Bubbling substrate

[RichTea]

Hi All,

I have had my tank set up for about 9 months, its dirted, I used Pond soil 2" capped with fine gravel and sand 3". For a while now I have been getting a small stream of bubbles rising from the substrate ever so often, if I poke around lots more are released.

Its my guess this is CO2 being released from the soil rotting down. Is it safe?

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[MichaelJ]

I have had my tank set up for about 9 months, its dirted, I used Pond soil 2" capped with fine gravel and sand 3". For a while now I have been getting a small stream of bubbles rising from the substrate ever so often, if I poke around lots more are released.

Someone with similar dirted substrate or knowledge of this would have to chime in on this... as I do not know.... I would stop poking around though.

Its my guess this is CO2 being released from the soil rotting down. Is it safe?

It sounds like gaseous release possibly from hydrogen sulfide build up (swamp gas) which in large amounts could be dangerous to your livestock. Do you have any foul oders such as rotten eggs coming from the tank?

Hopefully it's something harmless.

Cheers,
Michael

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Its my guess this is CO2 being released from the soil rotting down. Is it safe?

It is likely to be CO2, or it could be nitrogen (N2) from the <"anaerobic denitrification of nitrate"> (NO3-). Which gas (or the relative proportion of gases) are present will be dependent <"on how much dissolved oxygen is available">.

From <"https://www.researchgate.net/public...trification_Potential_and_Aquifer_Sensitivity">

It sounds like gaseous release possibly from hydrogen sulfide build up (swamp gas) which in large amounts could be dangerous to your livestock. Do you have any foul oders such as rotten eggs coming from the tank?

Yes, we are <"incredibly sensitive to H2S">. Methane (CH4) would be another possibility if the <"ORP value has fallen far enough">.

cheers Darrel

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

How are your plants doing? If it was a large buildup of hydrogen sulfide, your plants would be rotting from the substrate up. Not to mention the ghastly smell everytime the bubbles surfaced. Releasing the air pockets isn’t hurting it, you can take a chop stick or anything similar and poke around the substrate to release them.

 

[RichTea]

Do you have any foul oders such as rotten eggs coming from the tank?

ghastly smell everytime the bubbles surfaced

No oder or smell that I have noticed, so hopefully this means its "safe", 9 months isnt too long for a dirted tank, my other smaller one is 1year 9 months and plants grow in it like crazy, I dont think I have done as good a job on the new one!

you can take a chop stick or anything similar and poke around the substrate to release them.

My tank is 64 cm tall ( 120w,45d,64h) so I have made an long poking stick from bamboo skewers


Thanks all, I will read through the linked posts and have a close examination of my plants.
I think I need to add some more faster growing plants to my tank, the only "fast growing" one's i have right now are floating ones, Salvinia and water lettuce.

 

[LMuhlen]

I had a similar problem and at the time I discarded hydrogen sulfide because it was odorless, and I discarded methane because it wasn't flammable. This made me stop worrying, because the main alternatives sound safe enough, CO2 or N2.

You should test if there is a strong smell or if the bubbles are flammable and, if not, just let it run its course. As the substrate matures, the formation of bubbles should decrease.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I think I need to add some more faster growing plants to my tank,

You could try one of the <"larger Echinodorus spp">. They have pretty chunky roots, so would help with substrate maturation. I like <"https://tropica.com/en/plants/plantdetails/Echinodorusgrisebachii'Bleherae'(071)/4512">, but <"https://tropica.com/en/plants/plantdetails/Echinodorus'Ozelot'(073F)/4520">, <"Kleiner Bär"> etc would all do.

cheers Darrel

 

[MichaelJ]

Hi all,

It is likely to be CO2, or it could be nitrogen (N2) from the <"anaerobic denitrification of nitrate"> (NO3-). Which gas (or the relative proportion of gases) are present will be dependent <"on how much dissolved oxygen is available">.

