dandelion Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 I just noticed recently that there are air bubbles in my sandbed. I can clearly see them between my glass and the sand. My sand bed is only 1-2 inches deep, and my tank is about 3 months old. I only have a bunch of astrea snails and a peppermint shrimp as my clean up crew, and I haven't been stiring my sand bed. Should I worry about it? Or should I stir a small corner and see if I smell rotten egg. Btw are those red and green stuff cyanobacteria? I thought they only grow on top of sand bed not beneath. Quote Link to comment
amphipod Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 Stir and smell, it . Yes that is Cyanobacteria also 1 Quote Link to comment
ndrobey Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 Stir a small spot and smell. Have a puke bucket handy. Rotten eggs is hydrogen sulfide. Nitrogen bubbles are tiny. Cyno will grow against the glass because it gets enough light there. 1 Quote Link to comment
amphipod Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 Stir a small spot and smell. Have a puke bucket handy. Rotten eggs is hydrogen sulfide. Nitrogen bubbles are tiny. Cyno will grow against the glass because it gets enough light there.its not that bad smelling lol, not to me anyways. Quote Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 Oxygen bubbles caused by algae/cyano respiration under illumination (photosynthetic organisms use CO2 and respire O2 in the presence of light). Typically, you'd see black areas if it was hydrogen sulfide. 1 Quote Link to comment
amphipod Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 Could also be the nitrogen from denitrification deeper in the sediment rising to the surface. Quote Link to comment
Hig789 Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 Went through this a little while back. I had air bubble in my sand bed also, but I had brown algae on the sand bed and below the sand bed where it gets light. From I've gathered they are just oxygen bubbles from the photosynthesis from the algae. I could be very wrong also. Haha. My tank is about the same age as yours also. Quote Link to comment
youincolor Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 3 months likely isn't enough time for your sandbed to produce anything as serious as hydrogen sulfide. I've taken down reefs that had been running for years and I've never found super nasty sand, beyond detritus. I'm sure you're fine. Quote Link to comment
jarwin1221 Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 im freaking out, cause im currently experiencing the same issue, I am using a black sand substrate and started seeing couple of bubbles coming out from the sand sub, and my sub is starting to rise/elevate a little in area where the bubbles usually comes out. I tried poking the area and big bubbles comes out (no bad smell though) should this be an issue? Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 New tanks with new sand will often have micro bubbles get trapped. @jarwin1221 Stirring the sand will remove them as well as be beneficial. A short sand bed should be stirred, is best to be vaccuumed with waterchanges, as well as having a CUC of cerith and nassaurius snails. 1 Quote Link to comment
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