Good Evening Folks, so My shallow sandbed is starting to clump. literally turning to stone in places. Just noticed this tonight. The tank is about 18 months old. All the base rock is raised up (not exactly off but not buried in the sand either ) . so I have found it can be bacterial or Ca precipitation. What causes this and how can I learn is it's bacterial or chemical? Any Op's or directions to any articles on this subject.? Thanks
ps, I have found bits & pieces of info nothing meaningful Thank's.
When I took my tank down, much of my sand bed was like concrete from calcification. It was crazy. It was like I had poured cement into my tank around my live rock. I showed it to someone who works in this hobby and he thought it was crazy that happened after only three years as he'd never seen anything like it on tanks that weren't like decades old. He said it happens a lot in the ocean, but not usually in aquariums so young.
So, I guess my point is, I don't know, but based on his response it sounds like it might not be a subject with a wide array of people all that knowledgeable about it.
I then showed it to someone else who also works in the hobby and the only suggestion he had for dealing with the issue was to do a rescape after it gets too problematic and break up clumps along the way when you can.
So, that's what little I know. I know that doesn't help.
