# Best way to rinse sand from flourish 'gravel'? Black roots?



## mechanical8dragon (Feb 26, 2013)

So during my WC today i was cleaning up some plants that had gotten a bit 'bleh looking' (clipping off dead pieces, etc) and one pulled up. I noticed the roots were turning black. Is this some kind of rotting? o-o

Also my white sand is starting to get this.... 'grey' color mixed into it and its pretty much right up at the surface (brushing off just a little bit of the top reveals the grey) What on earth is going on here? o-o Is the flourish 'gravel' causing this? I only have API root tabs and Jobe's Fertalizer sticks in the substrate. I doze with Leaf Zone and the CO2 booster

I see no other way to get around the 'grey' then to just rinse the sand and the flourish substrate, but if the flourish is causing this would it be best to just remove it and add more sand?

How would I go about 'rinsing' the sand from the gravel so that I can get the two separated? I have a colander would that work? 

My Anubis and amazon sword had it and I just snipped it off. along with some of my other rooted plants.


----------



## Flear (Oct 5, 2012)

black in the substrate is bad
did you notice any awful smells ?


----------



## mechanical8dragon (Feb 26, 2013)

I didn't smell it. But the tank in general smells normal. Just smells like water with a hint of fish. 

Where could the grey/"black" be coming from do you think? 0-0 is the flourish gravel fertilizer stuff I have under the sand causing it? I'll be stripping down the tank (putting fish in either side tank or bucket) and removing the plants and stuff and cleaning that sand. Because I'm getting snails in today that I'm going to hold off putting in till I figure this out and clean it. Also want to add more sand to the back to add more "depth" looks to the tank as my current substrate is only 2" total in depth.


----------



## Flear (Oct 5, 2012)

2" depth shouldn't pose a problem at all
concerns about H2S forming (can cause the substrate to turn black)
an increase in O2 in the substrate would undo this

what should and shouldn't happen are 2 different things though 
H2S is expected to smell really strong like rotten eggs

if this is the case, it's better to leave your substrate alone, ... at least till after you have all your fish and precious critters removed.

but again, 2" depth just sounds unlikely to cause the substrate to be Oxygen deprived.

plants like to provide plenty of oxygen to their roots in the substrate to farther ensure root health ... and reduce or eliminate H2S production in oxygen deprived areas, ... because the roots are saturating the substrate in oxygen.

---

sorry i couldn't be more help 

i'm really clueless about what the problem could be


----------



## mechanical8dragon (Feb 26, 2013)

No, no, your info helps even if it doesn't solve it its nice to have. That's certainly odd, as my tank is decently planted so there should be enough oxygen going into the sand even if I don't have snails to stir it.

I haven't smelled the sand itself though because I don't want to stir it up too much for fear of releasing whatever is in it into the water. I'm sure once i get the stuff and fish out and start vacuuming out the sand... if it smells like rotten eggs...... i guess i'll have my questions answered HAHA. thank god I have scented wax to melt so my house doesn't smell like eggs. cus that would just be horrible.d Whatever it is though, is cuasing my plant roots to turn black as if they were rotting @[email protected] but i'm more concerned about my cories than anything else cus ya know... they put that sand in their mouths and if they suck up deep enough sand they'll start getting into the grey area... which i don't want.. @[email protected]


----------

