How bad is stirring a sandbed when cleaning it?

[Outlets710]

I want to do at least a 2 inch sand bed on my next tank but with the aragonite more so with fine sand, I know some parts by the glass gets blk streaks n the middle so I was curious to how bad stirring that up w your finger is?
In my previous 90 I had deep sand bed and I was always told not to because of gases that would be released. Any truth to this?

Of course I plan to have a cc but they don't always do it, do you guys suggest anything specific on the cc side?

[Mikez1207]

I have always heard that if you dont normally do it then dont. Mixing up sandbeds that havent been mixed can cause problems...ammonia spikes and stuff like that...i have a sandshifter star that does a good job at keeping my sandbed clean...can start with one and maybe later get another one

[steelwrap]

With a 2" sand bed and regular stirring You shouldn't have any problems

[immortl]

I have a 1-2" shallow sand bed in my 29g biocube and whenever I do a water change (varies from weekly to every 3-4 weeks depending on my travel schedule), I vacuum siphon just about all of the sand bed that I can get to. Have not had any problems. I believe this to be because there has not ever really been a long period of time for bad things to build up and for the most part the bed is fairly shallow.

Based on reading, I gather that 2" and just over is approaching the 'questionable zone' of depth. The general consensus (doesn't necessarily make it 100% right as we know, just means apparent majority buys into or parrots the concept, although I believe in this instance there is scientific backing) is shallow, under 2", good, and deep, over 4", good (with it's own set of caveats regarding dsb, I believe these ought NOT be disturbed). The in between range of 2-4" is where it gets questionable.

My limited understanding is that that bad gases that could build up are quite detectable by the human nose. If you were to vacuum/stir up a small portion of your sand bed and release these bad gases, you would know right quick.

[HaKs310]

Anaerobic bacteria, bacteria that dislike oxygen will live in the deeper layers of a sand bed. Obviously if you stir up the sand they will come in contact with oxygen, thus killing the bacteria which leads to an ammonia spike.

If regularly stirred up and syphoned, anaerobic bacteria will not have a chance to colonize so you will not have to worry about ammonia spikes from die-off.

Any smell coming from a sand bed is a bad thing and is usually caused by trapped, rotting matter.

[immortl]

At what depth in a sand bed does it become anaerobic? In other words, how far down into a sand bed will O2 penetrate? I imagine this would depend slightly on the density of the sand bed, with finer sand/particulate reducing the depth. It's been my impression that this is somewhere between 2-4" hence the preference to maintain less than 2" which would be pretty much all aerobic or greater than 4" which would be primarily anaerobic past a certain depth.

[Outlets710]

Thank you all for responding, HaKs that makes sense. Thanks again

[HaKs310]

At what depth in a sand bed does it become anaerobic? In other words, how far down into a sand bed will O2 penetrate? I imagine this would depend slightly on the density of the sand bed, with finer sand/particulate reducing the depth. It's been my impression that this is somewhere between 2-4" hence the preference to maintain less than 2" which would be pretty much all aerobic or greater than 4" which would be primarily anaerobic past a certain depth.

I really would not know. If it is something you want to figure then I am sure reading a couple of Ron Shimek's articles might answer your question.

[Michigan Mike]

I have always heard that if you dont normally do it then dont. Mixing up sandbeds that havent been mixed can cause problems...ammonia spikes and stuff like that...i have a sandshifter star that does a good job at keeping my sandbed clean...can start with one and maybe later get another one

It says in your sig you have a 10g tank and you say you have a sand sifting star?