EMERGENCY! PLEASE HELP ASAP!

[isaacharry]

Hello nano reef!

 

So my aquarium has a rotten egg smell to it and i am running carbon (chemipure blue)

there is nothing dead in my aquarium, and all my parameters are in check. However there is some black stuff growing in my sand bed here is a photo

 

any idea what it is? should i replace my sand bed

[CronicReefer]

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-12/rhf/

 

This article will help you tremendously with how to deal with hydrogen sulfide being produced in your sand bed and how to remove it safely.

[Jsheffield85]

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/283525-sulfurrotten-egg-smell-in-tank/Found this thread, might help you out, haven't read it tho.

[Alexraptor]

Crushed coral and coarse sand makes for very poor substrate in a marine aquarium IMHO, the former being the absolute worst.

The health and longevity of a sand bed is critically dependant on the life that it can support, something coarse substrates do very poorly.

The finer the sand the better, as it allows microfauna and burrowing worms and invertebrates to thrive in their natural element, and these guys help keep the sand bed healthy.

 

Also, coarser sand beds let A LOT of detritus slip between the grains and pack together in between, which is most likely whats happening in your system. But with very fine sand, there is really no space between the grains, and the detritus being lighter tends to settle on top for the most part.

[gkarris]

Coarse sand. Switch to finer.

 

I used this stuff "back in the day" (late 80's) when it was the only thing readily available and I was experimenting with a "tiny tank" (20 Gal Long). You had to use this stuff with an undergravel filter (about the only thing back in the day as well) to constantly circulate the water through it. You needed some livestock that dug into it to help keep it clean as well.

 

Some old-school LFS still use this method though...