highly complex processes in an aquarium, the DSB is not fully understood. Even among the 4-5 people here who use them and are telling you about them, there is alot of disagreement as to how they work or what to do.
Do they work? Yes.
How? Maybe this, maybe that?
What is the exact recipie for success with one? Nobody knows, but there is a ton of information on older posts on older boards about them. Really I feel the right answer is to read alot, discuss alot, and kinda form your own ideas and opinions and try them. This is not the territory of "do these steps for success". This is the territory of "I like the idea of what this does, and want to experiment to learn more about what could be a better solution."
The short answer however is, like many of the highly complex processes in an aquarium, the DSB is not fully understood. Even among the 4-5 people here who use them and are telling you about them, there is alot of disagreement as to how they work or what to do.
Do they work? Yes.
How? Maybe this, maybe that?
What is the exact recipie for success with one? Nobody knows, but there is a ton of information on older posts on older boards about them. Really I feel the right answer is to read alot, discuss alot, and kinda form your own ideas and opinions and try them. This is not the territory of "do these steps for success". This is the territory of "I like the idea of what this does, and want to experiment to learn more about what could be a better solution."