Hey guys, i have a question. i've been cycling my fish tank for about 3 weeks now and i've noticed a layer of bubbles on the top of my water. i recently bought a undergravel filter because my LFS that specializes in cichlids told me that would be best for my tank. im thinking because of that and i have a big bubble wand in the back of my tank its just creating alot of bubbles but it didn't create this many when i first set all of it up. maybe i added too much conditioner im not sure. if anyone knows anything about this please help me thanks.

Was any soap used in cleaning? can you please test your water?

It could possibly be an indication of either poor water quality, or lack of oxygen in the water. Carry out a decent water change and see what happens in the next couple of days. Make sure that your filtration is creating oxygen bubbles.

i never used soap or anything like that. and i have tested my water ammon is .5 ppm nitrite is 5 ppm and nitrate is 10 ppm. and i did a 40 to 50% water change and the bubbles are still forming. i have a 60 gallon air pump connected to my UG filter so its bubbling just fine

i did take the carbon thingys off the ug filter because i read that they are pretty useless

Are you using any kind of cycle 'jump starter'? Sometimes those can give you a 'bubble scum' at the surface, as does overdosing regular conditioner on occasion.

the protein in some foods can create a foam layer as well.
What do you feed your fish?

johnnyphoenix wrote:

I'm using Nutrafin Cycle so maybe thats why... i'll just keep an eye on it and hopefully it will stop. and im not feeding my fish anything because i dont have any yet.

Thanks for all your advice. i'm hoping this will just go away with time.

add some more airation and some more surface agitation.

Hexclover wrote:



Ive noticed it with nutrafin cycle before. It should subside with regular water changes. I wouldn't worry about it.

i added the carbon things to my UG filter and the bubbles vanished. very odd.