looks like soap bubbles?

[sjk2840]

Just a quick question-this is the first time I've ever used sand in my tank. I set up a small tank yesterday with a very fine white sand I bought from a lfs. Filled the tank up with water, the sand cloud has gone away as of this morning, but I have small bubbles at the top of the water all around my tank. What are these bubbles?and do they go away? I did rinse the sand before I added it to the tank. I dont have these bubbles in my other tank with a CC substrate.
Thanks

 

[robdog696]

I think what you're talking about is protein buildup. It's perfectly normal, but if you have enough flow and filtration it should quickly disappear. What type of filtration are you using? If you have a skimmer, is it on? I'm guessing you have a biowheel filter rather than an overflow. One of the reasons biowheels are not recommended for saltwater aquariums is because they have no way of removing this protein buildup from the water surface. An overflow and skimmer is the best method for removing this buildup.

 

[sjk2840]

Hi Robdog, the tank is too small for a protein skimmer-10gallon-I do have a Tetra power filter on the back that is for a larger tank. This tank will be eventually used as a QT, or an extra tank while I'm cycling my 75 gallon. I do have an extra powerhead not in use, should I put it into the tank?
I was actually experimenting with the sand to see what I liked-kinda like doing my homework before I set up my in -wall 75 gallon tank. I've been doing a lot of research on this forum. So,
Since I have a protein build-up in the tank- can I add anything to the water? or is it a matter of circulation? Will it harm the fish??

(The tank is right at the beginning of a cycle.) I did have another type of sand in this tank, (cleaned sand from the beach) it also had the bubbles and the ph was 8.8-so I dumped it out and started over-

 

[salt210]

there are nano skimmers(correct name?)

 

[robdog696]

A few things... sand from the beach is not a good thing. There are lots of contaminants in this sand that are unacceptable in a home aquarium. One would think, "If it's good enough for the ocean then it's good enough for my aquarium!" But this simply isn't true! Because we are limited in our ability to filter contaminants and replace minerals/nutrients in the water, we must only use the best resources available! The ocean sand may, in fact, be the reason for your bubbles. I was guessing that it was more of a white film around the top of the water, but after you said ocean sand, now I'd like to see a picture.
I don't think the powerhead will help much. I would look into small HOB (hang on back) skimmers. I see the aqua c remora nano skimmers (5-25 gallons) in the classifieds section of this site and others a lot. The problem is that the protein floats on top of the water, so unless it has to go through an overflow or gets sucked off the surface by a HOB skimmer it really doesn't get mechanically filtered.
I don't know that this is actually protein, though. Pictures and test results will help. If you post those I'm sure more qualified people will jump in with more definitive answers!

 

[sjk2840]

The sand thats in there now is a white carribbian sand from *****- I believe it's called Caribe Sea? It was about 8 bucks for a 10# bag. I did have Real beach sand in this tank, but after reading about the "dont's " of beach sand on this forum, I dumped it out. The Ph of the beach sand stayed at 8.8 and the water almost felt like it had a film in it-slimey- so I dumped it out and started over with the pet store sand.
I did not know protein skimmers came in such small sizes-I've only seen the ones that go into the sumps and wet/dry units. I will definitely invest in one.
I'm trying to learn all I can before I set up my larger tank. I had a 125 gallon salt water tank about 8 years ago-things have really changed since then. I only ran an Ocean Clear filter on it and had black freshwater rock in the
tank!!!
right now my water parameters are:
PH 8.2
tank temp 76-78
ammonia 0
nitrites/nitrates 0
SG 1.022 (hydrometer)
this is day 2 of the cycle
I have a small piece of cocktail shrimp in a bag to start the cycle.

 

[srfisher17]

If this is just a QT, I don't think you need a skimmer. I think Carib-Sea markets good stuff, even if it is from *****. They're starting to market limestone for do-it-yourself LR. LR seems to be one of the few things that can actually be diminished by our little hobby. BTW, if this is a QT, keep an extra filter pad for your HOB filter somewhere in your DT system; you can then instantly cycle your Qt whenever you need it.

 

[girlina4x4]

I have the same same you are using in my 10g freshwater eel tank. I never had bubbles like that, but it did take forever for the cloudiness to go away. Did you rinse the tank between the two types of sand? Could it be possible that the old sand's sliminess is causing the bubbles when it mixes with the new sand?

 

[sjk2840]

I am glad to hear that the Caribe Sea sand is not bad. This is my first time using sand. I've had another tank up since March with CC and it just dosent look as nice as sand does.
I did rinse the tank between the 2 types of sand and dried it out before putting the good sand in there. My sand cloud lasted about 24 hours, now the water is crystal clear except for the bubbles around the top of the water line.
IF the small skimmers arent too expensive, I might just put one on there anyway. It will probably at some time end up as a mini DT, once I get my bigger tank up and running.
I've already had the issue with lymphcytosis on my angel fish and had to pull him out of my other tank-1/2 way through his antibiotic treatment, the tank started to cycle. I now have extra sponges in my filters, just in case.

 

[srfisher17]

Originally Posted by sjk2840
http:///forum/post/2726832
I am glad to hear that the Caribe Sea sand is not bad. This is my first time using sand. I've had another tank up since March with CC and it just dosent look as nice as sand does.
I did rinse the tank between the 2 types of sand and dried it out before putting the good sand in there. My sand cloud lasted about 24 hours, now the water is crystal clear except for the bubbles around the top of the water line.
IF the small skimmers arent too expensive, I might just put one on there anyway. It will probably at some time end up as a mini DT, once I get my bigger tank up and running.
I've already had the issue with lymphcytosis on my angel fish and had to pull him out of my other tank-1/2 way through his antibiotic treatment, the tank started to cycle. I now have extra sponges in my filters, just in case.
Sounds good! Many of the HOB filters have (very cheap) carbon in the filter cartridges; remember to cut open the pad and remove the carbon if you have to use meds.

 

[sjk2840]

Thank-you all for the great advice. BTW didnt even think about taking the carbon out of those cheap filter cartridges-great idea!!