Foamy water

terim

Junior Poster
Sep 25, 2007
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I am new to live plants and could use some help. I recently began having foamy water on my 55 gal. tank. All water parameters are good. The only thing different is I used Red Sea Fert Tabs in the substrate. I have done several 25 % water changes but with no success. I also changed my filters on my Bio-wheel. Still nothing, even when I turn down my air pumps on the air stones I still get the bubbles. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. :confused:
 

Tom Barr

Founder
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Jan 23, 2005
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You should not be using airstones in a planted tank to begin with.
When plants grow well, there's no foam or film on the surface.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 

terim

Junior Poster
Sep 25, 2007
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Thanks! I had no idea that the air stones would effect the plants. I've always run them for the fish. This may be a dumb question but not running the airstones won't have any effect on the fish? Also, could the fact that I am using two very small CO2 systems (Red Sea Turbo Bio) cause the water issue? Thanks again for your help.
 

VaughnH

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Jan 24, 2005
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The air bubbles you inject into the tank are removing the CO2 about as fast as you add it. The CO2 won't cause foamy water. However, if you are allowing yeasty water from the CO2 generators to get into the water that could be causing the problem. You can avoid that by using a bubble counter in the CO2 lines, which traps everything except gas.
 

Carissa

Guru Class Expert
Jun 8, 2007
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If plants are growing well they are putting out oxygen, the airstone would be more for tanks that have no plants and the water needs to circulate to the surface to absorb more oxygen to keep up with the needs of the fish.