DSB discolor

[mike0179]

my substrate is about 5" of plain white sand (cant recall the brand) but its very small grain.. almost sugar sized.

About .5" up to 2" into the sand I've noticed its turning dark gray in spots.. almost black. Is this normal? Ive also had a small Cayno breakout and it seems to be surfacing primarily above this discolored area.

its a 55gal tank thats been set up for nearly 6 months now. All levels are spot-on.

 

[lando]

I can see green, red and brown spots in the middle of my sand bed as well. Nothing to worry about, things are growing nicely. If you get an accumulation of discoloration on top of the sand bed that is a different story.

 

[MT79]

What your describing is fairly normal.

Ive also had a small Cayno breakout and it seems to be surfacing primarily above this discolored area.

That would concern me some. Do you have any sand stirring animals in your clean up crew? Adding things like nassarius snails, etc. is a good way to keep the upper portions of the sand bed clean and prevent it from becoming toxic due to sulphuric gas pockets, etc. developing.

 

[mykpoz]

i have small bubbles in my substrate, that I was wondering about. I have a good 30-40 nass snails on the tank, but they are all fairly small...

Should I do anything to dislodge the bubbles? or let them sit?

 

[MT79]

i have small bubbles in my substrate, that I was wondering about. Should I do anything to dislodge the bubbles? or let them sit?

I would let them be. They are more than likely just trapped air- nothing toxic.

 

[mike0179]

my clean up crew consists of a couple scarlet hermts, 6 zebras, 2 cerith, and 2 nass snails.

pherhaps i should look into getting a few more? Actually now that i see it out in writing that doesnt sound like very much at all for a 6mo old 55gal.

 

[quarryshark]

Could be cyno on the glass. Most folks don't scrape under the sand. Try srping and see if its on the glass.