Sand turning black?

[Lexolotl]

I recently moved my melanoid and leucistic into a 55G tank with two inches of sand in the bottom of it. I performed a water change and when I removed a live plant from the tank, to move it into my planted tank, I noticed a bad smell and that the sand had turned black.

I removed most of the water, and I'm waiting on my water to cool down before I put my axies back. The plant was under a river rock, and the sand was only black where the live plant was.

Is this something to worry about?
Do I have too much sand in the tank?
Do I need to stir the sand up a certain amount of times to prevent this?
Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[snuggly time]

Sounds like an air pocket. Sand needs to be stirred regularly so it doesn't get stagnant air build up in it. I've read of people attaching chop sticks or something similar to the end of their siphon to disturb the sand but not suck it all up.

 

[Lexolotl]

So would you suggest stirring up the sand once a week or so?
I was wondering if it was some sort of nitrate pocket or something.

 

[Gangsterluff]

Yeah stirring the sand should help a lot. You could also take some sand out of tank to cut down on the formation of gas pockets.

 

[hairypumpkin]

Pretty sure you had an anaerobic pocket. It can happen when the sand is too thick, and the oxygen isn't shifted around in the sand. You need to move the sand around more often. Or it creates the pocket and then releases sulfur (or at least smells like it) when disturbed.

So I would just say to have less sand, and when doing water changes shift is around a little bit? : )

 

[redtxn]

aye, the sand may be too deep for the amount of water circulation at the bottom of the tank. I tried using a chop stick but found it too narrow and time consuming, so I upgraged to a small plastic child's garden rake that I bought at the dollar store. Worked perfectly.

 

[rdoyle225]

you could also used trumpet snails they stay in the sand and tunnel throw the sand but not miss with the roots of plants

 

[Lexolotl]

So less sand, stir up the sand with every water change. Gotcha'.

Are trumpet snails safe for axolotls? If so, where can I find said trumpet snails?