Thundercracker Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 (edited) I've had this issue off and on for a while. Sometimes my tank will get bubbles at the top, even after a water change. I recently did about a 20% water change to my planted 29 gallon tank after I noticed the bubbles, because I was worried that the cause might hurt the animals, but the bubbles didn't go away. It has 5 baby guppies (~2 1/2 months old) and 2 nerite snails. There has been some foam at the top off and on since I've added the snails. The tank is cycled and it was fishless for about 4 months before I added 3 nerite snails, then 3 more. Then about two months after, I added the babies. I now only have 2 of the snails. I also use easy green and the aquarium co-op carbon for algae, but skipped both for this water change because I thought that it might be contributing. I haven't used either for the past three weeks. The water parameters a day before the water change were: Iron: 0 Copper: 0 Nitrate: 25-50 ppm Nitrite: 0 Chlorine: 0 GH: 75-150-300 (I couldn't really tell) Total Alkalinity: 120-180 ppm KH: 120-180 ppm pH: 8-8.4 Today, the water is: Iron: 0 ppm Copper: 0 ppm Nitrate: 25-50 ppm Nitrite: 0 ppm Chlorine: 0 ppm GH: 150-300 ppm Total Alkalinity: 120 ppm KH: 120 ppm pH: 7.8-8.4 Edited October 31, 2023 by Thundercracker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSwissAquarist Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 I recently had the same problem with a new HOB. It could be industrial residue? I drained the tank and wiped it down with a sponge to get rid of all the bubbles on the sides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundercracker Posted October 31, 2023 Author Share Posted October 31, 2023 On 10/30/2023 at 11:49 PM, TheSwissAquarist said: I recently had the same problem with a new HOB. It could be industrial residue? I drained the tank and wiped it down with a sponge to get rid of all the bubbles on the sides. Might be, I have an HOB too, I'll clean the filter and the media to see if that works because that thing does get pretty dirty. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biotope Biologist Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 Bubbles like that form for a multitude of reasons. Industrial residue is something I would not be terribly concerned with. Sometimes grease will come off a new motor but the grease they use is aquarium safe and generally hydrophobic. It usually forms an ‘oil slick’ on the surface before dispersing If I had to guess the bubbles are oxygen that gets trapped on the surface by the layer of viscous fatty acids. It’s a layer that forms naturally by certain biological processes. It’s been a long time since I took my water chemistry course so hopefully I used the right name for these processes 😅 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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