So I've had the tank up and running since last Sunday and today I've been noticing some fairly regular bubble releases from the sand. The bubbles never seem to get any larger than about 1/16" in diameter and it's not a constant thing. I'm thinking it's got to do with worms or something releasing trapped air from the sand, but I'm not sure. Sand bed depth ranges from 3-4" thick.
5 day old tank - tiny bubble releases from sand
- Thread starter Nickeleye
- Start date
Did you use any Live sand or Live rock? If you did then its probably bacteria turning the nitrates into nitrogen gas (which then bubbles up)
I have 65 lbs. of live rock in total. It came from Tampa Bay Saltwater so it already had a lot of life on it. I have about four larger chunks of the base rock (approx. 30 lbs of the 65) almost completely covered by fine grain CaribSea Oolithic sand.
I've been noticing gas that is trapped beneath the surface of the DSB. It's about 1/4 inch below the surface. I'm hoping it's part of the natural cycle of bacteria turning the bad things into good things and releasing the gasses. It's visable through the glass, so I'm guessing there are pockets of these gasses throughout the DSB.
Maybe my earlier post wasn't clear. Did you use dry sand for part of your sand bed? If so, it's probably just air being released.
It's not likely there is much of a bacterial population in less than a week.
It's not likely there is much of a bacterial population in less than a week.
I agree with mogurnda. If you added the sand dry, then poured water over it, lots of air bubbles are trapped in the sand. I use a wooden spoon to stir through the sand and release most of them. They are harmless, but will eventually bubble up as the sand settles. In a newer tank, this is much more likely than anything from the bacteria, as they won't be well established for quite some time.
The sand was actually damp. I found out once I opened the sand that CaribSea sand comes slightly moist. It wasn't soaked by any means, however it wasn't stone dry either. It was just damp enough to stick to itself. Don't know if that tells you anything.
Also, yesterday I noticed that bubbles seemed to be coming more from certain areas of the sand rather than the entire sandbed. For example, near the front center of my tank there is a fair amount of reddish discoloration and I see a very similar instance on the left side of the tank. Bubbles seem to be coming from these discolored areas much more than the other areas of the sand that aren't discolored.
Also, yesterday I noticed that bubbles seemed to be coming more from certain areas of the sand rather than the entire sandbed. For example, near the front center of my tank there is a fair amount of reddish discoloration and I see a very similar instance on the left side of the tank. Bubbles seem to be coming from these discolored areas much more than the other areas of the sand that aren't discolored.
Well, I think we can rule out volcanic activity...
Interesting. I wonder if there is organic matter decomposing in there. You could get some stinky bubbles from that.
Interesting. I wonder if there is organic matter decomposing in there. You could get some stinky bubbles from that.
Here's a link to a picture of what I'm talking about. I assume this is algae. In any case, it's all over the sand of my tank and looks like on the rocks too, but strangely not on the glass. At least not yet... Anyway, the algae appears to be on anything that the light is directly shining on. It's not on sand that has been overshadowed by any sort of rocks, etc.