Tropical Fish Keeping banner

need help..

3K views 25 replies 7 participants last post by  MRQuad 
#1 ·
i am not sure if i am in the right section of the forum.. if i am not.. moderator, please move my thread.. thanks..

i have a question guys, is it normal for an aquarium to create a huge bubble on top of the aquarium? as in like, a bubble from doing a laundry or something.. and it's pretty huge..

is the water really dirty and needs to be change or it's just normal? usually, when i feed the fish with floating pellets, the pellets will spread out on top of my aquarium.. but this time, it didn't.. just stay in one place..

what could this be guys? need help..

P.S.
sorry for my english..
 
#3 ·
thanks for the reply..

Tank Size: 108G
Occupants: Mbuna Cichlids (30-40 of them, not sure)
Food: NLS for Cichlids
Cleaning Schedule: after setting up my tank, i did a twice a week.. it just happens now that i am trying to do a once a week cleaning, that's what i have observe.. probably dirty, eh?

one more question: how do i change my substrate from little stone to a sand? cause i think they don't like the substrate that i put on the tank.. just my thought..

thanks..
 
#4 ·
Not sure about the bubbles. Any chance any sort of cleaning materials got into your tank?

I think the best way to change the substrate from gravel to sand is just to do it a little at a time. Just use a big fish net to scoop the gravel out, and gently place the well-rinsed sand at the bottom of the tank. I would maybe change 1/4 of the bottom of the tank every week. This will (hopefully) prevent your tank from going through a mini-cycle.
 
#5 ·
thanks a lot for the replies.. appreciated it..

last night, i did a 50% water change.. and still, it is creating a bubble, as of now after the water change.. it has less bubbles.. i wander where it is from?

by the way, i am using a sump.. newly built sump (first time building one) and i used a bio-balls for the media.. i am not sure, i have enough filtration for my tank..

thanks for reading..
 
#6 ·
If you're concerned then test your water daily for ammonia and nitrites. If you don't have enough filtration they'll be on the rise. Did you break your sump/bioballs in by running it while you still had a filter? If not you could have serious problems due to the tank having to cycle again.
 
#7 ·
here's the result of the test..

before the water change:

NITRITE: 0
NITRATE: 0
AMMONIA: 1.0

after the water change:

NITRITE: 0
NITRATE: 0
AMMONIA: 0

the fish are all fine, no illnesses i have observe.. and still the bubble still building up.. slowly.. should i do a water change twice a week?

thanks for reading..
 
#9 ·
I'm guessing you just changed over to the sump and immediately removed the old filter? If so you're cycling the tank again. Given the pH of the water African cichlids prefer it is INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT that you test the water daily and do a 50% water change anytime you get an ammonia or nitrite reading of 0.25 or greater.

Additionally there are some products to neutralize ammonia, I know Prime claims to, but I'll leave that for someone more experienced than I with them.

Now, if your old filter hasn't dried out or been rinsed in tap water you might have a bacterial colony left you could use to seed your bioballs and speed up the cycle.
 
#10 ·
The fact that you have 0 nitrates and show some ammonia confirms that your tank is cycling. As Tyyrlym suggested test the water every day and do frequent water changes to try to keep the ammonia under .25.

Not sure what is causing the bubble. Do you know what your Ph, Gh and Kh is?
 
#11 ·
Mirta said:
Could you post a pic of the bubble? It sounds so unusual... The only bubble I have ever seen in a tank was from a filter's work but it was not big...
right now, i hardly see the bubbles, but there some like really tiny bubbles on the edges.. i don't my camera right now, if i can find it, i'll take a picture of it..

Tyyrlym said:
I'm guessing you just changed over to the sump and immediately removed the old filter? If so you're cycling the tank again. Given the pH of the water African cichlids prefer it is INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT that you test the water daily and do a 50% water change anytime you get an ammonia or nitrite reading of 0.25 or greater.

Additionally there are some products to neutralize ammonia, I know Prime claims to, but I'll leave that for someone more experienced than I with them.

Now, if your old filter hasn't dried out or been rinsed in tap water you might have a bacterial colony left you could use to seed your bioballs and speed up the cycle.
i didn't use the old filter, i did made a new sump and have it cycled..

jeaninel said:
The fact that you have 0 nitrates and show some ammonia confirms that your tank is cycling. As Tyyrlym suggested test the water every day and do frequent water changes to try to keep the ammonia under .25.

