Bubbles in Tank - should I worry?

[blue_ice]

Hi everyone,

Last week I noticed that my tank's water was cloudy and there were lots of bubbles on the surface. After the water change last weekend the cloudiness has gone but the bubbles start appearing a few hours after that. Should I be worried about this? I haven't done any water testing and I've only got ammonia testing kit at the moment. I just want to hear what you all think. Thank you.

Tank info:
Make: Jebo
Size: 5 gal
Setup: Mid Jan 2006
Current fish: 1 red lyretails, 2 yellow sunset suns
Routine: Weekly 30% pwc, filter wash but changed once every 2 weeks, carbon filter changed every month
Current concerns: one of the sunset suns hides in the house 75% of the time & appears slimmer than the other one, bubbles in the tank as above

 

[dskidmore]

What is your feeding routine?
Are those real plants?
When you clean the filter, what kind of water do you use?
Is your ammonia reading 0?

Bubbles on the surface require two things: A source of gas, and a protien skim to keep the bubbles from popping. Neither of these things is inherently bad, but it's worth looking in to.

Gas sources:
a) filter return stirs up bubbles. (fine, looks like your case)
b) real plants creating oxygen. (good)
c) toxic gasses being created in fine substrate. (Bad, but since you have gravel instead of sand, this is unlikely.)

protien skim:
a) filter does not disturb surface sufficiently, allowing floating waste to accumulate (can be fine if live plants are providing oxygen.)
b) excessive feeding causes rapid waste buildup. (bad)
c) filter does not provide sufficient biological filtration (bad)

 

[tropicfishman]

do you have a bubble stone? lol my friends actually ask me how tyhe bubbles are formed in the fish tank, they thought it was a chemical reaction lol

 

[Menagerie]

This happened to one of my tanks and if I remember correctly, it had to do with filtering and maybe an ammonia rise.

Routine: Weekly 30% pwc, filter wash but changed twice weekly, carbon filter changed every month

That might be overkill. Please explain "filter wash but changes twice weekly." Many members, including myself do not use carbon--it becomes inactive in 7-14 days and is really useless unless you are removing meds or some chemical from the water. Plus, think of all the money you'll save if you skip that step.
We really need to know the ammonia and nitrite levels currently in the tank.

 

[Rondory]

Did you do a fishless cycle with Ammonia?

 

[dskidmore]

Did you do a fishless cycle with Ammonia?

Tank is 4 months old, cycle should be over, unless that agressive filter maintenance schedule is killing all his beneficial bacteria.

 

[blue_ice]

Hi everyone - thanks for the advice. I'm learning a lot in this forum . Last night it seemed that the bubbles have reduced a lot but later on when I get home I'll do an ammonia testing.

Answering some of ur questions:

dskidmore,

What is your feeding routine?
Twice daily, rotating between complete flake food and tubifex&earth worm flakes from the same manufacturer. The weekend before last week I gave them frozen bloodworms - lfs guy told me how much to give for 3 small fish but I reckon it was a bit much still.
Are those real plants?
Yes.
When you clean the filter, what kind of water do you use?
I use dirty aquarium water. But I've only done this method once - reading from this forum. I used to just change the sponge weekly - it's the wrong thing to do I know
Is your ammonia reading 0?
Will do a test tonight.

tropicfishman,

do you have a bubble stone?
No I don't - but I'm thinking of getting one if it's beneficial for the tank. Is it?

Menagerie,

Please explain "filter wash but changes twice weekly."
Ooops, this is a typo sorry. I meant to say that I wash the sponge filter weekly and change it once every 2 weeks. But as I said before, I only did this once, previously I used to just replace the sponge filter weekly. Regarding the carbon filter, do you think I should just stop using it?

Rondory,

Did you do a fishless cycle with Ammonia?
What I did when setting up the tank is just adding stress zyme as per instructions and leaving the tank without fish for a week (or maybe 2 I can't remember now). Then I added 2 red lyretails sword (one of them died a month ago).

 

[SCFatz]

Regarding the carbon filter, do you think I should just stop using it?

No need to stop using it....just stop changing it unless it starts to fall apart.
Do the same thing that you do with the sponge (I'm thinking this is a cartridge?) just swish it around in the tank water and put it back.

 

[blue_ice]

Regarding the carbon filter, do you think I should just stop using it?

No need to stop using it....just stop changing it unless it starts to fall apart.
Do the same thing that you do with the sponge (I'm thinking this is a cartridge?) just swish it around in the tank water and put it back.

Thanks for the tips SCFatz. I will do that with the carbon filter.
I don't think the sponge filter is the cartridge type. With my tank, there is a compartment on the top where the filter is located. On top of the filter is a water pipe with holes.

Update:
I just did an ammonia test and it's 0. Phew!
I will go to the lfs on the weekend to get nitrite and nitrate test kits. Do I need to get both btw?

 

[SCFatz]

yup...I suggest you get the ap masters kit that tests for all that and ph.

If you live near petsmart find it on the web and print the page.Then go to the store and they will price match themselves.

27.99 without the page...13.99 with it.No hassles either.

Heres a link..you want whats at the top of the page:

http://www.petsmart.com/global/prod...1146742986050&itemNo=3&In=Fish&N=2030068&Ne=2

 

[dskidmore]

A) You're probably overfeeding. I feed every other day, and I still have enough excess nutirents for my pack of snails, microworms, and blackworms. Make sure that they are consuming all the food you put in within 3 minutes.

B) Get the test kits. They can be very helpful in diagnosing problems.

C) Why change the sponge? You have all those wonderful bacteria on the old one, just keep using it until starts to fall apart. The rinse should get rid of any particles trapped inside.

 

[blue_ice]

yup...I suggest you get the ap masters kit that tests for all that and ph.

If you live near petsmart find it on the web and print the page.Then go to the store and they will price match themselves.

27.99 without the page...13.99 with it.No hassles either.

Heres a link..you want whats at the top of the page:

http://www.petsmart.com/...[/quote]...- I will. C- Yes I will continue washing it.

 

[dskidmore]

Thanks for your direction SCFatz. Unfortunately I live in Australia... I just checked my lfs for the same test kit and it cost approximately equal to 46USD!!

Not just Australia, those kits are pretty pricy. I have picked up the individual kits one at a time. I paid more in the end, but it worked out better for my budget to space it out, and better for my tank to have some kits right away.