Jark

I recently added fresh gravel to my 55g. This morning I noticed that the level of bubbles lingering at the surface has increased dramatically. Before I installed the gravel I rinsed it in a bucket multiple times and then added dechlorinator to the bucket and refilled. I noticed an increase in bubbles in the bucket during the dechlorinated rinse but I assumed it was from the dechlorinator which usually causes a little foaming.

Has anyone ever had this happen to them?

Is this normal?

Mikoten

It is possible the gravel has holes in them and air is escaping.

Jark

The bubbles are not coming from the gravel. Bubbles are building up at the surface from the bubble wand that would normally have popped quickly. This started immediately after added the gravel.

Mikoten

Hmmm...It might just be the dechlorinater then. Im not sure

Jark

The dechlorinator usually causes a slight increase in bubbles when mixing in the bucket, but it has never caused this many bubbles to hold at the top of the tank.

jdhef

The first thing your description made me think was that there was something that increased the surface tension of your water, like a soap. Then I realized that it was you asking the question, and remembered about that ammonia you had used origionally. I hope it's not any residual surficants affecting your water.

Jark

Ya I was worried about that too but there was no problem with bubbles until the gravel. Even when I had that ammonia mess there weren't many bubbles. I rinsed that gravel about 8 times in tap then treated. I guess I'll drain and dilute again. I have the TSS ready this time so restart will be fast.

prairielilly

what was in the bucket/what was it used for before the gravel? did it come into contact with the surfactant-containing ammonia or anything else like it? This stuff clings to just about anything and some don't dissolve in water so they don't rinse off.

The next time you lower your water level for whatever reason, take a new paper towel and wipe down the recently-exposed glass, that will be under water again once you fill the tank. I've been having an issue lately with 'something' making a film/bubbles in some of my tanks (suspect a past soapy-sponge issue I thought was dealt with), and I've found that worked to a degree. Also skimming the surface off with a cup when removing water as opposed to siphoning, you could also try skimming the surface with a net.

Jark

PrairieLilly do you ever use AquaSafe bu tetra to dechlorinate? I think that is what I have.

It wasn't making sense because even immediately after the Surfactant contamination there were few bubbles hanging on the surface. Even after I added a large bubble wand. I was googling some more and I think I found it.

The water conditioner I used was AquaSafe by Tetra. Remember I said I rinsed the gravel several times. I used AquaSafe the last 3-4 times. I think I have an overdose of AquaSafe. I found a link to a similar situation.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Freshwate...-bubbles-1.htm

Basically Aquasafe is one of the few Declhorinators that does increase the water tension and with high Aeration it can build up a good cappuccino froth on the tank.

Some other factors that could be contributing:

No carbon. I currently don't have carbon in the filter so it will not soak up too much ammonia so it is all up to the bacteria.

Have topped off tank with water with AquaSafe.

I added a small amount of Fish Food to the tank to help it cycle, in addition to the ammonia because I read the phosphate and other nutrients besides the ammonia released will spur on the bacteria.

prairielilly

I have used that in the past and had no issues with it, but I currently use Prime. I don't think my case has anything to do with the water conditioner as I only see the effect in the three tanks that contain gravel that was in tanks where a sponge containing surfactants was used. If you wanted to test your own results you could try dechlorinating with another product and see if the problem goes away.

I'd caution trusting allexperts.com very much, in general. I wouldn't say it's all bunk or anything, but there's an awful lot of people on there trying to be an 'expert' and giving very questionable advice.

One remark on the fish food thing: phosphate won't feed the bacteria, but it will most definitely encourage algae growth. Maybe try a piece of raw shrimp (put in a new nylon so it's easier to remove later). That would add nothing but ammonia.

Jark

I'll use your skimming and wiping suggestions tomorrow when I mess with it again. I'll do some side by side de-chlorination with Aquasafe and some Jungle _____ that I know doesn't have thickeners, or slime enhancers (besides salt).

That is scary to here that you are still having the effects from the sponge. I tossed all my old gravel from when I had the contamination. I had saved some of the new gravel to put into my 10g I am starting for my betta, Lambda (After the bacteriophage...), so I checked if it would result in lingering froth if agitated with water. I tried it out and sure enough, it frothed right up with a little shaking and lingered much longer than water in the same bucket before the extra gravel was added. The gravel also smells just like the bottle of dechlorinator.

Not to self De-chlorinate water then rinse items with it.... Not pore thick de-chlorinators directly into gravel then try and rise is.

I found the suggestions about adding small amounts of fish food or phosphate additives here
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articl...cle/Page1.html

It is not the energy source for the bacteria but it does play a huge role in metabolism. It is only an issue with stalling cycling if it is entirely absent in a cycle with straight ammonia, and then only if the tap water is depleted of phosphates as well. I don't any light getting to the tank so algae is not an issue right now. I was just trying everything to spur the cycle on. Anyways, why I brought it up is because I had run across some posts saying at high doses phosphates can cause bubbles. That's not the case here but I was rambling at the time/now.

I am starting to like my Betta tank project more than my Cichlid tank (the one with the bubbles). I'm putting Lambda in tomorrow and will be getting Ixodes (the tick that transmits the Lyme disease-causing bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi...)

prairielilly

I can appreciate wanting the tank to cycle faster If it works for you that's awesome, we'll all learn from it.

In my case I had rinsed the gravel and the tanks and everything else in there far more than should have been effective, and I was like minded with many advising me here that enough water + a little bleach would go a long way (not that I now think they were wrong - I don't). I now think that whatever was on that sponge was an oil-based product, which would mean it wouldn't dissolve in water but would adhere to any surfaces. This would be why all the rinsing didn't get rid of it. It's also why (IMO) changing out the gravel NOW wouldn't do much (other than cost me $100) as the chemical that was on the gravel is now likely on every surface in the tank - glass, driftwood, plants, ornaments, gravel....whenever I see a film on the surface I skim it off, and well the fish appear to be doing well - for the most part. In the one tank (where the sponge was never used! but some gravel did get used) the gourami and cories seem to have a bit of breathing issues, which may or may not be related? as the betta in the next tank has no such issues, and neither do any non-air utilizers...I'm planning on adding some aeration as soon as I find the time to go to the LFS and buy an airstone already (I'm having the week from you know where...)

Anyways, sorry to hijack your thread

Jark

I have sense started using Prime for dechlorination and have not had any bubble problems. I am also cycling with tetra Safe Start now and everything seems to be going well. I added most to my 55g and a few caps to my 10g. The 55 has 0 ammonia and is having a hopefully short nitrate peak after 3 days. My 10g has no detectable levels of nitrite or ammonia so far with a betta and 3 cory cats.