excess foam after water change

[ezpilot]

I have noticed that every time I do a water change, my protien skimmer starts making a lot of very wet foam. If I don't keep an eye on it , the catch box will over flow in a very short time.
I have a 30 gal tank and have only changed 5 gals.
Anyone have an explaination to his?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The explanation would likely be be organics in the salt mix. What salt mix are you using?

[ezpilot]

I'm using Instant Ocean.
Could it has anything to do with the
S.G. not being exactly the same as the tank water?

[ezpilot]

Also, I noticed ths foamong calms down after about 3-4 hours

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Salinity differences shouldn't do anything much, but there may be something in the IO that you have, or the containers that you are using to make it (or the fresh water itself) that has surfactants (soap-like molecules) in it.

If you froth the fresh IO with something (like your hands), do you get bubbles to form that stay around for more than say 30 seconds?

[ezpilot]

I mix the water in a Rubbermaid trash can that has only been used for the aquarium water. I don't see any bubbles hanging around when I stir it. The salinity was a little high because I wanted to bring up the tank by .001, so the make-up water was around .030.

I tought IO was one of the better salt mix. Are most people using something else?

[dnjan]

Do your corals seem to slime after a water change? If so, the skimmer could be reacting to the coral slime.

[ezpilot]

The tank is only 4 weeks old, no corals.
I have 2 Green Chromis, 2 feather dusters and a Coral Banded shrimp. There is also some zoos and a few small anemones on the rock, there is no reaction by anyone to the new water.

I guess it is something in the water since I'm using tap water.
I filter the tap water with a Brita filter, use Aqua Safe to declorinate, then pour it through a Poly Filter, then mix in the salt.

[GeorgiaSalt]

When you do your water change are you stirring up the sand? You may be releasing organics from the detritus.

Just a thought,
GS

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I tought IO was one of the better salt mix. Are most people using something else?

I use IO myself.

The folks above have made several good suggestions. I don't know which effect or combination of effects it might be. I also wouldn't worry much about it, especially in a new tank like that that probably has lots of organics around.

[vgibbens]

FWIW, whenever I used Stress Coat or Jungle Labs Water Safe, the protein skimmer would foam really bad. I use Amquel+ now for dechloriminator and don't get the foaming.

[ezpilot]

thanks for the info.
I'll post back after next water change.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

You're welcome. :)

Happy Reefing in 2004!

[kbd]

Fwiw,

There is (apparently, allegedly) a batch of Kent saltwater mix in Europe with excessive conditioning agent that is causing a lot of foaming at the mouth !

:)

kim

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks for the heads up, Kim. :)

[friedenmeister]

this excessive foaming is also caused by stress coat indeed. i have it horribly right now. anybody know how to make it go away. carbon doesn't work and short of a water change, i don't konw what to do.

[jdieck]

I have used IO and Kent and after mixing in a 55 gal poly tank I aereate heavyly for 24 hours to stabilize the alkalinity and PH(Three large airstone Disks with an LS15 diaphragm/piston airpump). What I have noticed is that with some batches the aereation brings up a lot of dirt (Brown stuff) Much like skimming in the mix tank, but it does not smell at all so my best guess is that the salt used for the batch had some soil or dust dirt in it.
When I add the water to the tank the skimmer (ETSS 1000) foams a lot more for about an hour. (No noticed stress or any change in any of the corals clams fish or inverts)
By the way, I think I am a little too picky because before adding the new water I match PH, Alkalinity, Calcium, Magnesium and temperature.

Fried:
About every four months I totally clean the skimmer so it takes some time for it to kick back on, in order to accelerate the process I use I little of stress coat to promote the foaming. (about 5 ml for 250 gals.) When I have overdosed ( a couple of times), I found that the skimmer itself is the best way to remove the stuff. Just readjust it back to generate a more normal rate of foam to prevent overflows(Besides adjusting the water flow you may need to restric the input air depending on your skimmer). After a while the amount of foam will be reduced and just readjust it again. In about 6 to 12 hours it would have removed all the stuff and you will be back at your normal adjustments.

Good Luck
Jose.

[ezpilot]

Sounds good, but my skimmer does not have any adjustments other than the height of the collection box (a Ramora).
I'm doing a water change tomorrow, I'll see what happens.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

If the skimmer is foaming too much (how much is too much?) then shutting it off may be the best option. Then in a day or two, turn it back on and don't use the stress coat any more.

If it is just dumping out a lot of water, and you can contain it and replace it, that's a better (faster) option as it will be removing the offending compounds.

[friedenmeister]

i am with ezpilot. the foaming is rediculous. the collection cup is set as far up as it can go and all the skimmer pulls is some very light light yellow water. and lots of it. i shut it off for the night so that i could sleep without worrying about another overflow and because i am out of salt.

[friedenmeister]

mine is a remora, too. if this is what they do to stress coat i can't wait to see it in action.

[ezpilot]

Well I did a water change and sure enough the skimmer is going crazy. One thing I noticed was after I add the new water I have a lot of micro bubbles in the tank. They are coming from the skimmer. I have reaised the collection cup so it sits about 2 inchs high. This seems to slow the collect a bit. The foam is very wet and looks like the foam when you do your dishes. The liquid it collects is almost clear, with a yellow brown tint.
FYI: I am using Tetra AquaSafe as my dechlorinator.

Anyone have advice on a declorinator that does not produce a lot of foam?

[friedenmeister]

the wild foaming on mine has calmed down some. thank goodness

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I've never used a dechlorinator, so I cannot say for sure, but I'd look for one that makes no claims other than removing chlorine and chloramine. Especially no slime coating claims.

The tetra Aquasafe claims to:


Add Tetra AquaSafe to tap water either before or as it enters the aquarium. Will neutralise chlorine, remove dangerous toxic heavy metals from the water, and coat the delicate membranes of the fish in a protective permeable layer, actually helping to increase the rate at which tissue repair occurs, stimulating the healing processes of the fish


And to do that requires organics.

Perhaps Aquarium Pharmaceuticals does not contain such organics:


http://209.15.53.70/popup.asp?product_id=37

[friedenmeister]

i agree, it seems the slime coat restorer is the culprit

[jdieck]

It seems that the "slime" chemical in the product is a natural extract of Aloe Vera which is a natural surfactant.

[friedenmeister]

yes it is aloe vera

[ezpilot]

I added 5 gal to a 30 gal tank. The skimmer filled up 2 cups of wet foam then calms down. Next time I will try a different dechlorinator and see if there is a change.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

That sounds like a good plan. :)

[ezpilot]

Well I switched to using Marplex for a de-chlorinator.
Problem solved - no foaming.

So it looks like the "protective coat" additives are the problem.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

:thumbsup: