Air bubbles

[Newfiereefer]

K just doing some night time viewing , and noticed a lot of tiny air bubbles in the sand. Is this a by-product of micro algae growing in the sand , or could it be something worse? I have notice a bunch of tiny brittle star type star fish that came in on LR that sift the sand. And advice/ideas/comments ?

 

[Flreefer]

Hey Newfie,
It's hard to say exactly what the tiny bubbles are in the sand, could be expelled gas from algae. Or if you have them all through the water column, they could be getting trapped.
As far as the tiny Brittle stars, they are a good member of the CUC to have. They eat any stray food, algae, or detritus in the tank.

 

[Newfiereefer]

Hey Newfie,
It's hard to say exactly what the tiny bubbles are in the sand, could be expelled gas from algae. Or if you have them all through the water column, they could be getting trapped.
As far as the tiny Brittle stars, they are a good member of the CUC to have. They eat any stray food, algae, or detritus in the tank.

Naw the only only time I get air bubbles is a few minutes after a PWC as my skimmer is adjusting. I know phosphates and other nasties can get trapped in the sand so I like to do a " deep vac " on the sand in a small area where I but the hose down to the glass bottom to try and prevent any build up or any mass release.

 

[Flreefer]

How deep is your sandbed? If it's a true deep sand bed (5-6"), you really dont want to go that deep. It's defeating the purpose of a DSB. If it's only a couple of inches, than that's the way to do it. Do a good vac, of about 25% of your bed at a time, with each PWC.

 

[Newfiereefer]

How deep is your sandbed? If it's a true deep sand bed (5-6"), you really dont want to go that deep. It's defeating the purpose of a DSB. If it's only a couple of inches, than that's the way to do it. Do a good vac, of about 25% of your bed at a time, with each PWC.

My bottom is about 3 -4 inch deep and is a combination on " live " sand and is a combination of sand and aquarium rocks I plan however on adding more sand as using a kitty litter scooper and take as much of the rock as I can . Here is a pic to clarify