Hmm Argos Play Sand Has Turned Black At The Bottom?

[Harlequins]

I was doing the daily clean on the cory fry tank,when i noticed the sand underneath has turned black??

Its only half inch thick,

Any ideas why its done this?

 

[markandhisfish]

usually when sand turns black it is where pockets of gas have built up in the sand. altho with your sand being so shallow its strange in your case. try agitatitng the sand with your fingers and see if any gas is released.

 

[thefubar]

has the danger of these gases been refuted? i've lost count of the number of posts warning about these pockets and how harmful they are to fish.

I've never experienced them but i know it was fairly common with the finer sands such as argos or silver.

 

[jennybugs]

I have silver sand in my F8 brackish tank and the sand does go black if I miss bits when I run my fingers through it every week. I now run it through with a big plastic bbq fork and it hasn't turned black since. It looks like some form of algae to me?

 

[Harlequins]

i have just stirred the sand up,i had a few bubbles come up where the black bits are,would this affect the cory fry?

 

[markandhisfish]

wether or not the gas is harmful to the fish is much debated some say yes others say no. stir my sand up with bbq tongs every water change just to play safe.

 

[Harlequins]

ok thanks for your help

 

[Haych]

i mixed up my sand during a tank move, and released ALOT of ammonia/nitrite etc, and killed some fish, keep an eye on water stats

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Harlequins

I've had the same thing happen with play sand too. It's especially troublesome in a fry tank because it is an indicator that you are not stirring your sand enough. This is particularly important to do with cory fry so that uneaten food bits will float up and can be removed as part of the water changes you do. This is one way to reduce the chances of the fry dying from bacterial infection.

 

[Harlequins]

Hi Harlequins

I've had the same thing happen with play sand too. It's especially troublesome in a fry tank because it is an indicator that you are not stirring your sand enough. This is particularly important to do with cory fry so that uneaten food bits will float up and can be removed as part of the water changes you do. This is one way to reduce the chances of the fry dying from bacterial infection.

Thanks inchworm

I was very good at cleaning the top part of the sand cleaning up poo etc and stirring in places,but obviously not enough,i now have been using a spoon and stir all the sand before i do the daily waterchange

I feel guilty now has i may have lead to the deaths of the 3 fry the past few weeks

 

[iffles]

sorry, this is off the subject, but nice halloween avatar Inchworm

 

[Haych]

dont worry harlequins, we all learn by error, i know it isnt nice, but at least you know not to do it again!!