Sludge collected from the intertidal zone beach in Tianjin, was treated with heat shock and the enriched mixed microbial population (MMP) was carried out hydrogen production experiment in anaerobic condition. The MMP was respectively inoculated in liquid media of glucose, sucrose, lactose, starch, and peptone to determine the effects under the conditions of different substrates on hydrogen production and the constituents of the MMP. The results showed that when using sucrose as substrate it produced hydrogen at (787 ±24) mL/L, the highest amount among the five substrates. When using glucose, lactose, and starch as substrates, the MMP produced (530 ±20) mL/L, (46 ± S) mL/L, and (455 ±35) mL/L of hydrogen respectively, however, the MMP could not utilized peptone as a substrate to produce hydrogen. The composition the MMP producing hydrogen under culture conditions in different substrates was analyzed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). The DCCE isolation result of 16S rRNA gene of the MMP showed that there were no dominant strains in it when cultured with peptone. When cultured with other substrates the dominant strain of the MMP was Closlridium sp.