air bubble coming out from substrate

[luyisamor]

Hi all,

can anyone advice why suddenly my tank there are air bubble coming out from my sand substrate? is it good or bad?

my tank had been established for 1 year+. my shrimps seem to be ok so far.

thanks.

[eviltrain]

any full tank shot?

how deep is your soil?

[Urban Aquaria]

Those are hydrogen sulfide gas bubbles produced by anaerobic bacteria inside the sand substrate. My guess is your sand has been left compacted for a long time and there is accumulation of organic waste compounds in the tank, this is a common occurrence in such environments.

Do monitor the rate of gas production though, excessive amounts can be toxic to your shrimps.

You can stir the sand substrate periodically to reduce the buildup of anaerobic (oxygen deficient) conditions, or reduce the sand depth to less than 2-3cm to prevent too much compaction.

[luyisamor]

any full tank shot?

how deep is your soil?

thank for replying. my sand is around 2cm tall.
http://tinypic.com/r/30csnro/8

[luyisamor]

Those are hydrogen sulfide gas bubbles produced by anaerobic bacteria inside the sand substrate. My guess is your sand has been left compacted for a long time and there is accumulation of organic waste compounds in the tank, this is a common occurrence in such environments.

Do monitor the rate of gas production though, excessive amounts can be toxic to your shrimps.

You can stir the sand substrate periodically to reduce the buildup of anaerobic (oxygen deficient) conditions, or reduce the sand depth to less than 2-3cm to prevent too much compaction.

thank for your advice. my current sand is around 2 cm tall. do you think I should lower it more or should I just stir it and see there is any more air bubbles coming out?

[BFG]

Why not use a satay stick to probe the sand?

[Urban Aquaria]

thank for your advice. my current sand is around 2 cm tall. do you think I should lower it more or should I just stir it and see there is any more air bubbles coming out?

If it's just 2cm depth, then the anaerobic conditions would most likely just be due to the sand being too still for a long time, stirring and shifting it peridically can help.

Bottom feeders like corydoras can help sift though and stir the sand for your too. Maybe can consider the dwarf corydoras species, they are mostly safe to keep with shrimps.

Personally i usually try to keep my sand-based tanks at less than 5mm sand depth, just a very thin layer of sand for cosmetic purposes (at least it doesn't look too bare). The normal foraging activities of shrimps digging and picking sand granules is enough to constantly turn over the thin sand layer throughout the day.

[eviltrain]

do not disturb all the sand at once. do it part by part. eg 1/10 area of the base.

this is to prevent the change in water parameter. nitrate, nitrite or ammonia spike.

[AQMS]

if you want to do it at once do it during water change,that what i usually do.

[luyisamor]

thank for all the advice everyone. I will slowly probe and change the water.

Urban Aquaria, my tank is a brackish tank. I don't think I can put a corydoras in my tank.

will it help if I put a snail in the tank?

[Urban Aquaria]

thank for all the advice everyone. I will slowly probe and change the water.

Urban Aquaria, my tank is a brackish tank. I don't think I can put a corydoras in my tank.

will it help if I put a snail in the tank?

I see... yeah, that explains all the coral skeletons in the tank, i guess you're keeping opae ula shrimps?

Anyways, the only snails i know of that actively dig into substrate are malayan trumpet snails, not sure if they can handle brackish water conditions though (they are supposed to be freshwater snails).

[luyisamor]

I see... yeah, that explains all the coral skeletons in the tank, i guess you're keeping opae ula shrimps?

Anyways, the only snails i know of that actively dig into substrate are malayan trumpet snails, not sure if they can handle brackish water conditions though (they are supposed to be freshwater snails).

yes. I'm keeping Opae Ula.
I did a search on that too. can't really find any snail for brackish water that will dig into substrate. but it ok. I will maybe remove some more sand and probe it. hope it will be fine.

thanks.

[stormhawk]

Suitable snail species that you can try for a brackish setup would be the rabbit snails. Malayan Trumpets can withstand brackish water to a certain degree, but you have to watch for a population explosion.

Since you have a gas build up problem in the substrate (food/poop/dead critters rotting), please try to catch all of your shrimps out first. Remove them to a separate holding container, get a bamboo satay skewer and start poking into the substrate to release the trapped gases. During this time get your air pump running at full blast to help agitate the water and aid in the dissipation of the gases as they appear in the water column. At the same time, get your test kits ready to measure your water parameters to ensure nitrate, nitrite and ammonia are at safe levels before returning the shrimps back to their home. Do this right and your shrimp will not die a needless death. Opae ula are tough little fellas but they too are not immune to buildup of fouling agents.

2cm depth for sand is fine if you have a decent water flow throughout the tank to ensure poop and other gunk don't start getting trapped in the substrate over time. But if all you have in that tank is just the opae ula, you can reduce the depth of the coral sand/aquarium sand in the tank to roughly 0.5 cm, but this is up to you. I don't see a need for a deep sand bed if it is just for aesthetic purposes.

[luyisamor]

Suitable snail species that you can try for a brackish setup would be the rabbit snails. Malayan Trumpets can withstand brackish water to a certain degree, but you have to watch for a population explosion.

Since you have a gas build up problem in the substrate (food/poop/dead critters rotting), please try to catch all of your shrimps out first. Remove them to a separate holding container, get a bamboo satay skewer and start poking into the substrate to release the trapped gases. During this time get your air pump running at full blast to help agitate the water and aid in the dissipation of the gases as they appear in the water column. At the same time, get your test kits ready to measure your water parameters to ensure nitrate, nitrite and ammonia are at safe levels before returning the shrimps back to their home. Do this right and your shrimp will not die a needless death. Opae ula are tough little fellas but they too are not immune to buildup of fouling agents.

2cm depth for sand is fine if you have a decent water flow throughout the tank to ensure poop and other gunk don't start getting trapped in the substrate over time. But if all you have in that tank is just the opae ula, you can reduce the depth of the coral sand/aquarium sand in the tank to roughly 0.5 cm, but this is up to you. I don't see a need for a deep sand bed if it is just for aesthetic purposes.

thanks stormhawk for the advice. I will slowly do that. but for now, I notice that there is 1 berried shrimps in my tank. should I wait for the berried shrimps to give birth than after that I make the necessary changes? I did a research and it seem that if the shrimps is berried, mean they are comfortable with the current setup. it that true? appreciate all the bro advices.

[stormhawk]

It might be advisable to move the female ASAP before you do anything to the tank. Else, keep it the way it is for now.

[luyisamor]

It might be advisable to move the female ASAP before you do anything to the tank. Else, keep it the way it is for now.

yes. I left it as it is. however, I think the berried shrimp had drop her egg. can't see any shrimps with the egg anymore. sad