Tank Bubbles???
- Thread starter ebedsilva
- Start date
I am use to hearing about bubbles collecting on the glass/decorations on a newly filled tank, from the water degassing after coming out of the water lines. On the surface?
Did you add an water conditioners? What kind of filtration? Do you have a lot of surface agitation going? Air stone?
Are you doing a fishy or fishless cycle?
Did you add an water conditioners? What kind of filtration? Do you have a lot of surface agitation going? Air stone?
Are you doing a fishy or fishless cycle?
I've heard that that is a sign of ammonia/nitrites/nitrates. So that should be normal considering you are cycling
Agreed, it's normal and will take care of itself. I believe it's caused by the same thing that causes foam in saltwater tanks. Organic compounds sticking to the air-water interface.
Its caused by high organic loads in the water. New tanks don't have enough heterotrophic bacteria yet to break down dissolved organics so they accumulate and cause bubbles. The best way to take care of it is frequent waterchanges. Eventaully the tank will stabilize and the bubbles go away.
rrkss said:
Would those organics possibly indicate a hard water condition? Just wondering if it might affect his fish choices. Not much of a chemist myself and hadn't had any experience with his issue, our water has always been pretty soft.
I experience this on my tanks during cycling - it's normal and will go away once the cycle is run through. My water is not hard, so I don't think that has anything to do with it. Frequent water changes are the way to go when this happens.
rbishop said:
Its not hard water. Its just dissolved fish wastes that build up during the cycling process. Dissolved organics take lots of work for a bacteria colony to break down so they tend to accumulate specially during cycling. The presence of foam is a good indicator of high organic loads. The only way to effectively remove the organics is with constant waterchanges. Since the tank is cycling, he/she is going to be changing lots of water anyways. Hard water just means high levels of calcium and magnesium in the water. It causes lime deposits but won't affect your fish choice unless you are going for something really exotic and expensive like discuss.