Sand substrate

[Caliban07]

Resurrecting this old thread. Most of it addresses cleaning the sand surface. But over time stuff does work it's way in. I read about sand going anaerobic and wondering what the do to keep that from happening short of turning MTS loose in the tank.

I'm certain I have read a number of threads that say once the pocket of hydrogen sulphide escapes in to the tank it is immediately oxidised in to sulphates and is therefore harmless to livestock. I would be concerned about plant roots but even a healthy plant should have no trouble keeping the sediment oxygenated around the roots/rhizosphere. Any other non smelly bubbles could just be co2 escaping.

I'll see if I can drag some links about H2S.

 

[Caliban07]

It is mentioned here under 'soil depth'

https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/the-soil-substrate-or-dirted-planted-tank-a-how-to-guide.18943/

 

[Caliban07]

It's also mentioned here by the same person.

https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/john-innes-no3-safe.37681/page-2

I've not looked in to it per se but it may be less of a concern as originally thought.

Chopsticks poking every now and then should suffice though.

When I took my soil out (which was probably way too deep looking back) I did get the dreaded h2S smell but you can clearly see from the pictures of both the plants and critters towards the end of the thread that they couldn't have given two hoots. I had no snails and didn't prod the soil but would see the odd big bubble coming up frequently. No smell though. I believe it's all part of a healthy ecosystem.

 

[TMaier]

Thanks! My sand in one tank is about an inch deep. No rooted plants. The other tank has about 2" in the back and 1" towards the front. It has some rooted plants and root tabs. I will get in the habit of a little poking when I do my PWC.

 

[Caliban07]

Thanks! My sand in one tank is about an inch deep. No rooted plants. The other tank has about 2" in the back and 1" towards the front. It has some rooted plants and root tabs. I will get in the habit of a little poking when I do my PWC.

No problem. Good idea [emoji106] my substrate dirt and cap combined I'd say was about 4 inches throughout. You shouldn't have any problems in my opinion.

Edit: Also my soil was immediately working through organic material breakdown making formation of pockets much more likely. Your sand will take some time before these pockets develop one would think.

I remember running my hand through the substrate whilst collecting it for removal and feeling cold patches here and there. Was pretty odd. I lost half of my fish and shrimp over the course of the next few days/weeks although H2S would have been the last thing to worry about when causing such disturbance to an aged substrate.

 

[Krtyr26]

I have black diamond blasting sand medium grade in my 125. I rinsed it well before putting it in the tank. Maybe I got a lucky batch, but I had no residue or cloudiness with it. I use root tabs, flourish, and sea Chem trace . Overall I'm not disappointed with this as a substrate. It's perfect for my cories and loaches. Hope this helped