Reef Central Online Community

Go Back   Reef Central Online Community > More Forums > Reef Club Forums > SouthWest Region-Reef Club Forums > Arizona - Fish & Reef Aquarium Group (FRAG)
Blogs FAQ Calendar Mark Forums Read

Notices

User Tag List

Reply
Thread Tools
Unread 11/09/2008, 08:30 PM   #1
macboat
Registered Member.
 
macboat's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Chandler, AZ
Posts: 1,550
Bubbles from sand bed

55G, argonite sugar fine sand bed, 1", cycled for 6 weeks. Now I see a lot of bubbles rise from here and there, a lot of them attached to the tank, and I also noticed tiny air pockets in the sand.

I did a google search and many mentioned that it is good thing and the bubble is probably Nitrogen. However, they all mentioned that "IF IT IS A DSB". Mine isn't a DSB, is it a good thing too?

If it is normal, when will it go away?


macboat is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/09/2008, 09:33 PM   #2
psimitry
Registered Member
 
psimitry's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Phoenix
Posts: 1,560
It may or may not be nitrogen. It probably is. If I'm not mistaken, it's probably a certain bacteria that is digesting nutrients and putting out gas.

I had something similar in my old tank, and it went away after a while.


psimitry is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/09/2008, 09:46 PM   #3
macboat
Registered Member.
 
macboat's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Chandler, AZ
Posts: 1,550
Could it be any poisenous gas? The fish (2 domino damsels) look fine.


__________________
子非鱼,安知鱼之乐

Current Tank Info: JBJ NC 12G -- 1 peppermint shrimp 2 banded trochus snail 2 nassarius snail 1 scarlet hermit crab
macboat is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/09/2008, 10:27 PM   #4
psimitry
Registered Member
 
psimitry's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Phoenix
Posts: 1,560
If there was enough of them, potentially.

But the odds of it being toxic to levels that could actually damage anything is extremely low.


psimitry is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/09/2008, 11:54 PM   #5
JMCAquarium
They are among us!!
 
JMCAquarium's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Peoria, AZ
Posts: 5,186
Don't go disturbing the sand bed a release a large amount of it it can and will make everything ill


__________________
“You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind.” Gandhi

Jonathan/JC

Current Tank Info: 55 Gallon Angels,
JMCAquarium is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/10/2008, 12:33 AM   #6
ynnhoj86
Registered Member
 
ynnhoj86's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: U of A, Tucson
Posts: 743
its probably bc you put your sand in first then added water. the bubbles are just air.


__________________
ynnhoj86

Current Tank Info: REEFwithLOTS OF CORALS
ynnhoj86 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/10/2008, 06:26 AM   #7
azcraig
Registered Member
 
azcraig's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chandler, AZ
Posts: 136
Had the same thing happen when I set up my tank. Didn't hurt anything.


__________________
Courage is not the absence of fear, but the mastery of fear.

Current Tank Info: 200 gal reef w/60 gal sump, 55 gal reef
azcraig is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/10/2008, 08:33 AM   #8
GustavoAZ
minamalist reefer
 
GustavoAZ's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Surprise AZ
Posts: 1,051
Could be the start of cynao, which I think puts out oxygen.


GustavoAZ is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/10/2008, 11:11 AM   #9
macboat
Registered Member.
 
macboat's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Chandler, AZ
Posts: 1,550
Quote:
Originally posted by ynnhoj86
its probably bc you put your sand in first then added water. the bubbles are just air.

Not likely since the bubbles came out recently, and there is a spot that I added some sands later, the color is more white and there is no bubbles trapped in the sand.


macboat is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/10/2008, 11:12 AM   #10
macboat
Registered Member.
 
macboat's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Chandler, AZ
Posts: 1,550
Quote:
Originally posted by azcraig
Had the same thing happen when I set up my tank. Didn't hurt anything.
Craig, how deep is your sand bed?


macboat is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/10/2008, 06:13 PM   #11
azcraig
Registered Member
 
azcraig's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chandler, AZ
Posts: 136
It's anywhere from an inch to 4 inches or more in places. Almost like mini sand dunes.


__________________
Courage is not the absence of fear, but the mastery of fear.

Current Tank Info: 200 gal reef w/60 gal sump, 55 gal reef
azcraig is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/10/2008, 07:59 PM   #12
joeyf
Registered Member
 
joeyf's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Chandler, AZ
Posts: 1,111
I doubt that it is nitrogen after only 6 weeks. Denitrification requires an established live sandbed, and depending on how coarse the sand is, more depth than 1".

My guess would be trapped air pockets slowly surfacing. Even though sand may have been added after water, it still does not eliminate this as a possibility. Microbubbles could be stuck to the sand grains going in, and they could just be regrouping.


joeyf is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/10/2008, 10:52 PM   #13
gnsrfaster
Moved On
 
gnsrfaster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Gilbert
Posts: 184
Could it be any poisenous gas? The fish (2 domino damsels) look fine.

You could only be so lucky. ;-) get those damsels out of there


gnsrfaster is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/11/2008, 01:45 AM   #14
Pescado Racing
different orbital
 
Pescado Racing's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 870
I have noticed Bubbles coming up from my sand it a few of my display tanks for quite some time. I know my sandbed is @ most 2" deep, but I do believe nitrification can occur as long as the sandbed is not distrubed (water motion, livestock, etc).

It is basically an anaerobic area in the sand that is achieving some level of nitrification. It's is completing the cycle of nitrite/nitrate and releasing as nitrogen into the atmosphere. IMO, you don't have anything to worry about fish or corals. Just keep noting any changes and test a couple times over a week to see if your NO3 is reducing over a period, that will either confirm or deny if it is in fact nitrogen.


__________________
So long and thanks for all the Fish.

Current Tank Info: 161,000 G. Marine/ 220 G. Reef
Pescado Racing is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/12/2008, 01:41 PM   #15
KarlBob
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Laveen, AZ
Posts: 2,309
Re: Could it be any poisenous gas? The fish (2 domino damsels) look fine.

Quote:
Originally posted by gnsrfaster
You could only be so lucky. ;-) get those damsels out of there
I have to agree, those damsels are bad news. I received a domino free with my large tank, and it was the meanest creature I have ever seen. Luckily, AquaTouch took it off my hands, or it might have gone sewer swimming. It is an article of faith for me that they allowed it to live out its violent life, and did not flush it the moment I stepped out of the store.


__________________
Later,
KarlBob

Current Tank Info: No tanks for now. Starting over in Austin sometime next year.
KarlBob is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:18 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Powered by Searchlight © 2024 Axivo Inc.
Use of this web site is subject to the terms and conditions described in the user agreement.
Reef CentralTM Reef Central, LLC. Copyright ©1999-2022
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging v3.3.0 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.