dsb question

is there any sort of maintenance you would have to do on a deep sand bed ? its a 50/50 mix of cc and reef grade sand

I've wondered the same thing for so long. As far as I know, having a sand sifting star, snail, or goby definately helps keep it clean. But I couldn't tell you for sure.

i have about 100lbs in my 80g of 2 different kinds of cc. i don't think i have any problems with it. i have a lot of crabs/snails. i have an engineer goby who turns over lot and most times i have to push it all back. thats his job tho.. you really don't want to mess around with the sand bed too much caus eit will release too much bad chemicals into the water.

If DSB is the way you wish to go I would suggest running it remote (in a 5 gal pail, or sump so that it can be isolated at some point in the future should problems develop.

it would be in the fuge with the mantis, and would easily be seperated from the tank

Do not manually stir your DSB, there could be gasses deep in there that may be released and if you stir it, it may poison the tank.. you can just stir it slightly, while suctioning if you wish. But the above is correct, sand sifting star, N snails and gobies are the best for turning over the sand