Switched to sand today, kind of disappointed.

[gobluewolverines4]

Well today I went all out and bought sand for my 10 gallon. Well I am disappointed. It looks nice besides the bubbles and the huge clumps of sand stuck together! I rinsed it 3 times in a five gallon bucket! And it settled pretty nice. Except for the bubbles. (BTW its just black Petco sand). Will the bubbles just go away? And what about the clumps?

 

[Cynic]

Well today I went all out and bought sand for my 10 gallon. Well I am disappointed. It looks nice besides the bubbles and the huge clumps of sand stuck together! I rinsed it 3 times in a five gallon bucket! And it settled pretty nice. Except for the bubbles. (BTW its just black Petco sand). Will the bubbles just go away? And what about the clumps?

...bubbles? That doesn't sound good...or normal

 

[gobluewolverines4]

Its just air bubbles that the sand is attached to. Every once and awhile they'll float to the top. Not that often though. :/

 

[smomus]

That's weird. Give it a few days and hopefully it will settle

 

[paytertot]

Try turning the filters off for just a second and stirring it very gently to make some of the bubbles rise. What do you mean clumps? Can you post a pic?

 

[gobluewolverines4]

I will have to in about 8 hours, sorry. Don't wanna disturb the shrimp!

 

[paytertot]

Oh I didn't realize you had inhabitants. Yea just kinda graze over the top then to help loosen the bubbles. Are you sure they're just air bubbles, and not from some kinda soap that may have gotten in?

 

[skywhitney]

Everytime i've used petco sand this happens. The bubbles will go away on their own. The shrimp moving around of the sand will help as well.

The sand can actually look really nice, just give it a day or so

 

[gobluewolverines4]

Everytime i've used petco sand this happens. The bubbles will go away on their own. The shrimp moving around of the sand will help as well.

The sand can actually look really nice, just give it a day or so

That's very reassuring, thanks.

 

[gobluewolverines4]

Here are some pics

 

[severum mama]

Tahitian moon sand did the same thing for me. It's an annoyance, sure, but the bubbles will go away eventually. Other than that I think it looks great.

 

[gobluewolverines4]

Tahitian moon sand did the same thing for me. It's an annoyance, sure, but the bubbles will go away eventually. Other than that I think it looks great.

What about the clumps?

 

[severum mama]

Yeah that goes away too. My Tahitian Moon sand even had clumps floating in the tank for a while.

 

[gobluewolverines4]

Thank you. I get floating clumps , but then I just break them up.

 

[o0osevenso0o]

Well today I went all out and bought sand for my 10 gallon. Well I am disappointed. It looks nice besides the bubbles and the huge clumps of sand stuck together! I rinsed it 3 times in a five gallon bucket! And it settled pretty nice. Except for the bubbles. (BTW its just black Petco sand). Will the bubbles just go away? And what about the clumps?

I know this thread is old, I will still make this comment because of all the comments saying that it is not normal and whatever else ( also so noobs don't get mislead.) I have white Petco sand in my 10 gallon planted now, 15lb. of it and i have also used the red one. The bubbles are completely normal. The bubbles are very bad the first day and the tank will be cloudy even if you rinse well. There is no way around this that I know of so a quarantine tank (even a bucket [preferably with heat and filtration] will work for a short time) is a must. The clumps look like pearls and they suck however they go away in a week or two. Note: Once the sand has settled nicely you can vacuum siphon the waste products out depending on your needs (if you don't have plants sand will get dirty fast. I just use a hose and hold it ever so slightly above the sand, draws in all filth (the diameter of a hard ball) around the hose