Foam Buildup

[Zac]

Hey all,

Ive been noticing some foam buildup in my tank. Ammonia is at 0 so I know they can’t be ammonia bubbles. Also they don’t stink. I try to do water changes once a week but I have a lot of plants so sometimes I don’t do it. What I have 4 guppies, amano shrimp, and snails. What could be causing this foam? It’s not air bubbles from the filter either. Maybe protein foam? But my tank is pretty clean other than mulm. Not perfectly clear water, but not terrible either 

[Zac]

On 7/29/2022 at 7:38 PM, Pepere said:

How did you test for Ammonia?

Aquarium co-op test strips and API

[nabokovfan87]

Can you try to get a photo of the surface film itself from the top view without glass in the way? 

I've had similar issues and then randomly had other things happen as a result.  I don't think it's anything about what you're running into, but I'm just curious what it is you're seeing. Same as you, 0 ammonia.

[Zac]

On 7/29/2022 at 8:08 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Can you try to get a photo of the surface film itself from the top view without glass in the way? 

I've had similar issues and then randomly had other things happen as a result.  I don't think it's anything about what you're running into, but I'm just curious what it is you're seeing. Same as you, 0 ammonia.

Sure, here’s a photo. The film is hard to see but this is what I could do without removing my lid, light, etc. What happened as a result from your foam?

[lefty o]

i say that is just air bubbles, not foam. i would not be concerned about that at all.

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/29/2022 at 5:46 PM, Zac said:

What happened as a result from your foam?

I had a plethora of chaos happen, again, not entirely due to what you're going through.

1, surface film
2. added skimmer
3. removed extra filtration (was the 4th thing on the tank, not needed)
4. removed airstone, wasn't needed, planned to add CO2
5. oxygenation crashed
6. HoB filter clogged up with worms and slowed down
7. Detritus worms discovered
8.  Cleaned everything, added airstone
9.  Amano shrimp turned red (no fish signs of stress)
10. Foam happened, no ammonia, keep it clean, up maint, etc.
11. about 3-4 weeks later, I had a nitrite spike, then started losing amanos.

I am pretty certain I am losing shrimp due to KH, PH, buffer, and PH spikes.  Oxygenation was a concern, but they were specifically having issues trying to molt.  Not fun.

I can see the film stuff here, looks white to me, so I don't think it's a protein or from the food.


In your case I would suggest:
A. 50% WC
B. Clean the lid, clean all the filters.  Check your impellers, check all your airstones and clean them very well.
C.  When the tank is half full, clean the rim, make sure there's not any muck or anything from the air bubbles all over (I always do this when I clean the lid)

Keep an eye on parameters and just make sure you have good clean water going in.  Keep an eye for an unexpected spike randomly happening.

Edited July 30, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[Zac]

On 7/29/2022 at 9:50 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I had a plethora of chaos happen, again, not entirely due to what you're going through.

1, surface film
2. added skimmer
3. removed extra filtration (was the 4th thing on the tank, not needed)
4. removed airstone, wasn't needed, planned to add CO2
5. oxygenation crashed
6. HoB filter clogged up with worms and slowed down
7. Detritus worms discovered
8.  Cleaned everything, added airstone
9.  Amano shrimp turned red (no fish signs of stress)
10. Foam happened, no ammonia, keep it clean, up maint, etc.
11. about 3-4 weeks later, I had a nitrite spike, then started losing amanos.

I am pretty certain I am losing shrimp due to KH, PH, buffer, and PH spikes.  Oxygenation was a concern, but they were specifically having issues trying to molt.  Not fun.

In your case I would suggest:
A. 50% WC
B. Clean the lid, clean all the filters.  Check your impellers, check all your airstones and clean them very well.
C.  When the tank is half full, clean the rim, make sure there's not any muck or anything from the air bubbles all over (I always do this when I clean the lid.

Keep an eye on parameters and just make sure you have good clean water going in.  Keep an eye for an unexpected spike randomly happening.

I share some similarities to what you had happen. I’ve always had detritus worms however. They used to be worse but I got them under control. I just have 2 sponge filters so luckily no deep cleaning. I don’t clean them often so maybe it’s time to give them a squeeze out. It’s interesting in your case because it seems like there’s no direct cause to what happened. Maybe the nitrite spike happened because of all the heavy duty cleaning? Maybe the large water change stressed the shrimp into the red color? I know some shrimp can be sensitive to large water changes 

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/29/2022 at 7:00 PM, Zac said:

Maybe the nitrite spike happened because of all the heavy duty cleaning? Maybe the large water change stressed the shrimp into the red color? I know some shrimp can be sensitive to large water changes 

They always have had 40-60% WCs on the tanks.  I try to do bigger ones less often.  Because the city keeps jacking with the water I am having a lot of random issues.  First it was PH crashing, then my KH went down by 50%, then GH randomly seemed to drop.  Just not easy on the poor guys.  I'm focusing on feeding them more calcium and trying to make sure the food isn't the issue.  As for the worms....

This is how I've been dealing with them if you want to dive down the rabbit hole.
 

 

[Zac]

On 7/29/2022 at 10:04 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

They always have had 40-60% WCs on the tanks.  I try to do bigger ones less often.  Because the city keeps jacking with the water I am having a lot of random issues.  First it was PH crashing, then my KH went down by 50%, then GH randomly seemed to drop.  Just not easy on the poor guys.  I'm focusing on feeding them more calcium and trying to make sure the food isn't the issue.  As for the worms....

This is how I've been dealing with them if you want to dive down the rabbit hole.
 

 

That’s quite a mess. I hope you get it all figured out. I have detritus worms and these weird worms that are like planaria but the name starts with an R. I don’t remember exactly but they’re harmless. Sometimes I see one sliding along my glass but I don’t pay them too much attention

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/29/2022 at 7:14 PM, Zac said:

That’s quite a mess. I hope you get it all figured out. I have detritus worms and these weird worms that are like planaria but the name starts with an R. I don’t remember exactly but they’re harmless. Sometimes I see one sliding along my glass but I don’t pay them too much attention

Yeah, Expel-P should help with that.  Odd Duck's notes in my thread should be pretty solid to deal with it.  Salt help a lot (I feel like) in my tank.  Killed plants, but that's the cost.