Soil releasing bubbles...

[schoeplein]

So I've had my tank setup for about six or so weeks, and I have 20 lbs of potting mix under black tahitian sand. It has been releasing one or two bubbles at a time, from about five or six spots, a different spot every minute or so. Today isn't the first day it has released bubbles, but is the only day to have had released so consistently. There's no smell. Is this normal? I'm guessing the soil is settling and/or the plants are finally embedding their roots...

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[Brookster123]

Did you poke around with a big grilling fork or something?

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[jetajockey]

It's normal, especially if you didn't mineralize the soil first. The organics are breaking down and creating gas. 20lbs of soil is quite a bit, what size tank is this in?

 

[schoeplein]

65g. 36"x18" floor. It was enough for a little over two inches. 40 lb of sand gave me a little over an inch on top. I wanted a pretty deep bed, since the tank is so tall.

A grilling fork isn't a bad idea. I should probably sterilize it first...

Mineralize?

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[aqua_chem]

As long as it doesn't smell really bad (ie rotten eggs), you should be fine. As mentioned, it's just decomposition.

 

[rhsoto94]

What if it does smell like rotten eggs?

 

[smithpants94]

Rotten eggs is also normal.. That is the decomposition.. After you poke around in there and you get the rotten eggs smell, do a water change to get that gas out of your water