# foam on surface



## john.shephard25 (Oct 13, 2011)

Hi, some times now I've noticed foam on the surface of the water its not much but still...any explanation?


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## JasonG75 (Mar 1, 2011)

get a paper towl and dab it till its gone. I would say you need MORE surface aggitation.


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## HD Blazingwolf (May 12, 2011)

can you test the water? foam is an indicator of high ammonia or nitrites


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## john.shephard25 (Oct 13, 2011)

Well, the paper towel thing worked but it will show up again.I suspected its high ammonia or nitrite, my fish doesn't like the new food I bought so it goes to waste a lot.
I've increased KNO3 dosage lately, does that influence ammonia and nitrite levels?


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## HD Blazingwolf (May 12, 2011)

no it should not.. if u can. pick up some nutrafin cycle. its a great product. it does work. and will convert ammonia to nitrite, the nitrite to nitrate within 3 days tops

and ur tank will be cycled if its not already..

i'd recommend increasing aeration at this time. it will make more foam but will help the process
do a 30% water change today, and tomorrow, and the next day to help regulate things.
that will cut down the foam and reduce levels slowly in the water


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## john.shephard25 (Oct 13, 2011)

I need to add more gravel and change my setup a bit so I'll do a massive change of water, up to 80% and hope that will help a bit with the foam, unfortunatle I don't have any nutrafin cycle, since my tank is quite mature, I never bought it...I'd like to know if I wash the new gravel with a tap water should I let it rest for a day so the chlorine (of the tap water) evaporates?Is it safe to use it immediate after the wash can it harm the ''good'' bacteria?


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## HD Blazingwolf (May 12, 2011)

Hmm if its a mature tank. What kind of filter do u use? When was the last time u vac'd the gravel? What is ur plant load like? How do u maintain ur tank weekly water changes? Monthly? Fill us in a lil more


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## john.shephard25 (Oct 13, 2011)

Well, I use fluval 204, my tank is 100l wich is heavily planted with poggo, glosso, R. rotundofolia, windelow, B. japonyca small version, practically there is no empty space to add something else.I use EI system of fertilization (once a week 50-70% water change),CO2 is pressurized, 3 bubbles a sec. 50-60 lumen's per liter of neon (865) light and not 7 rasboras, three ghost shrimps, three yellow snails and one Beta.Yesterday I add the gravel which was washed with tap water, hope that wont do any damage, I also cleaned my filter(usually I clean it once a month) and usually I vacuum heavily before I change the water.


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## HD Blazingwolf (May 12, 2011)

WOW.. im surprised u have foamy water at this point. has anythign died? lots of decaying leaves stuck somewhere? change in feeding schedule?
if u recently changed the gravel. u dusted quite a bit of beneficial bacteria in the process but ur filter should have had enough to keep thing stable especially with healthy plants


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## john.shephard25 (Oct 13, 2011)

OK, now I'm panicking!!!Can decaying leaves do so much damage?
I didn't change the gravel I added some, just to raise the level, I knew I could cause problems with bacteria and I thought my filter could keep up, plus under the gravel I have lots of laterit for that exact function.My HM wasn't growing nice, the bottom leaves were decaying as if there is not enough light, I've replanted it on Sunday leaving only the healthy parts but I did trim my R.Rotundofolia and didn't collect everything thoroughly cause I didn't wanted to disturb my newly replanted HM.What if I change water say 10-15% every two days? What would that mean for my EI system of fertilization? Should I stop fertilizing? Please reply me on this one, this is important!
One more question Do those yellow snails eat leaves?


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## shrimpNewbie (May 6, 2011)

have you considered it may be your betta? my betta foams up my tank if it has no surface movement, it is a mating thing called a bubble nest, and mine makes them quite large.


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## john.shephard25 (Oct 13, 2011)

shrimpNewbie said:


> have you considered it may be your betta? my betta foams up my tank if it has no surface movement, it is a mating thing called a bubble nest, and mine makes them quite large.


 Actually I did, but I've noticed a slight traces of something oily on the surface, I just changed 10l of water and collected all leaves that were floating around and I don't see much of the bubbles.
Hey what about my questions :smile::
Changing small amounts of water and fertilization(EI)?
Fresh washed gravel; should it be introduced in tank since its washed with tap water?
Do the yellow snails eat decaying leaves?


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## JoraaÑ (Jun 29, 2009)

john.shephard26 said:


> Hey what about my questions :smile::
> Changing small amounts of water and fertilization(EI)?
> Fresh washed gravel; should it be introduced in tank since its washed with tap water?
> Do the yellow snails eat decaying leaves?


I see 2 solution to try out... If your Fish aren't eating food you feeding, stop feeding them for 2-3 days and see after they go after the food...thats what happen when i introduced new flakes few weeks back. EI dosing has nothing to do with foam surface, IF the tank is matured then adding freshly washed Gravel won't hurt good bacteria as they are all over the tank and in your filter media. 

Next thing is you are disturbing your gravel bed vacuuming heavily in planted tank which is not necessary...."Once in a blue moon" in another story but every week is "No No" which might be the cause of surface foam. 

