Ramifications of stirring up sandbed

serpentman

part time superhero
When I switched tanks I attempted to move the sandbed. It seems I had some anaerobic pockets (black sand). When I added this to the new tank, it turned the water very dark brown. I am still waiting for this to settle. Can anyone tell me the ramifications of stirring up anaerobic bacteria? How will this affect my water chemistry?

So far there is nothing in the tank but sand.
 
Interesting article that prompts this question:

Are fish like sand sifting gobys bad for a DSB then? He mentions this process can start a few cm under the surface. But since it seems to stem from trapped organic material, is it better to sift the topmost layer of sand to make sure it is eaten/removed?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7631875#post7631875 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MJAnderson
Interesting article that prompts this question:

Are fish like sand sifting gobys bad for a DSB then?

fish like that and sand sifting starfish tend to eat all the fauna in the sand bed making it useless for NNR. small snails would work much better
 
Very interesting. Since Hydrogen Sulfide is not stable in aerobic and high light conditions, is it reasonable to assume that by simply running the system it will eventually dissipate on its own?

I should have tossed the sand!
 
I have about a 3" sandbed. I had to take everything out about 2 months ago because of a leaky tank. I reused the sand and added some more live sand and everything is fine except for some Diatom problems. I really had no cycle with ammonia etc. There were some black spots but didn't cause a problem.
 
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