Mike, many have found a plenum or a deep sand bed to be beneficial, particularly in the reef hobby. These are anoxic, of course.
nitrate problems
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, Feb 12 2014 07:57 PM
23 replies to this topic
#22
Guest_mikez_*
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Posted 25 July 2014 - 05:56 PM
sorry for re-resurrecting this, I totally forgot I'd posted on this and just refound it. All I wanted to say is the deep bed plenum fad of the 90s I'm pretty sure has mostly been discredited and not many still use it. The main problem, besides lack of efficacy, is specifically the anoxic nature of the sand bed. When enough organic material collects in the sand, it goes septic and toxic gases can be released if the bed is disturbed. The reason reef keeper were looking for nitrate removal is that reef invertabrates are more sensitive to nitrates than fish. For fish only tanks, a bunch of fast growing plants is all needed for nitrate.
#23
Michael Wolfe
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Posted 25 July 2014 - 08:38 PM
mike, what do you mean by deep bed... I mean, lots of us are still using deep substrates for live plants... and some others that are doing deep sand as a way of providing appropriate grazing habitat for sucker fish... so I think that deep substrate is not a thing of the past, but has a very present following for certain applications. but agree that we are not really using them as nitrate reduction tools.
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#24
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Posted 27 July 2014 - 11:13 AM
I meant specifically the "deep bed plenum" method of nitrate removal made popular in the marine hobby in the 90s. More than just deep sand, it was designed to allow very slow flow through an anoxic media for denitrification. The concept and science is sound and mimics in miniature what happens in nature.
In practice, most people found too much of the sand became almost No flow, went from low Oxygen to no Oxygen, turned black in patches and when they stirred it, they got a nasty puff of hydrogen sulfide bubbling up. That, plus [in my opinion] there was too little measurable nitrate reduction to justify the hassle.
I admit I haven't worked pet shops in over a decade and don't keep up with the mainstream marine hobby anymore, but my understanding is deep bed plenums are not much in use anymore. I might be wrong.
For what it's worth, I have had septic zones appear in my freshwater tanks with deep substrate meant for rooted plants. I can't point to any harmful effect, but it's shocking when that big stinky bubble burps out.
In practice, most people found too much of the sand became almost No flow, went from low Oxygen to no Oxygen, turned black in patches and when they stirred it, they got a nasty puff of hydrogen sulfide bubbling up. That, plus [in my opinion] there was too little measurable nitrate reduction to justify the hassle.
I admit I haven't worked pet shops in over a decade and don't keep up with the mainstream marine hobby anymore, but my understanding is deep bed plenums are not much in use anymore. I might be wrong.
For what it's worth, I have had septic zones appear in my freshwater tanks with deep substrate meant for rooted plants. I can't point to any harmful effect, but it's shocking when that big stinky bubble burps out.
Edited by mikez, 27 July 2014 - 11:17 AM.
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