Try not to feed them for few days(they won't die) and see what happens...

Instead of doing 80% water change at once I would do 20% daily for a week or so since you are doing massive changes. Don't clean your filter at least for 2 more weeks after you are done with changes.


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## shrimpNewbie (May 6, 2011)

if you're going to replace any gravel i'd recommend sand over gravel any day for plants. it could still be your fish+ another cause


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## john.shephard25 (Oct 13, 2011)

shrimpNewbie said:


> if you're going to replace any gravel i'd recommend sand over gravel any day for plants. it could still be your fish+ another cause


 YES, it is sand, sorry, I got confused, its 1-4mm in diameter and I didn't replace it, I added to increase sand level.I don't know what you mean by fish+?
I don't know how to double quote so I can respond to JORAAN but:
I have changed 80% only once, when I added the new sand and I used that opportunity to ''get out'' as much dirt is possible from the bottom.I usually change 50-70% depends on how did I fertilize that week and if I'm vacuuming more thoroughly.I usually vacuum wile I'm changing water I keep the hose close to bottom and carefully collect dirt in my path. 
As for my filter I clean it every month or so.


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## HD Blazingwolf (May 12, 2011)

appears that you are doing everything right. do you have an ammonia test kit? have you placed any medications in the tank?


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## JoraaÑ (Jun 29, 2009)

john.shephard26 said:


> YES, it is sand, sorry, I got confused, its 1-4mm in diameter and I didn't replace it, I added to increase sand level.I don't know what you mean by fish+?
> I don't know how to double quote so I can respond to JORAAN but:
> I have changed 80% only once, when I added the new sand and I used that opportunity to ''get out'' as much dirt is possible from the bottom.I usually change 50-70% depends on how did I fertilize that week and if I'm vacuuming more thoroughly.I usually vacuum wile I'm changing water I keep the hose close to bottom and carefully collect dirt in my path.
> As for my filter I clean it every month or so.


If thats the case then you are good to go....Gravel made me confused with sand...Dosing same as you do Regular EI dosing but bit extra won't hurt your plants_fish.


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## john.shephard25 (Oct 13, 2011)

I don't have amonia kit and I probably don't need it, its obvious, I just don't know whats cosing it... I don't have that many fauna I keep my tank relatively clean, I even dialed down KNO3 ... its most probably those dead leaves...
Should I change water more often?That seems to help for a day.I'm just not sure what would that mean for my fert. regime?
BTW I'm sorry for my language mistakes English is my fourth language(Am I being modest or what )


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## HD Blazingwolf (May 12, 2011)

lol ur english is fine. ammonia can cause foamy water. that's why i ask.. leaves breaking down releases ammonia. its a mature tank to be sure but u can never know


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

My tank has a foam due to pearling all day, It starts building in the late afternoon on the water surface in areas of less circulation/corners, could that be it. Do you see it in the morning or the afternoon?


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## HD Blazingwolf (May 12, 2011)

you get foam from pearling? WOW thats a new one. i'd love to see that in action!
i pearl most of my photoperiod it really is a site to see when it is the whole plant


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## john.shephard25 (Oct 13, 2011)

150EH said:


> My tank has a foam due to pearling all day, It starts building in the late afternoon on the water surface in areas of less circulation/corners, could that be it. Do you see it in the morning or the afternoon?


 Yes, thats the same thing in my tank but I thought thats normal, bubbles being trapped by this oily film what I'm concern is if levels of amonia spike and kill my fish other than that it looks kinda atractive almost like stars which does an nice effect for photography specially since my tank is nature stile.
These are done with my phone since I don't have a real camera but you can see what I'm talking about:
This is my 23galon tank and the other one (iwagumi) is 1 gallon dry set up:


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## shrimpNewbie (May 6, 2011)

if your fish aren't looking drab and stressed out and flashing i'd assume it isnt ammonia... high enough ammonia to foam would probable kill your fish by now.


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## john.shephard25 (Oct 13, 2011)

well they act as in the picture they don't move much, colorization is fine I guess its not it but what else could cause the foam.I've ruled out everything by now...this is quite confusing.I'll take a sample of the water and have it tested in a professional lab.What do You think about my tanks?


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## john.shephard25 (Oct 13, 2011)

It would seem that my former problem with ammonia cosed another headache for me.On some leaves of glosso I've noticed some staghorn algae.Can I prevent this from spreading more?


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## HD Blazingwolf (May 12, 2011)

was it indeed an ammonia problem then? the best way to prevent staghorn is to either increase c02. or reduce light.. maybe both.
leaves that have it should be removed promptly. the algae spores are everywhere. u can't help that. but removing leaves cuts down on the reproductive cycle.


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## john.shephard25 (Oct 13, 2011)

Yeah, it was(ammonia) and still is I did increase CO2, didn't touch the light and cut all infested leaves, for now, I can't see any difference but its still early.Good news is that the foam is gone, I'm collecting leaves daily and watch the feeding.Bad thing is that I did a big trim in a bad time but I'm hoping that everything will balance out.


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