Sulphur smell with water change

[jlk]

I was a little surprised that could happen in an inch of sand substrate. Would that be common do you think? I guess it would depend on how the sand packs down?

If someone (person, fish or snail) frequently 'disturbs' the sand and the sand level is small (1in or less) it's not a common occurrence to develop gas pockets/gray to black areas of sand but certainly not impossible. One of my tanks has barely an inch of pfs and gas pockets/black sand develop in just a few days. Very obvious as the sand is white and very odorous. I remove the fish in this tank for wcs as I have noticed negative effects on behavior and appetite when they remain in the tank. Perhaps this is coincidental but perhaps not.

In my other two tanks with sand, there exists a large population of plants (roots growing through the sand) and mts. I have never had an issue with white sand turning grayish-black or gas pockets developing in either of these tanks despite thicker levels of sand thanks to root and snail aeration.

Simple solution is to run a plastic utensil or pair of chopsticks through the sand on a regular basis as part of weekly maintenance.





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[Mebbid]

I was a little surprised that could happen in an inch of sand substrate. Would that be common do you think? I guess it would depend on how the sand packs down?

This is a sand I bought for my reef tank. It was a bulk buy and came in a few different grades all mixed together. I put some in a couple glasses to see how it settled and took this picture about a day or two later. Notice the air trapped in the glass on the left. That's around an inch ish down and the sand is more coarse than pool filter sand.

 

[Masha]

I have some gravel mixed in with the sand, so that lines up with your observations, Mebbid.

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[Delapool]

Many thanks for the replies, that is interesting.