umm. is this bad?

[Australian natives]

alright so i did my substrate change... yay! was epic work. but then after adding decorations i filled it with water. and noticed that whenever i touch the substrate masses off bubbles are released. there is massive amouths of air trapped in the sand.

- how do i fix this?
- Is it normal for this to happen when substrate is new?
- if i stir it up and get rid of all the air will that help?

any info is appreciated.
thnx

Note: the substrate is creek sand.

[gadget228]

Yep it's normal, just takes a little time for the air to escape, stirring it a little will speed it along.

[Australian natives]

oh ok... phew.
was so freaked that i may have to redo the whole thing with a different substrate... would have shot myself haha.
cheers =P

[gadget228]

When you say creek sand, are you talking about a commercial produced product or sand that you got from a creek ?

Using sand from a beach or creek is not recommended because of all the little nasties that it could contain.

[KatzeSlaugen]

i used sand from a creek in my 75gal. to sterilize it i literally baked it at 350 for 25 min after washing all the silt out. as long as you kill everything in the sand in an aquarium safe way it wont do anything harm. plus its a lot cheaper!

[DrNic]

i used sand from a creek in my 75gal. to sterilize it i literally baked it at 350 for 25 min after washing all the silt out. as long as you kill everything in the sand in an aquarium safe way it wont do anything harm. plus its a lot cheaper!

That's the first time I've heard of anyone doing that. Can you put up a photo of the finished product?

[Australian natives]

i purchased it from my LFS. so i am assuming it is safe =P.