Not sure what is causing the bubble. Do you know what your Ph, Gh and Kh is?
ok, i will change the water every other day and will test the water everyday.. just to make sure..


2nd day of testing the water after water change, below are the results:

AMMONIA: 0
pH: 7.6
NITRATE: 0
NITRITE: 0


above were the only available water testing that includes in the kit.. oh, i have one more, it's the HIGH RANGE pH.. if you guys wanna know what is the result, i will include that one on the 3rd day testing.. i just running out of time right now, i have to go to work..

thanks again guys for reading and responding.. appreciate it..
 
#12 ·
If your low range pH test is saying 7.6 all that means is it's pegged out. Like a speedometer that only goes to 30mph. Just because it says 30 doesn't mean you aren't going faster. Use the high range test.

Also, if your sump was truly cycled there wouldn't be any detectable ammonia or nitrites and some nitrates, try testing the water before a water change.
 
#13 ·
Tyyrlym said:
If your low range pH test is saying 7.6 all that means is it's pegged out. Like a speedometer that only goes to 30mph. Just because it says 30 doesn't mean you aren't going faster. Use the high range test.

Also, if your sump was truly cycled there wouldn't be any detectable ammonia or nitrites and some nitrates, try testing the water before a water change.
thanks for your respond sir, appreciate it.. i will change the water tonight after i get off from work.. should i do a 50% water change? what could you suggest?

thanks again..


3rd day of water testing, below are the results:

AMMONIA: 0
pH: 7.6
HIGH RANGE pH: 7.4
NITRATE: 0
NITRITE: 0
 
#14 ·
hi guys.. i'm back..

it's 2:45 in the morning right now.. i just finish my water change and test the water.. below are the result..

BEFORE water change:

pH: 7.6
HIGH RANGE pH: 7.4
AMMONIA: 0
NITRATE: 0
NITRITE: 0


AFTER water change:

pH: 7.6
HIGH RANGE pH: 7.4
AMMONIA: 0
NITRATE: 0
NITRITE: 0


i haven't notice any bubble at all.. do you think i should be fine now? or, should i still be checking the water everyday? what should i do?

one more question, will my cichlids be fine if i change my subtrate to a pool fine sand?

thanks guys..
 
#15 ·
I would hesitate to change the substrate for two reasons. ONE the bacteria (the good kind) that is needed for breaking down the ammonia and nitrites is in large part found in the filter AND the gravel. TWO many cichlids are diggers and enjoy rooting around in the substrate.
 
#16 ·
1077 said:
I would hesitate to change the substrate for two reasons. ONE the bacteria (the good kind) that is needed for breaking down the ammonia and nitrites is in large part found in the filter AND the gravel. TWO many cichlids are diggers and enjoy rooting around in the substrate.
so, changing the gravel is not recommended eh? thanks.. any other inputs?
 
#20 ·
thanks for the quick response.. and if you have time, please give me some advise, on some of my thread.. i did post some pic on my thread about my cichlids keep hiding..

anyways, the black hoses is where the water go through from the sump below.. the link that you have gave me, is that thing, thus the same? if does, i think i will replace mine..
 
#21 ·
Do you have a pump in your sump pulling water through the hose out of the tank? If so, I don't see why the surface skimmer I showed you wouldn't work. If it's just working as a siphon, I'm not sure how well it will work, but it still would probably be better than letting all of that slime stay there. I think it's worth a shot. You could also try using a spray bar as your output instead of just a hose in order to cause more surface agitation. Installation Set 2 from this link is an example of a spray bar:

Eheim Water System Installation Sets
 
#22 ·
yeah, i have a sump pulling water through the hose and out of the tank.. and the water will go to my overflow box when it gets overflowed..

what do you suggest that i should use for my tank?

thanks again..
 
#23 ·
I think you should give that surface skimmer (or something similar) a shot. I've read a lot of cases where people with very little surface agitation (usually in heavily planted tanks) had a lot of gunk building up at the surface and bought surface skimmers for canister filters and used them with a lot of success. I think it would work well for you. You might also want to get the spray bar as well, since you've got a heavily stocked mbuna tank. All those fish will use a lot of oxygen, so having a lot of surface agitation certainly wouldn't hurt.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top