Foamy Water

[kristalAK]

I noticed today there is a foam staring to build up in the corner of my tank. It looks like dish soap water, but not as big and its just in that one corner. I haven't made any changes to the tank, no new fish or anything to the tank. I did a recent water change 2 days ago but the foam didn't occur until today. Anyone have any suggestions? Should I just scoop it out?

Actually lets just make this a two-fer.

I'm in the process of doing a fishless cycle on a 200g tank, however I'm not sure if I'm doing it right. How long do I need to wait before adding fish? Its been nearly 4 weeks now and the water tests all are good. My sister will be taking my sharks. Do I add new fish one at a time? Could I put some Oscars in there? I will move my Pictus in there and buy him 4 friends, the Pleco will move and also the upside down. Would the Oscars bully the Pictus? I need help choosing tankmates!

One last one.. (I'm sorry!!)
With my 35g could I safely put a pair of Rams in without harming them? Would I need to change the water first? New filter?

 

[Kay]

could it be a fishy nest like bettas do? I dont know what fish do that...

 

[kristalAK]

I have no idea what a "fishy nest" is.. I'm google searching now lol

 

[Kay]

LoL Ummm there are a couple pictures somewhere in the breeding section here...

 

[Etheostoma]

Using hand lotion then feeding fish without washing hands first?

Depending on lotion, it could leave an oily sheen.

Usually foam is associated with a grease or oil. I'd siphon it off the top with a tank-vac. Just fill the vac tube and get the siphon going, invert the vac tube and siphon off the top.

 

[jumpfreak26]

Doy ou have an UGF? If so it could mean too much plant life.

 

[Seleya]

What do you use as a water conditioner? Stresscoat? Aquasafe?

 

[kristalAK]

No UGF, and I have plastic plants.. Im beginning to think maybe it was the lotion stuff. I use this super thick girly lotion and when I rinse my hands off it does bubble up a bit. When I get home tonight I will skim the top and should I do another water change?

I'm at work now and I don't have the bottle in front of me, but its yellow with black writing on it, sorry if that doesn't help much lol

 

[TLH]

If the foam is in the tank you're cycling then I'd suspect some form of contaminate like hand cream or soap.Foam can sometimes be caused by too much protein I think but I don't see how that can be the case if your fishless cycling.On the subject of cycling have you read the stickies on the subject?Hold your Ammonia to 5ppm and if that disappears within say 24hrs then I'd say you're done.

To get rid of the lotion or whatever I'd run some activated carbon in your filter for a while,but skim off the worst of it first by all means.

 

[kristalAK]

No.. its in the cycled tank, the one with fish in it already.

I'm sorry I posted 3 different questions lol I just figured might as well.

 

[Etheostoma]

Funny thing this thread. Just ran into the hand lotion problem with my wife. Reason for pointing it out as I did.

-Hey hun?
Yeah?
-Any reason you can figure the trop tanks look like they had an oil spill?
Umm...maybe.

Then we went through the vectors.

Not saying it's right, just a possible culprit.

 

[FroggyFox]

Seleya was right on what I was thinking with her question...whenever I have bubbles on the surface its because I overdid it with the dechlor. I use bigal's generic version of stresscoat. Not harmful...but it'll foam if you put too much in.

As for the other questions...if you're fishless cycling then that means you're adding some form of ammonia into your water right? So what do you mean by "the water tests are all good"? If you have 3-5ppm of ammonia disappearing in 24 hours, no nitrites and low nitrates then your tank is cycled. If you're just letting the tank sit empty and running then its probably not doing anything, and of course your tests are good because there's nothing in the tank...its just water...

A pair of rams would be very happy in a 35...(but not with your current stock, assuming you're moving those to the big tank when its safe??) If its cycled right now then all you'd need to do is add them after acclimating them. If the nitrates are high then yes, you should do a water change first...but that should be common sense since hopefully you're doing at least weekly water changes on that tank already right? No reason you'd need a new filter...unless you have a UGF and want to replace it with a HOB power filter.

 

[Timbo]

Q. Would the Oscars bully the Pictus? I need help choosing tankmates!



A. Oscars will bully anything that is smaller than a trident submarine and most things that are bigger. P.S. Oscars can fit things in their mouths that defie belief. to proove it put a boeing 747 in the tank and watch !!!