grey sand under the top layers

[DANthirty]

Hi guys hope you and fish are all well

Today i was cleaning the sand in my zebra tank when i found that the sand had turned a darkish grey colour in places i had to dig under the sand to find these blotches i decided to give the whole lot a turn over to try and dispurse the colouration is this anything to worry about?

all my water readings are ok.

[Barbie]

That can offgas sulfides into your tank. I never use sand more than an inch deep in my tanks, for that very reason. There have been a few really pissy discussions about it at the cichlid forum in the past, and most people are sure it won't cause harm. I personally had a tank act very stressed when I accidentally "burped" a pocket that had developed in just a weeks time in one of my shell dweller tanks from all the redecorating. I've never kept it deep enough to cause a problem since.

Barbie

[Tristan]

I have had the same problem with a tank that is difficult to get to. There can be pockets of gas that appear when using a gravel cleaner (they stink) as Barbie said, sulphur/sulphides. THe other way round this is to regularly, once/twice a week disturb all the substrate in the tank. I hope this helps.

[McEve]

Malaysian sand snails do a good job of turning the sand around to prevent these pockets from forming

[Ed_R]

IT WILL cause harm, no question.

[Dr. P]

Totally agree here. It is a common problem with deep sand and will cause damage as others have said. I actually have some of the snails McEve mentioned and they do a great job. They make very cool patterns in the sand too , to the point that you can actually see where they enter the sand and then return to the surface in another position. I have a new pattern each morning, lol. Not forgetting that my Zebras love to eat the snail babies.....I'd actually say that snails formed a BIG part of my Zebras diet. Some consider snails to be a pest...I think they are great.

[Ed_R]

DOjo loaches and banjo cats also help prevent dead spots in sand.

[Dr. P]

Agree again, but in a species set up, the snails make for a great alternative.

[Ed_R]

Definitely. Dojos are rambunctuous anyway;)

[DANthirty]

thanks guys for the replys. tommorow morning i will try and take some off the sand out i will try to make it around a inch think , as it isaround 2-3 inches at the moment

as for the snails what do you recomend? i have seen the yellow snails i think they are called apple snails im not sure?

[Dr. P]

Naw mate. You want the long trumpet looking things that you can sometimes get hitching a ride with live plants. Apples snails grow MUCH larger and will need a high pH and harder water than the zebras.

Try google, you'll recognise them the minute you see them. You may even get some from your LFS for free, lol.

[McEve]

The snail that usually hitch a ride with plants is a common pest snail, the type that multiplies to no end and is usually only brought under control with a loach in the tank. Mind you they certainly do come handy in removing excess food and also aid in hatching fry, as they eat the dead egg shell.

The Malaysian trumpet snail rarely get to your tank that easily, as it lives in the sand, and only comes out if there's food available, and at night time.

The snail that hatch a ride with plants are round and black, the Malyasian trumpet snail has an elongated pointy shell, and is a brown/beige color.

Like Dr. P says, do a search on google and you'll find pictures and more information about them

[DANthirty]

i think i have some off them in my planted tank already the biggest is around 10 mm ill take a picture tommorow and post and you can tell me if they are the right ones

[Dr. P]

The snail that hatch a ride with plants are round and black,

This would be classed as your common pond snail. Although these are very common with plants, they arent the ones I was talking about.

The Malyasian trumpet snail has an elongated pointy shell, and is a brown/beige color.

Thats the ones I was talking about. I've had a few come in with live plants in the past but maybe I'm was just lucky? Weird, I thought it was the norm

[DANthirty]

these are the ones i have in my planted tank. are they the ones you mean? this one in the picture is about 13mm long