white foam on top of water

vinoth1465

i am in the process of cycling my tank... doing 10% water change once a week... for the past 3 days, i am noticing white foam forming on the top... is that normal, what causes this and how to avoid / get rid of.

joeshmoe

What chemicals are you using? Is a fishless cycled? Whats your tank stats?

jesus villaseño

your tank is not cycling properly, i am afraid you have polluted your tank in some way or another. i am not too sure. maybe the decorations, the gravel not well washed, dont know. you d better star things over by doing a good tank hygiene in setting everything up. please do not use harsh chemicals, soap o detergents, etc. just plain water. if you do so, try to use an adequate buffer for your water , for example PROPER PH from aquarium pharmaceuticals, and use seachem stability, do not add fish unstil the tank is fully cycled. you might also add tetra aquasafe in the reccomended dose. you will notice the difference. hope this helps. SALUDOS DESDE MEXICO.

JouteiMike

No no no...do not start things over. Just bare with it...that is a very common thing to happen. The foam just means your water quality isn't the best and obviously it isn't because you are in the process of cycling!

Do you have a liquid test kit for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate? Post your results for we can get an idea on where you are in the cycling process.

What is your tank set up? Size? Filtration? Do you have fish in there or are you doing a fishless cycle?

Just keep up with the water changes, maybe bump it up to 20% if the foam is getting to be a lot.

Is there a foul smell to the tank?

jesus villaseño

I BELIEVE SOMETHING WENT WRONG OR OUT OF CONTROL FROM THE BEGGINNING THAT IS WHY I RECCOMEND A WHOLE CLEAN UP

JouteiMike

Questions need to be answered first before we can jump to conclusions. Let us wait and see what they reply with.

vinoth1465

sorry guys, i am not getting any emails from "Notify me when a reply is posted"

anyways, the ammonia is around .25 or .5

and the nitrite is 2

i dont have a nitrate test kit yet...

40 gallon tank with 2 emperor 400 filters. 12 feeder fish...

gravel and stones was washed very well... no deco.

i am doing a 10% water change every... the foam is subsiding slowly...

jesus villaseño

do as a say and everything will be all right. believe me , i am not new in the hobby and all i want to do is to help you with yosur problem.

vinoth1465

hi, thanks. i know you are trying to help... but i think JouteiMike was right. partial water changes fixed the foam... i did not have to disrupt the cycle... i waited long enough for the tank to cycle and wasnt going to risk it... why start all over when you can figure out the problem and fix it right???

jesus villaseño

because it is better to start things over and watch carefully the development of the tank, i do not know yosur tank, do not know what kind of substrate you are using, etc. but i am glad you fix the problem. good luck anyway and if i could help youins the future, i will do it gladly. SALUDOS DESDE MEXICO.