Sand Sponge

[BigbruiserAl]

Quick question peeps, i filled the tank with argos play sand filled with water and the sand has the texture like a sponge. Through the glass you can see air pockets in the sand loads of them, are they ok to leave and will go over time or should a poke the sand to realse them been 3 days now with no change

 

[Tizer]

Sounds a little strange to me, never seen that before.

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

Sounds a little strange to me, never seen that before.

I second this. We've used playsand in all of our tanks and not seen that before.

Can you get pictures? Would a good stir stolve the problem? Did you wash the sand before putting it in?

Sorry for the stupid questions; just trying to eliminate stuff.

 

[BigbruiserAl]

Yeah it is odd, its my 3rd tank with sand 2 argos ones 1 tescos and is the only one that is done it with. At work now so cant post pics but i did poke the sand last night before bed and it just gave off the air bubbles at settled as normal but i just noticed i missed some at the back and though it was strange. I washed the sand as normal. The onl thing i can think off is it sat in a bare tank drying out for week before i added water so maybe traped the air in

 

[StandbySetting]

It's normal for small air bubbles to occur in sand, do what you want with them, they're harmless.

 

[nurglespuss]

I've seen it before, sounds like silicon dust (or similar) causing temporary binding in the sand.

Personally I would take it back out, give it a another good rinse in warm water,and pop it back in

 

[saz326]

...Its all about contact angles and "non wetting".

Chances are that as the sand dried out after washing it formed into clumps while damp and then futher drying left the clumps with a certain amount of case hardening..

Some of the sand will have not become wet again simply by the additon of water - especially if the sand was at the extreme corners of the tank or where the water coming in was not fast flowing.

..just poke the holes.

Would be worth checking - how well did you wash the sand. Some residues will form "bridges" between grains as they dry out which prevents re-wetting. Are you happy there were no residues left

I've seen it before, sounds like silicon dust (or similar) causing temporary binding in the sand.

Personally I would take it back out, give it a another good rinse in warm water,and pop it back in

how did you say it so concisely? Nice.

 

[soybean]

Just stir it over the next couple of days, it'll be fine.

 

[Athena]

My Argos play sand did the same thing - I just used a wooden skewer to prod the sand and gently rake through it to release all the trapped air. I didn't know if it was ok to leave the trapped air or not so I opted to release the air.

My sand was thoroughly cleaned beforehand and water crystal clear with no cloudiness whatsoever.

I think it must be a normal thing to happen.

Athena

 

[BigbruiserAl]

Thanks all, Saz that sounds spot on, the sand did dry in there for a week and look like the local beach with clumps in lol. Have ordered a tank tool kit and will be a exuse to use my new engraved rake....the mrs called me sad for that order lol