Help with bubbles at top of tank!

kyle8921 · 06-30-2008, 09:57 PM

Hey everyone. I just got a new 2-gallon fishtank. It uses an underground filtration system (I've read recently that these aren't so great) and I'm having a problem with the bubbles from the air pump.

The tube that the air flows upward into is not very high, so I assumed that the water level was meant to be higher than the top of the tube, so the air bubbles are released where the fish can swim. It's maybe a centimeter from the top of the water level. If I were to lower the water level so the air bubbles were released directly into the air instead of the water, it'd be so low that it would look really bad

Any, the problem is this: the bubbles build up at the top of the tank, and fill the entire space between the top of the water and the plastic between the light (about an inch and a half.) They almost appear sticky. When I open the feeding-door thingy, the bubbles explode out of there too. It's kinda like soap bubbles.

However, I have never used soap on anything in the tank at all.

Any advice?

Also, I have three fish.. two orange goldfish and an extremely small, gray-black fish in a 2-gallon tank. Is that big enough?

There's a unique story behind each fish and I really don't want them to die!

Ruadh · 06-30-2008, 11:21 PM

You say it's a new tank. Did you clean it before you set it up?
What did you clean it with.
Did you cycle the tank before you put the fish in?
Do you have test kits for the ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite levels?
If so, what are the levels.
I don't know anything about UGF's but I'm pretty sure the lift tube needs to be below the water level as you have it now, otherwise the water could not be pumped through it.
These questions and probably more need answers so the fine folks here can help you properly.

Rick

kyle8921 · 06-30-2008, 11:40 PM

Sorry for not mentioning more.

I don't have any test kits right now.. I've been really sick the past few days and haven't been able to get out of the house, but tomorrow I may pick some up for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates (depending on the cost, I'm really broke right now.)

I did not cycle the tank, as I didn't know that I should have

I just used warm tap water to clean the gravel, rocks, and plastic plants off, plus the plastic tubing and everything else.

After I put the water in, I put something in the water that removes the chlorine and let the water sit for awhile before adding the fish.

I probably made a bunch of mistakes...

I've searched all over the internet and I can't find out why the bubbles don't just pop at the top of my tank, but instead they just build up and don't go away...

Ruadh · 06-30-2008, 11:48 PM

This is a poser.
It sounds like there is a residue in the tank or equipment etc. that didn't get washed off.
Take out the plants and anything else except the filter that will come out easily and wash them in a weak soap solution.
Make sure you rinse them really well in clear water and leave them out for now.
Take the lid off and skim all the scum off the top of the water that you can.
Do a 50% water change and, hopefully that will get you through till tomorrow when someone more helpful than I can be will reply.
Do a search on here for freshwater cycling and read up on it. Also, at the opening page of "freshwater aquarium setup" there is a subject called "fishless cycling for dummies". This will tell you a lot of what you need to know in order to keep an aquarium well.
Don't worry too much about making little mistakes, that's how we ALL learn. You made a good move coming on here.
You'll get some really good advice.

Good luck

Rick

somerton16 · 07-01-2008, 12:21 AM

well to start off it is too late to do a fishless cycle since he/she already have fish. but you still need to read up on the nitrogen cycle. if you go to the top of any page in the "articles section" there is a indepth article on the nitrogen cycle. but here is the basics fish produce ammonia in the form of poo then it turns to nitrite then the benefical bacteria turns that into nitrate and the only way to get ride of nitrates are threw water changes. ammonia and nitrites are deadly to fish in high levels and being a small tank they will probally be bad at any level. once the benefical bacteria starts converting the ammonia and nitrites then you will know ur tank is cycled. i would suggest doing a 25% water change every ohter day to get rid of the ammonia and nitrates till you get a good amount of the good stuff. gold fish produce alot of waste also.

as far as the UGF goes i've never used one so i cant help ya out there sorry. keep us posted on the progress. and once you get your test result post them so we can help ya out a little better as we will know what is going on in the tank.

the bubbles at the top do they look like soap bubbles, was the tank used or new? it sounds like its a protien build up. you need to get some surface agitation. an air stone will help a little. let us know how you make out.

orb4me · 07-01-2008, 03:42 PM

IMO, I wouldnt use soap, you could clean it all with 1 part chorox and 19 parts water, rinse rinse and rinse some more. If you dont have a thermometer, use the back of your hand as a sense of water temp. A cheap test kit is about $9 for strips. You might want to use one to check your tap water as well.

