Too much foam (bubbles) in my aqua-terrarium

[roo]

I've got a mostly aquatic setup in a 30 gallon tank that i'm having difficulties with. I have a biological filtration system and the filters that release the bubbles that normally dissipate seem to be foaming up the surface of the water. =(

Ammonia has been checked and is clear, the PH is at about 6.8, and the setup has a variety of live plants.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[kaysie]

too much protein in the water. change out some of the water.

 

[paris]

you may have bacterial bloom -'new tank syndrome'-remove the animals to a safe temporary set up until that system stabilizes. (it may take a few days) if it gets bad the tank will start to smell like cheese and get cloudy -this is very bad for the animals especially if they are mostly aquatic or gilled. there should be an article in caudata central on 'new tank syndrome' -look it up, it will go into full detail. the only other thing that it could be is left over cleaning solution- have you cleaned it recently? -either way-get the animals out till it clears up.

 

[roo]

<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>Paris Reilley (Paris) wrote on Sunday, October 17, 2004 - 17:28 :</font>

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That, I forgot to mention. It is a new setup. I've had for about a week now and it hasn't gone away. I guess I'll remove the animals and change the water.

 

[roo]

i'm still having issues with this...

I first tried a 75% water change....same problem...then i did a 25% water change with some tablets that are supposed to remove fungus and bacteria from the water....still bubbling too much.

As you can sorta tell from the pictures, the bubbles are being generated by my undergrave biological filters....which is normal but it shouldn't be THIS bubbly...

any other suggestions?

 

[colin]

did you use a dechlorinator? Sometimes they produce a bubble effect?

 

[rose]

I've had a similar-looking problem before when the air pump running my filter was rated for a larger volume of water than was actually in the tank...

 

[jennifer]

What you show looks perfectly normal. If the bubbles bother you, turn down the air flow. You can buy a flow-regulator, or just pinch off the tubing partially closed. As Colin suggests, some dechlorinating products (such as Aqua-safe) will make the water hold bubbles a bit.

I would not recommend using "tablets that are supposed to remove fungus and bacteria". This product may kill your biofiltration and isn't necessarily harmless to amphibians.

 

[colin]

an idea... is it a wooden airstone by any chance?

PS Jen, i found aqua safe to be a culprit too!