Sand Substrate

[Super Dude]

i'm planning on switching to play sand. what kinds of potential problems can arise from having sand?

 

[bae1994]

some fish can eat it or mix it up and can make iy murky but aslong as you vac the sand regulary it should keep it clean but the eating rthing isnt that likely tbh

 

[Super Dude]

i'm planning on getting a couple cories. how clean will they keep the sand? and i've heard something about gas building up underneath? could somebody please elaborate?

thanXD

 

[bae1994]

again aslong as you vac it it should be fine

 

[susankat]

One thing to remember you cant vac it like you do gravel. You must keep the vac 1/2 to 1 inch above the sand, you can also use a fork and poke it into the sand where ever there isn't any plants each week and it will help keep the gases from forming. Also MTS will help keep the sand stirred.

The cories will sift through the sand looking for small bits of food. They don't make good substrate cleaner though except for eating food that the other fish has missed.

 

[aaronnorth]

i'm planning on getting a couple cories. how clean will they keep the sand? and i've heard something about gas building up underneath? could somebody please elaborate?

thanXD

The gas is Hydrogen sulphide (H2S). When it is stirred up it is oxidised instantly and it becomes harmless. It is actually useful in aquariums as it is anereobic bacteria which can denitrify Nitrates into Nitrogen gas plus a lot more other advantages...

 

[IovaykInD]

But if the gas builds up and then you stir it up not often enough, it could come out and be toxic to fish. So the most important thing is to move it often.

 

[Rlon35]

But if the gas builds up and then you stir it up not often enough, it could come out and be toxic to fish. So the most important thing is to move it often.

^^^^^^^^^

Wouldn't the cory cats do that automatically (i.e. move it around, maybe loaches and plecos too)? Granted, you still have to move it around weekly I would think. Can you take up the sand in the vac and pull it (the vac) up just in time to set all of the sand back down and avoid siphoning it out of the tank? I will be trying similar methods, dealing with similar issues...

 

[mattbond]

whats an MTS? i have a horsefaced loach that burrows in the sand, should i still stir the sand?

 

[OohFeeshy]

Honestly, the amount people go on about 'toxic gas pockets'... They don't happen very often, if they do the gas is harmless on contact with oxygen, the majority of the time it's just air that got trapped and it's automatically assumed that is must be toxic. Could it kill fish? Debatable. I've only heard of one example when hydrogen sulphide could have killed a fish, and that was a massive bubble of unknown gas coming into direct contact with a small fish.

 

[puppyjess123]

Stir the sand every 48 hours to avoid the gas pockets or whatever, if you forgot don't worry its not going to kill your fish. It gets messy easily by the way and is hard to clean as you always seem to suck some sand up but not the dirt

Lucy

 

[Truck]

Stir the sand every 48 hours to avoid the gas pockets or whatever. It gets messy easily by the way and is hard to clean as you always seem to suck some sand up but not the dirt

Lucy

the gas pockets are harmless anyway, many people on this forum do not believe this, but they should go back to school and do a chemistry lesson on hydrogen sulphide. no offence to those that were told otherwise

 

[IovaykInD]

That kind of gas is the smell that gives you the rotten egg smells. Its often found in marshes because of the mud that goes through these processes. I would stir the sand often to avoid any problems, just to be safe. I doubt anything bad will happen if you forget to stir it for a little while.

 

[Truck]

That kind of gas is the smell that gives you the rotten egg smells. Its often found in marshes because of the mud that goes through these processes. I would stir the sand often to avoid any problems, just to be safe. I doubt anything bad will happen if you forget to stir it for a little while.

it wont cause harm if not stirred

as soon as hydrogen sulphide hits our oxygen rich water it is harmless!

 

[OohFeeshy]

From Bignose-

In water, as soon as hydrogen sulfide comes into contact with any oxygen, it will become harmless. So, even if there is a pocket, and even if you accidentally stir it up, it will become harmless as soon as it hits your well-oxygenated water. And you know your water is well-oxygenated since your fish are living in it, and they need oxygen. This is the stinky smell you got, sulfurs, but you most likely smelled sulfur oxides, not hydrogen sulfide. Like I said, hydrogen sulfide decomposes very quickly in the presence of oxygen while in aqueous solution.

Ye cannae compare a marsh to an aquarium. Marsh, loads of rotting plant matter, thick mud which doesn't let air through. Aquarium, well oxygenated, comparatively thin substrate which is also moderately well oxygenated, little material for bacteria to feed on in the substrate.