tested water today, what to do diffrent?

[JohnK]

Yup, sand that is 3" or deeper is considered a DSB. With a DSB you get lower O2 levels in the sand which allows the de-nitrifying bacteria to do it's thing.

 

[gweston]

I have a 30gal with a ~15 gal sump.

A skimmer will definitely help knock down those nitrates. I have about 80lbs of liverock in my entire system. I am rather high on the rock ratio for the tank size. But.. it is an interim tank. I am building a 125 gallon setup. A refugium with chaeto will certainly knock nitrates down further. Between the skimmer and the chaeto, my nitrates hardly ever register. I skipped the deep sand bed. The display has about 2" of sand in it. My refugium has no sand at all. Just lots of rock and chaeto. I change ~5 gallons every 7 days as well. Plenty enough for that sized system. I do dose calcium to keep my levels at 400-450, and dose for alkalinity rather infrequently. My PH bounces between 8.0 and 8.2 usually between day and night. My refugium is on a reverse light cycle too.. to help stabilize ph a bit more.

 

[MPevine11]

should i add more sand to my display?

 

[JayM]

unless you make it more than 3" deep, you won't get denitrifying activity. It's up to you.

 

[JohnK]

should i add more sand to my display?

I'd say spend some time researching on this question. There are pluses and minuses to having DSBs. Also do some searching on "RDSB" aka "remote deep sand beds" as that can be the best of both worlds for some set ups.

 

[MPevine11]

I'd say spend some time researching on this question. There are pluses and minuses to having DSBs. Also do some searching on "RDSB" aka "remote deep sand beds" as that can be the best of both worlds for some set ups.

still looking up ''RDSB'' but is that the set up with a bucket of sand then a line in and a line out?

just want to make sure im looking up the right thing