Bubble problem

[Saphirra]

Hi,

Not sure if anyone can help me but I am having a lot of problems with the last tank I sent up.  It is a 25 or 30g, not sure which. 

I think there may be a few issues at play but not sure.  There is a film on the water surface and there are also a crap load of bubbles, covering almost half the surface of the tank.

I tested the water again tonight with the API test kit.  My ammonia is 0, nitrite is 0 and nitrate are 0.  I'm not entirely sure about the pH, it reads 7.6 for the regular test and 7.4 for the high range test.  Not sure if I have killed the cycle but with the exception of my 3 oto cats who were perfectly fine this morning, now seem like they are going belly up.  I have 3 otos, 8 threadfin rainbow fish, 5 endlers, 5 celestial danions, 3 ivory mystery snails.  It is intended to be a shrimp tank but of the 20 or so yellow shrimp I put in it only a few, maybe 5 at most have survived.  I had heater problems at the start so I had wild temperature swings, possibly the cause of shrimp loss?  The shrimp went in several before the other fish.

I moved my aquaclear 50 from my 36g that had been running 6 months to this new tank.  I unplugged the filter, drained a bit of the water out of it and then set it up right away on the new tank.  So I don't think that would be the cause of any issues.  I use prime as a conditioner and stability with water changes and adding new fish.  I planted it this past week and added flourish and root tabs.

I also have something growing on some of my plant leaves, maybe algae? 

I am new to the hobby, have only been in it for about 6m and I'm now hooked but still very much a newbie.

I will include pictures.

[lucius]

Looking at the brightly covered gravel, this tank seems to be relatively new.  How long did you cycle the tank for?

[Saphirra]

I took a filter off another tank that had been running for 6 months and let it run on the new tank for 3 days before adding anything.  I added the snails first and then the shrimp.  The filter is an aquaclear for 50g and has 2 sponges and a biomax media bag in it.

I set the tank up May 8th.

[nerdRVT]

Are the decorations aquarium safe?

If you have a film or a sheen on your surface that looks oily or waxy, you might want to consider throwing in a carbon bag for a couple days to try and adsorb any sort of material that shouldn't be in there.

[Saphirra]

I believe the decorations are aquarium safe as they all came from either Big Al's or Critter Jungle.

I will grab some carbon and see if that helps.

[lucius]

I took a filter off another tank that had been running for 6 months and let it run on the new tank for 3 days before adding anything.  I added the snails first and then the shrimp.  The filter is an aquaclear for 50g and has 2 sponges and a biomax media bag in it.

I set the tank up May 8th.

And did you transfer the water from another running tank as well?  If you used fresh tap water, you are essentially rinsing out the beneficial bacteria from your filter while its running.

[Saphirra]

No I didn't transfer any water from the other tank but I did treat the water with prime and added stability.

Did I do things wrong?

[Mike L]

If you have zero nitrate, the tank is not cycled or your not doing the nitrate test correctly. The nitrate test from api requires that you diligently shake both bottles for a least a minute before adding the product.  I mean my arm hurts shaking.  Do this and report back.

[lucius]

Here is a chart that shows the cycling process.  If your measurements are correct, then it sounds like you are on still on Day 0.

[Saphirra]

I brought a water sample to Greg today.

Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are all zero, pH was 7.5-7.6.  He also tested other things my API kit doesn't.  I can't recall those numbers.

I have root tabs in the gravel for the plants.  My fish all seem to be fine. 

I planning to do a large water change this evening assuming my little girls cooperate.  I took a quick look at my sponges and they are super dirty so I will rinse them out in tank water.

[wolfiewill]

I don't believe it's a cycling issue. The filter was well established before being added to the tank. My test confirmed all of saphirra's test results: nitrites - 0; nitrates - 0; pH - 7.5; GH - 4.5; KH - 2.5; phosphates - 0.2; TDS - 129.

The issue is the enormous foam build up. I've never seen anything like it. Most of us deal with the scum layer on top and she's treating it in the appropriate manner if the problem was only the regular bacterial film. But this is clearly not. I am guessing that since it is so large a build up that it it reacting like dish washing soap in a sink with clean water. I am also suspicious that the oto cat deaths are a result of no algae - no food. Some of the other fish she has are fairly delicate as well and they aren't in trouble from the description. Please look carefully at the picture from the top. This one pic best illustrates the problem.  And when I vigorously stirred the sample she brought here the bubbles started to form right away. I tried tap water and some of my tank water in the same way, and there was no sigh of the bubbles.

