heff Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 I was in at the LFS talking to a guy who runs after the planted tanks there and he shivered when I mentioned I had 2" of play-sand as substrate for my tank due to gas pocket development. He stated that he had his plants and fish die off in a tank because of gas build-up in the substrate. I've got a healthy breeding population of Malaysian Trumpet Snails that are all over the place - I imagine that I have at least as many in the sand as on the glass. Can anyone with experience weigh in on the gas pocket debate? Some brief searching has yielded that the gas can be methane, nitrogen, even hydrogen sulphide and for each post I read saying that it's toxic, there's another saying that it's fine. Thanks in advance! Hugh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mokos Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 (edited) Hey hugh, Id say your safe from gas pockets with all the mts snails in your tank. Just from my experience having white sand yiu will see it turning a black color. This is just caused by the deeper sand bed not getting fresh oxygenated water. I used to churn my sand bed every two weeks. And that got old quick so I thinned my bed down to an inch maybe less. Again I didnt have mts and a few of my plants did died off. aswell the roots turned black like the sand You having play sand and mts snails you more than likely will not see much color change. The snails will naturally allow fresh oxygenated water through your sand bed and allow plants to thrive aswell. IMO I dont think you have anything to worry about. Again it is just my experience, and I know that hydrogen sulphide is a type of gas created in the sand by not having enough oxygenated water go through it. When I churned my sand bed I used to get the "rotten egg smell". And yes it is toxic to fish.... I learnt that the hard way. Jeff Edited November 5, 2012 by Mokos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heff Posted November 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 Just having the discussion with the guy made me consider doing what you mentioned - reducing the thickness of the substrate to around an inch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mokos Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 (edited) If you did reduce it to around an inch then I think you would for sure be safe. Then again im not sure its necessary either. You have mts naturally aerating your sand bed. Just trying to save you the work. Im pretty sure other members on here have a fairly thick bed aswell. im guessing you have a tropical tank and not cichlids, cause you have mts. Only asking cause I had geos that used to dig a ton and hit pockets and im sure thats how I lost some of my rams. Hence why I thinned mine down. Edited November 5, 2012 by Mokos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfishal Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 I have used play sand for years with no problems ever. I usually just give it a good rinse and all is fine. I have kept planted tanks as well with no issues. Also as for the thickness of the sand bed I dont see it being that big of a deal either as I have had sand bed from a half in all the way to 3-4" even and still no problems. One of my current aquarium setup has approx 3" of a sand bed and has been going about 3 years with no problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heff Posted November 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 @mokos - yep, you're right, it's tropical. although, it's pretty chilly in my basement. I think tropical is supposed to be warm. @bigfishal - good to hear that you haven't run into any problems. do you leave the substrate entirely alone and let the MTS do their thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperGuppyGirl Posted November 6, 2012 Report Share Posted November 6, 2012 I have play sand around 2-3 inches deep with mts and never had an issue and I dont churn it unless I see it starting to turn darker that only happened after I changed over but once the mts took over never happened again 7 months and counting so far Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Znaika Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 I have about 3" of play sand on top of 50 Watt heater cable - presumably heating helps to aerate the sand. So far no problems and the plants are growing really well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingin' It Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 I use play sand as well...but I keep it well moved and don't give the chance for gas pockets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mokos Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 I guess hugh you could do what feels right for ya to if its looking darker give it a turn. Or just let your mts take care of it for ya Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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