# Bubbles in Substrate Good sign or Bad?



## AverageWhiteBloke

Just wondering, tanks been set up prob over a year with Tropica Soil to the depth of probably 6/7 cm at its thickest. Never really noticed up until this last week or so how many air pockets appear to be in the soil near the front glass. Oxygen from plant roots or maybe trapped nitrogen bubbles? Normal or problem beginning in the substrate?

I suppose I could poke around in there prior to a water change to release some but it's under a MC carpet mainly so don't want to disturb too much. I do have the odd random snail in there that hijacked their way in on plants, would some snails help?


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## zozo

Likely oxygen from algae growing at the glass in the substrate..


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## Matty123

I'd say nitrogen bubbles 


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## AverageWhiteBloke

Good or Bad? I was trying to get a pic before but there was too much sunlight so all you were getting a shot of was me taking a shot  Wondering if maybe some nerite snails working through the substrate and loosening it up a bit.


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## AverageWhiteBloke

hydrogen sulfide was what I meant BTW, knew I'd seen that somewhere.


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## zozo

Bubbles in the substrate could be either this or that.. If it is Hydrogen sulfide you should smell rotten eggs if you disturb it.. Which is toxic and so bad to have.. Usualy occurs only in very old and very dirty substrates with a lot of rotting debri in it.. That is your knowing if this could be the case, we can''t. Disturb it and stick your nose above the tank while you do, you will smell it if it is sulferic.

So because it can be about anything of the gasses produced by an aquarium, it is nothing more than a wild guess without more information. Than what only resides is use some logic..

If you have daylight or even sunlight hitting the tank and you see bubbles in the substrate obviuosly through the glass than you most likely have green algae growing on the glass bellow the substrate, an obvious place you never realy clean that often if not at all.. Algae photosynthesizes rather quicker and easier than plants do, it doesn't need that much to produce bubbles, especialy in day light alage can bubble like mad.This you can easily check, take a not green colored old creditcard and stick it gently between substrate and glass and the green algae will show.. Doe sit show green algae, the most logical thing to add up is, the bubbles are likely oxygene from the photosynthesizing algae. Which is pretty normal, 9 out of 10 will have this one time or another.. I had.

I use a single edge razor blade (scratcher) to regularly and gently clean the glass bellow the substratre.. And since i have much less bubbles forming there.


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## AverageWhiteBloke

Yeah, makes sense zozo, I'll run with that. Last couple of week been getting some pretty intense sunlight at gravel level now the sun's sitting a bit higher in the sky. Usually direct sunlight just misses the tank and gets shaded by a wall by the time it gets round that way. Been closing the blinds about that time which thoroughly narks my better half. Try explaining to her why plants like light but not that light  makes for a long evening.


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## doylecolmdoyle

I get the bubbles (and BGA) in my substrate on my 3ft bookshelf tank, the ada soil is about 2 years old and turned to mud, I just slide a credit card down and clean the glass under the substrate line ever now and then.


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## xim

Yeah it can be good or bad and that's difficult to prove without proper tools and effort. And it happens to almost every tank if not all. Because of that, I just ignore it as long as there is nothing bad happens.

Here is an ADA tank in Niigata.

[Images from http://arryl.blogspot.com/2010/10/na-party-2.html]



 

This one has interesting colour.


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## dw1305

Hi all, 





xim said:


> This one has interesting colour.


The bottom one looks like the iron staining is occurring in the zone with fluctuating REDOX values. You get that rusty mottling in gley soils with fluctuating water tables. You can also clearly see the oxygen bubbles that have been evolved by the green algae in contact with the glass.

cheers Darrel


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## AverageWhiteBloke

Here's mine. Now when I take a closer look there does seem to be a layer of brown algae on the glass below gravel line so probably oxygen bubbles with the sun light.
Time to get the credit card out I think and for once it's going to cost me nothing. 





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## dw1305

Hi all,





AverageWhiteBloke said:


> Now when I take a closer look there does seem to be a layer of brown algae on the glass below gravel line so probably oxygen bubbles with the sun light.


That would be my thought as well.

cheers Darrel


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