Too Much Sand?

[GoldfishAttentionSpan]

In my ten gallon, I put about 1.5-2 inches of sand as substrate, but the filters have pushed it to where it is about 3 inches in the corner, give or take some. I like the look of alot of sand, and would rather not take any out, but will it present any problems? I don't remember the specifics, but I know I remember reading that there shouldn't be more than 2 inchs of sand, and that it needs to be stirred every now and then. I have cories to stir the sand, but I know they aren't stirring more than just the top bit.

Do I need to take some of the sand out?

 

[Phoenixfish]

you can get a fairly nasty build up of gases, im too lazy and tired to look it up properly someone else will, but its to do with anarobic decompersiton aka things going bad, you can buy/get MTS (malasian trumpet snails ?!?) which are very useful as sifting sand

 

[demonmagus]

is the tank planted? Because I can't see any reason why you can't just stir the sand around every week or so

 

[GoldfishAttentionSpan]

is the tank planted? Because I can't see any reason why you can't just stir the sand around every week or so

Its planted with plastic plants. I will stir the sand around now and then if thats all I need to do.

 

[rdd1952]

Is your filter moving the sand because of the force of the water from the outlet (what type filter is it - HOB, canister)? There are a couple options. If it's a HOB and the water from the filter entering the water is causing it, simply raise the water level to where it flows back in or get a small piece of slate to put under it. I do that in my betta tank as I have to leave the water level down a little to create a splash going back into the tank to keep an oily film on top broken up (problem with tap water). If it's a canister filter, try to bend or reroute the outlet so that it doesn't hit directly on the sand.

As for the build up of anarobic gases. I have never used anything but sand in my 29 gallon tank and have never had a problem. I have live plants so I believe the roots keep any pockets from forming. But simply taking a fork and sticking in the sand on occasion solves the problem anyway. I know some people like the trumpet snails but I hate them. I fought them for several months and finally had to redo the entire tank to get rid of them. If you overfeed (and I was), they will multiple like rabbits 10 fold. They love excess food. There were so many that I could scoop a double tablespoonful of sand out and there would be 25, 30, 40 of them in it (mainly very tiny ones but they eventually become big ones that produce more tiny ones). I'm not exagerating when I say that I believe there could have easily been 1000 of them in my tank at that time. Removing them by hand was impossible. If I happen to see one in one of my tanks now, I immediately remove them. I don't ever want that problems again.

 

[Torrean]

mts snails are IMHO great. They stir your sand and help you figure out how much to feed. Also they are great scavengers which means that excess food doesn't just decompose on the substrate.

There is a lot of debate about whether anaerobic gases are dangerous to fish. My opinion of the whole thing is that it doesn't matter if it'll kill your fish. The gas stinks. So you can
A. get a burrowing critter like mts
B. stir the sand weekly
C. Get lots and lots of live plants...I believe the root system breaks up the anaerobic bubbles
D. Use a thin 1/2 inch layer of sand...this is not viable if you want rooting live plants.