Why you get sand chunks?

[terraincognita]

The person i am always does deeper random research into various parts of life and the hobby.

Researching more on exact nitrifying species and bacteria found out this.

Nitrobacter hamburgensis, a gram-negative bacteria, was isolated from soil of the Old Botanic Garden in Hamburg and of a corn field in Yucatan. The main types of environments they inhabit are soil, building sandstone, and sewage sludge. Its cells are 0.5-0.8 x 1.2-2.0 m in size. They are mostly pear-shaped and motile via one subpolar to lateral flagellum. Intracytoplasmic membranes appear as caps of flattened vesicles or membrane vesicles in the central region of the cell. (2) The bacteria have an enzyme capable of oxidizing nitrite (3). This is why it is important to sequence the genome of N. hamburgensis.

While maybe the bacteria in the sand isn't exactly N. Hamburgensis. I'm sure it's cousins all have similar attributes in the family.

Does the sand "clump" sometimes from nitrifying bacteria building blocks of it through the process? Or is it from minerals and elements dissolving and "melting" the sand and that whole thing?

 

[MaxTremors]

The person i am always does deeper random research into various parts of life and the hobby.

Researching more on exact nitrifying species and bacteria found out this.

Nitrobacter hamburgensis, a gram-negative bacteria, was isolated from soil of the Old Botanic Garden in Hamburg and of a corn field in Yucatan. The main types of environments they inhabit are soil, building sandstone, and sewage sludge. Its cells are 0.5-0.8 x 1.2-2.0 m in size. They are mostly pear-shaped and motile via one subpolar to lateral flagellum. Intracytoplasmic membranes appear as caps of flattened vesicles or membrane vesicles in the central region of the cell. (2) The bacteria have an enzyme capable of oxidizing nitrite (3). This is why it is important to sequence the genome of N. hamburgensis.

While maybe the bacteria in the sand isn't exactly N. Hamburgensis. I'm sure it's cousins all have similar attributes in the family.

Does the sand "clump" sometimes from nitrifying bacteria building blocks of it through the process? Or is it from minerals and elements dissolving and "melting" the sand and that whole thing?

There are various causes of sand clumping. Bacteria, calcium carbonate precipitation, the ‘roots’ of macroalgae, and other microbial lifeforms. There are various worms, shrimps, and other microfauna that cement pieces of sand together for shelter. There are all kinds of causes, and it’s often a combination of causes. But yes, it’s perfectly plausible that some of the species of nitrifying bacteria in our tanks can cause sand to ‘clump’ (and ‘clump’ can mean a variety of types or states of sand sticking together, sometimes in a sort of gelatinous slime, sometimes it’s dense and almost like limestone, sometimes it’s thin and almost kind of flaky).