Help: Clumping Sand Bed

[PoonTang]

In the last 2 weeks or so I have noticed that my sand bed is starting to form large soft clumps and turning a slight grey colour. Its not Cal/Alk binding as the clumps are definately soft and easy to break up. My best guess is some kind of a bacterial bloom??? What, if anything should be done and what causes it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.Here is a bad picture of it.

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa28/m3bimmerboy/100_0565.jpg

[Whatigot]

maybe redundant, but are you dosing kalk/vineagar?

[PoonTang]

Yes, but i quit dosing the vinegar about a month ago.

[RuGlu6]

Could be H2S
Hydrogen sulfide. If you say it turns gray take a clamp and smell it if you can small rotten egg then it is h2s.
May be combination of factors like over feeding, lack of or inadequate water flow, graine size is small therefore packed, no worms to clean up the sand etc.
One more reason to go BB (Bare Bottom).

[Whatigot]

I'm sure you've seen this in the reference library, but just in case you hadn't...
could still be a possibility depending on your water changing regime and filtration.

http://web.archive.org/web/20010722073220/www.animalnetwork.com/fish/library/articleview2.asp?Section=&RecordNo=181

[marie]

It looks to me like a case of not enough sand bed critters. If you could get a cup of live sand from someone it would help. Cerith snails are also good at cleaning that stuff up but you need lots.
It would also be good to remove any predators for awhile like shrimp, crabs and any fish that eat pods and worms.

[PoonTang]

I'm sure you've seen this in the reference library, but just in case you hadn't...
could still be a possibility depending on your water changing regime and filtration.

http://web.archive.org/web/20010722073220/www.animalnetwork.com/fish/library/articleview2.asp?Section=&RecordNo=181

Yes i saw this already and although it sounds the same as what I have he offers no solution.

[Whatigot]

I had issues with Cyano and I just stopped dosing vineagar with my kalk and doubled my water changes until it was gone.

Not the same issue, but very easily related.
I would exepect that if the issue mentioned in the article is indeed the same as your experience that doing a couple extra h2o changes should do the trick.

Maries comment carries some good weight as well IMO.

[PoonTang]

It looks to me like a case of not enough sand bed critters. If you could get a cup of live sand from someone it would help. Cerith snails are also good at cleaning that stuff up but you need lots.
It would also be good to remove any predators for awhile like shrimp, crabs and any fish that eat pods and worms.

I have a few cerith and nassarius snails in there as well as a sand sifting star. A few more wouldnt hurt. Dont have any crabs and only 3 cleaner shrimp. Would like to get a Fighting Conch but their hard to find. A Gobi would be nice too but my 6 lined Wrasse is a A$$ and would probably kill it.

[marie]

I have a few cerith and nassarius snails in there as well as a sand sifting star. A few more wouldnt hurt. Dont have any crabs and only 3 cleaner shrimp. Would like to get a Fighting Conch but their hard to find. A Gobi would be nice too but my 6 lined Wrasse is a A$$ and would probably kill it.

Your sixline wrasse probably isn't helping the sandbed critter population and a sandsifting goby would decimate anything the wrasse left (something I also suspect your sandsifting star is doing) .

[PoonTang]

Your sixline wrasse probably isn't helping the sandbed critter population and a sandsifting goby would decimate anything the wrasse left (something I also suspect your sandsifting star is doing) .

The starfish only has access to about 20% of the sand surface as he only ever stays along the front. I have never seen him travel into any of the caves or spaces in the rockwork or along the back of the tank. As for the 6 line, wel i would live to have him out, but impossible without a teardown wich is not happening.
Having said all that, this is a recent problem and suddenproblem in a mature tank, i have had all of these creatures for a long time so if they were wiping out the SB i would think that it would have happened along time ago when the tank was new and the SB was not yet established.