need help..

MRQuad

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..

Flashygrrl

What size tank?
Occupants?
What do you feed them exactly?
And what's your cleaning schedule?

I would say that it's probably dirty.

MRQuad

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..

iamntbatman

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.

MRQuad

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..

Tyyrlym

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.

MRQuad

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..

Mirta

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...

Tyyrlym

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.

jeaninel

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?