Reread the instructions, and maybe there are pictures to show you where the top of the return filter should be. The tank you have is small, so your going to have to keep a close eye on it, and do frequent water changes.

I use a undergravel filter, and other than cleaning it, I like them. Goldfish poo some pretty big stuff, so cleaning will be a major thing you will have to do. \

Hang in there, we all started with no knowledge and went up and down from there

somerton16 · 07-01-2008, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kyle8921

Also, I have three fish.. two orange goldfish and an extremely small, gray-black fish in a 2-gallon tank. Is that big enough?

There's a unique story behind each fish and I really don't want them to die!

i think everyone including myself have missed the obvious here. 2 gallons is no where near big enough for all these fish. gold fish are extremely messy fish plus they grow pretty big and eventually like in the near future you will need to get a bigger tank i would suggest atleast a 30 gallon tank.

kyle8921 · 07-02-2008, 03:50 AM

A bigger tank will be tough... I have to move this tank at least twice a year to-and-from Dayton, Ohio to Kent, OH where I go to school at Kent State University.

Actually, that's where I first got these fish first.

I'm kinda bored, so I'll explain.

For some reason, some unknown students bought a bunch of cheap feeder fish and dumped them into a large fountain in our student center. The water is dirty, freezing and filled with chemicals, so being the environmentalists my friends and I are, we saved many of the fish from death and returned them to my friend's tank.

I ended up keeping two of the feeder fish, a male and a female. Also, my friend gave me this tiny black fish too. He said that the fish came from his home in Chicago, then to his Pittsburgh home, and finally to his dorm room at Kent State. And now, it's in Dayton, OH with me. (this little guy has traveled pretty far! haha)

So, I bought a bowl for them while still at college, and just recently I upgraded them to a 2-gallon tank.

--

The three fish are very small, and the 2-gallon tank seems sufficient, but I might upgrade to a 5-gallon. I found a nice, affordable one that has 3 filtration systems in it (it uses a blue, replaceable filter thing, the kind that I'm used to, instead of JUST an under-gravel filtration system.)

--

Well, the bubbles in my tank right now are fluctuating in size. For a while, I thought that the problem had stopped, and roughly an hour later, I returned to find a mountain of bubbles at the top of the water in my tank.

Tomorrow after work, I am going to pick up a water-test kit (found one that tests for five different factors, nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, hardness and.. something else I forgot right now :P) and I will update again.

Thanks for the help so far, everyone! I will most likely upgrade to a larger tank if I can get some more money....

orb4me · 07-02-2008, 03:09 PM

Thank you for saving the little guys.

Maybe you can get someone to fish sit while your at school or home. just a thought.

5 gal should take care of the little guys till you can get something bigger, but then you really run into a transportation issue.

I still dont understand why you have bubbles. Did you read instructions for ugf? What is moving the water? a power head that sticks inside the tube, or an air pump that blows water through a plastic hose?

kyle8921 · 07-03-2008, 03:04 AM

I read the instructions... it's all set up fine.. There's an air pump that blows through a tube.

BUT, I just ran some tests... and it's not good.

Nitrates: 0-5 mg/L Safe, apparently

Nitrites: .5-1 mg/L "Caution-Stress" my test chart says

Total Hardness (Gh): 150 ppm "Hard"

Total Alkalinity (KH): 300 "High"

pH: >8.4 "Alkaline" (was actually off the chart too high...)

---

So I've identified some problems... but not why I still have a mountain of bubbles on top of my tank.

Should I change some of the water immediately?

Also, I may buy the 5-gallon tank tomorrow, along with new gravel, plants, and other stuff to put into the tank.

Would it be a good idea to leave the fish in the old tank, and "cycle" this tank a bit first?

...my fish are extremely resilient... lol.

-

Update

Just found out that the smaller fish I have is a Zebra Dania. I read that they like to be in schools, so I feel kinda bad that I only have one. Haha... but I guess he gets along with my two goldfish fine.