Harmfull anaerobing bacteria in sand

[k2snowboards88]

As some of you know, i changed substrates yesterday. I went from gravel to sand. I've heard something about anaerobic bacteria that can live in sand and eventually kill fish. Is this true? If so how do i deal with it?

thanks. Hopefully i won't have to ask anymore newbie questions after this.

 

[daddyo72]

I have cory cats, malasian trumpet snails and the like to turn the sand over. I also stirr the sand on a daily basis.

 

[k2snowboards88]

Do i really have to do it daily? I have an eel that likes to burrow in the sand, so he takes care of it some. I also want to get some clown loaches which i've heard dig in the sand.

My red fin shark also does a great job of cleaning all the food off of the bottom of the tank.

 

[lizard]

No, you don't have to stire it up daily. Your eel should take care of some or all of it, depending on how much he burrows. If you have live plants, you don't have to worry much about it, either. I think you only really have to worry about the anaerobic pockets if your sand is over a certain depth, but I don't remember what that depth is. You could search for other sand questions in this section or in Tropical Chit-Chat.

Pamela
aka Married Lizard

 

[k2snowboards88]

I just tried searching the chit chat and beginner forums for "sand anaerobic bacteria" and "sand anaerobic" and "sand danger" and i didn't get any results. Which is kind of strange because even my topic didn't come up.

 

[lizard]

Weird. Maybe try searching for just 'sand' or 'sand stirring'?

Good luck!

Pamela
aka Married Lizard

 

[cutechic]

Anything less than 2" should be fine. My sand is 1.5" in a lightly-planted tank but I still need to stir it up every once in a while.

 

[daddyo72]

No, you don't have to stire it up daily. Your eel should take care of some or all of it, depending on how much he burrows. If you have live plants, you don't have to worry much about it, either. I think you only really have to worry about the anaerobic pockets if your sand is over a certain depth, but I don't remember what that depth is. You could search for other sand questions in this section or in Tropical Chit-Chat.

Pamela
aka Married Lizard

I also have plants and I need to stirr. AS A PRECAUTION I stir daily. Every few days would be ok. I really would go with cory cats. They cover a lot more ground than just an eel.

 

[daddyo72]

Plants with large root systems will help, but not all of the tank.. So long as you have an eel maybe get another. Remember sand can and does drift into deeper piles depending on your circulation.

 

[freddyk]

With plant roots and snails there is no need to stir up the sand.

 

[daddyo72]

Once in a Great while i'll get a pocket they miss. Its a good preventitive medicine. It has to take all of what..a minute and a half? I'll take that over a week of removing the haze in the water any days. Like they say, and ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

 

[k2snowboards88]

Snails sounds like a really good option for me. I'm planning on getting clown loaches once my tank finally cycles. It hasn't even begun to yet and my tank has been up for 3 weeks. Still never had any nitrite. But once it gets cycled i'll be getting 4 clown loaches. I hear they eat snails. Do you think the snails would be able to stay in balance wiht the loaches without their population getting decimated, or without overpopulating the tank?


Are there any cories that wouldn't be eaten by clown loaches?

ps my tank has about 1.25" to 2 inches of sand depending on where you measure.