From <"https://www.researchgate.net/public...trification_Potential_and_Aquifer_Sensitivity">
View attachment 200977

Yes, we are <"incredibly sensitive to H2S">. Methane (CH4) would be another possibility if the <"ORP value has fallen far enough">.

cheers Darrel

Hi Darrel, In my own case, I am still sort of worried about Hydrogen Sulphide in my own tanks - in part due to a post by our @X3NiTH that still haunts me with regards to what can happen with "overuse" of SO4... one reason why I want to scale it back but not replace it with Cl2 based compounds.

Cheers,
Michael

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I am still sort of worried about Hydrogen Sulphide in my own tanks

I'd be more worried about hydrogen sulphide (H2S) if I had an organic rich substrate.

Rather than planted tanks I'd probably associate it with tanks where some-one keeps a large, messy, carnivorous fish (like an Oscar) in a non-planted tank and has a gravel substrate etc. that they don't keep ever clean etc.

I may have been <"that person in the past">, but the <"past is a different country"> for me.

in part due to a post by our @X3NiTH that still haunts me with regards to "overuse" of SO4...

I understand their concerns, I always have Malaysian Trumpet Snails (MTS) (Melanoides tuberculata), but I assume that isn't possible if you keep Puffers. I don't add a huge amount of fertiliser, and I use a minimal splash of our alkaline tap water (CaCO3 rich) as a remineraliser, so I'm not adding a huge amount of sulphur (S)

It is really <"just down to oxygen for me">. It would depend a little bit on the substrate, but I wouldn't be too worried, as long <"as I had some rooted plants"> This is the rhizome of Nelumbo, and it has some fairly spectacular "pipe work". Because sulphate (SO4---) is fairly low down the list of electron acceptors, you need to have a complete absence of oxygen and some <"pretty low ORP values"> before the sulphate is fully reduced and H2S is formed.

By FotoosRobin - originally posted to Flickr as Lotus root, CC BY-SA 2.0, File:Lotus root.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

cheers Darrel

 

[RichTea]

I have had a look and I can not see any rotting, few plants are looking unhappy but I have been slack with my ferts.

Hi all,

You could try one of the <"larger Echinodorus spp">. They have pretty chunky roots, so would help with substrate maturation. I like <"https://tropica.com/en/plants/plantdetails/Echinodorusgrisebachii'Bleherae'(071)/4512">, but <"https://tropica.com/en/plants/plantdetails/Echinodorus'Ozelot'(073F)/4520">, <"Kleiner Bär"> etc would all do.

cheers Darrel

I have some huge green Echinodorus (not sure which version) I love the look of the Ozelot, ill try and find some =)


Here are some pics of the tank, sorry for all the reflections!

 

[hypnogogia]

I have some huge green Echinodorus (not sure which version)

That looks like E. Bleheri.
Ozelot is lovely, as is Leopard Green.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I have some huge green Echinodorus (not sure which version)

I agree with @hypnogogia it looks like Echinodorus (grisbachii) "Bleheri". It is the old-fashioned favourite and remains submerged in nearly all circumstances.

It needs <"much more humid conditions"> than a lot of Echinodorus spp., which is why Tropica etc aren't keen on it, it doesn't fit in well <"with their production methods">.

cheers Darrel

 

[RichTea]

Hi all,

I agree with @hypnogogia it looks like Echinodorus (grisbachii) "Bleheri". It is the old-fashioned favourite and remains submerged in nearly all circumstances.

It needs <"much more humid conditions"> than a lot of Echinodorus spp., which is why Tropica etc aren't keen on it, it doesn't fit in well <"with their production methods">.

cheers Darrel

Thank you both Is that the one at the front right (As in pictures 4/5) ?
There is another back left (Pictures 2/3) I think they were from Tropica but were transferred from my old tank so 2-3 years old my record keeping is sporadic and my memory fades after days though 😉

 

[hypnogogia]

Thank you both Is that the one at the front right (As in pictures 4/5) ?

Yes, they’re the ones.

There is another back left (Pictures 2/3)

They look very similar, so could be E. Bleheri, but difficult to tell from that photo.