[Mike L]

I have never seen a tank that test 0 nitrates.
Maybe planted but I doubt that too. It is the byproduct of the cycle.  As was pointed out a filter running for 6 months is not able to handle another tanks load. It's barely found its own eqalibteum at that stage.

[Saphirra]

Then what can I do?

I did about an 80% water change tonight and rinsed the sponges which are very brown from the new driftwood pieces.  They weren't overly gunky just brown.

If 6 months isn't long enough for a tank to get it's equilibrium how long does it take?

I'm trying to learn and I am feeling incredibly frustrated because I don't know what to other than water changes, which I normally do every every 7-10 days at about 25-30%.

If the tank isn't cycled as you say Mike L how do I cycle it with the fish I do have in it, should I not have already seen ammonia start to rise?  The fish have been in the tank for almost 2 weeks now.  I've been sparingly feeding them every 2-3 days.

I very much want to put my shrimp back in so my yellows and blues don't start cross breeding but I want to make sure my tank is suitable.

[Mike L]

 Sorry. I didn't mean to discourage you.  You are were almost all of us have been when we started. From what I understand you took a filter or partial filter from an established tank and moved it to the new tank. Yes. Problem is that the filter has some benificial bacteria but likely not enough to support the waste your throwing at it because it is still new.  Each tank adapts to the waste(bioload) that is thrown at it in the form of bb. It grows on filters, ornaments, gravel and any surface in the tank. Not sure how your cleaning the filters but it should be in the water you are removing. I would also go to a lfs and see if they can sell or give you some gravel or filter material. Gravel in a nylon put in the filter or tank will speed things up. You likely will lose more fish. 🙏But don't add any more.

As for your readings. You can't have any nitrate without nitrite. And you can't have any nitrite without ammonia. You want a nitrate reading eventually of 20 ppm preferably lower with zero of the other 2.
Hence if all 3 readings are 0 then the cycle has not started.  Don't give up, your trying and that matters, but also realize that establishing a tank is a slow process. Kind of like nature is

[Mike L]

Thinking on it more, I would not even clean anything in the tank. Just water changes until cycle is done.

[charlie]

Whether the tank is cycled or not  is subject to debate.
I'm of the opinion that the bubbling/ foaming has nothing to do with cycling.
Can you take some gravel out of the tank, place in a bucket/ container ,add some fresh tap water and agitate it to see if it foams?

[wolfiewill]

I agree with charlie... this has nothing to do with cycling, the livestock are doing relatively well. I was hoping someone has done out of the ordinary to a tank... something like having a young child add something to a tank that would cause huge amounts of foaming on the surface. I have for years cleaned tanks with window cleaner and rinsed well after, and so have no experience with the effects of cleaning with soap or detergent. This is what I suspect is actually the problem. The tank was purchased from a private source and so perhaps the original owner used soap or detergent to prepare the tank for sale.

[Saphirra]

I haven't pulled any gravel out yet to try that.

I did do about an 80% water change and I lost all my threadfin rainbow fish and 1 celestial danio.

My ammonia reading now is possibly 0.25ppm but it seems to be somewhere between zero and 0.25 with nitrite and nitrate both zero. 

The bubbles are less.  I am going to add a bubbler tonight.

I'm so discouraged right now.  I have never had any major issues with any of my other tanks.

I have a 36g with guppies, platies, bamboo shrimp, amano shrimp, and oto cats.

A 75g planted tank with 2 angel fish, phantom tetras, flame tetras, neon/diamond neon tetras, kuhli loaches, oto cats, glass catfish, rainbow goby, yellow shrimp and a clown loach.

My 5 year old has an 8g glow tank with glo tetras.

A 5g planted with blue dream shrimp.

A 3g with a betta.

This 25g is the only tank that has given me any trouble at all since starting last October.  I have started my smaller tanks all by using sponges and media from my 36g (our first tank) and never had any issues.  I've always added my fish slowly.  Usually 3 at a time, this time I added 5 endlers first 3 days after I moved the entire filter from the 36g.  A week later I added 5 celestial danios.  After that I added the rainbows.

I use prime as a conditioner and I add stability with new fish and water changes.  I use flourish in my planted tanks usually after a water change but sometimes forget....my girls tend to distract me.

My plants also have something growing on them in my "bubble" tank that I've never seen before.  I believe one of the pictures shows it.  A type of algae maybe?