Substrate is turning an odd color

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leah610
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Substrate is turning an odd color

Post by leah610 » Wed Nov 15, 2017 11:55 pm

So today I noticed a that a small section of my sub is a different color than the rest of it. My sub is 50/50 playsand and eco earth. It's 7 to 7.5 inches. The discoloration is under the food dish, which I change everyday to every other day with both fresh and dried foods. If the crabs happen to make a mess, I spot clean. If I find mold, I usually remove it asap- if it's on the surface of the sub, I just scrape it off completely and dispose of it. This is a completely different scenario Image It looks as if something is spreading underneath the sub (with the very top layer looking perfectly fine), and it's mostly yellowish (with a little green on the edges) I haven't detected any odd smells coming from the tank. I've never experienced anything like this. Temp is usually 80-85, humidity is always at least 85. I only mist the very top layer of the sand when it dries out a little, otherwise I try not to oversaturate. The weird thing is that I never mist underneath or near the food, so I'm not exactly sure how this came about. Could it be mold? Flooding? I currently have two molters down. I don't think anyone is near or around the food dish so it might be safe to completely dig out the section, but I'm not sure. Thoughts? What should I do? Here's a picture, sorry for the glare!
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GotButterflies
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Substrate is turning an odd color

Post by GotButterflies » Thu Nov 16, 2017 7:37 am

Hello! I would scoop all of that dirt out. That looks like a bacterial bloom to me.

Edit: just scoop the dirt under the food dish out :) be careful not to push down on the dirt. Use a spoon :)

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Re: Substrate is turning an odd color

Post by wodesorel » Thu Nov 16, 2017 8:52 am

It's just algae growing, and probably some food breaking down as a food source for it, totally harmless. With enough light and with the moist conditions it will grow on the glass. If you want to be rid of it, scoop it out and wipe the glass down good with white vinegar, it won't hurt the crabs.
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leah610
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Joined: Wed Aug 09, 2017 10:28 am
Location: Florida

Re: Substrate is turning an odd color

Post by leah610 » Thu Nov 16, 2017 10:53 am

Thanks for the replies guys! I'll make sure to carefully scoop everything out to be safe. At first I thought I needed to reduce how much I'm misting, but I don't mist too often so I doubt it's the cause. Looks like I'm going to need some more sub to fill what I scoop out....may as well increase my substrate depth too! messy crabs!!


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