# Large bubbles coming from the ground!



## kittie (Apr 30, 2015)

So I never planned on having a planted tank, it just kinda happened.
So I have some large bubbles coming from my soil and I'm not really sure why, or what they are. Or if they will hurt my fish! The tank has been running for about 8 months now with fish in them for about 6 months. It's a ten gal with a c02 system, heater, filter and of course a lamp. I have a wide range of plants, some I'n not really sure what they are, they just appeared.
But as I said I never intended to have a planted tank, so with that being said I just had normal petco gravel as the floor. Displeased with this I put in some blank sand to hold down some smaller carpet type plants.
Well, I planted some dwarf grass and all seemed well, then yesterday I went to go replace the c02 system and when I got home today I saw large bubbles coming from what seemed to be the roots of the grass. You can see the ground below the grass puff up just as the bubbles come up. Any ideas what this may be? I don't wanna hurt my fish!

Here is a short chip to help see what is going on. The bubbles in the back are from the air stone, sorry if they distract anyone.


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## Vishu1708 (Apr 16, 2015)

Do you have snails in there?


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Kittie, welcome to APC!

Bubbles coming from the substrate in planted tanks are pretty common. Usually it is carbon dioxide from decaying organic matter. This is not harmful in small amounts. If there is a great deal of decaying matter, the substrate can be deleted of oxygen (anaerobic) and will release hydrogen sulfide. This is bad, hydrogen sulfide is toxic to both fish and plants.

Use a slender stick (like a chopstick) to gently poke the substrate and release the bubbles. Put your nose close to the water surface so you can small the gas. No odor means CO2. A foul rotten egg smell means H2S. Keep poking the substrate all over the tank until no more bubbles are released.

If CO2, you can poke as part of your normal maintenance. You can also put some Malayan trumpet snails (MTS) in the tank. These snails burrow and help to release the gas without any attention from you.

If H2S in a small area, be really thorough with the poking and add MTS. If there is a lot of H2S over a large area, drastic measures are called for. You may need to use a gravel vacuum. In really severe cases of anaerobic substrate it is probably best to tear down the tank. But that is rare.

Good luck!


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## kittie (Apr 30, 2015)

So I poked around and a bunch more bubbles came up. No smell! So that's good. So if it's c02 coming up should I turn off my c02 system for a while? I knew I would regret the substrate I used, I just never thought my plants would grow. I'll try to pick up some trumpets as soon as I can. I just got over a snail infestation too!
Thank you for the help. At least now I can rest knowing my fish won't die!


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

The CO2 system probably will not affect conditions in the substrate, so you can leave it on or maybe reduce the amount some. BTW, running the air stone all the time will cause you to loose CO2 more rapidly. CO2 supplementation is much more effective without any aeration.


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## kittie (Apr 30, 2015)

Got it! My little loach just loves the bubbles for the stone. I'll start putting it in a timer. Thank you!


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