Hello Mike,
Steven called this post to my attention and asked for my input...I actually like sand, I love how natural it looks, but there are pros and cons to having a DSB.
In theory...DSB is very beneficial because like a plenum, it develops a type of bacteria (anaerobic) that consumes nitrates in your tank. Now...this particular type of bacteria lives in a low-oxygen, no-light environment (hence why they are only developed in plenums and DSB's).
Now, let's say an earthquake occurs (and in California it's quite often compared to most states)...rocks fall and hell breaks loose, your DSB is stirred. This will suddenly expose the anaerobic bacteria to light and/or increase in oxygen and BAM, they all die instantly (not to mention that more sand tends to harbor more detritous and will also cause a spike when it's re-released into the water).
Death = ammonia = tank crash. With that sudden ammonia spike from the bacterial death, the chances of your tank being able to recup before losing livestock is fairly slim...thus you'll have casualties.
I'm sure you've already looked into the pros and cons of a DSB but just thought I'd shed some light.
Personally, I like my sandbed 1", thick enough for my gobies and pistols to hang at--not too much to cause any troubles in case accidents happen...plus it gets the job done. If you want to deal with nitrates, get macro algae, safer
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