Tons of white foam/bubbles? what the heck is this!!

[Nem0]

last week, I noticed some white bubbles/dust in the tank’s back compartment. Over the weekend it seemed to have gotten exponentially worse. Doesn’t seem like much is in the main tank, there are some particles floating and being pushed around by the pumps. Lights have been off, temp is 78*

Tank is a IM 30L, no livestock in it yet. It’s fully cycled.

Pics show last week first then some I took today...not sure what this is but it looks kinda sketch

 

[BadFish619]

I think its salt... if there is surface agitation in that area the water will land up there then evaporate leaving salt behind

 

[Nem0]

I think its salt... if there is surface agitation in that area the water will land up there then evaporate leaving salt behind

I thought so too, but I’ve never seen this much of a concentration of salt before. Let me try and get some of it out of the tank and see

 

[samnaz]

Did you rinse your sand and or rock before adding it?

 

[Nem0]

Did you rinse your sand and or rock before adding it?

Yes to both. Tanks been up for about 1.5 months

 

[Nem0]

So it seems like its not salt. I tried taking it out and dissolving it under tap water...nothing. seems more like flour or something similar to that

 

[BadFish619]

So it seems like its not salt. I tried taking it out and dissolving it under tap water...nothing. seems more like flour or something similar to that

Aragonite sand? Could be calcium

 

[Nem0]

Doesn’t look like calcium. Very soft

 

[BadFish619]

Strange, still looks like salt to me... I'm sure someone will be able to figure it out. I'm out of ideas!

 

[Nem0]

Strange, still looks like salt to me... I'm sure someone will be able to figure it out. I'm out of ideas!

I think some of it is salt, but the other flakey yellow stuff i do not know

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Hi,

Is there any surface agitation? My guess with the bubbles I saw and it getting bigger, I guess bacteria since the surface may be stagnant.

#reefsquad.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Young tank, new sand will still have fines/dust in it. Depending on the grain size, dust can settle in there. If you have wrasses that sleep in the sand or sand burrowing fish, this dust can be released.

 

[RobW]

I think some of it is salt, but the other flakey yellow stuff i do not know

What type of salt are you using?

 

[ghostman]

That is protein surface scum. Your tank is a bit too full of water. The water is not flowing through the back channels, and the scum is not being filtered out. Lower the water level a bit and have the water flow through a filter sock and some carbon media or a protein skimmer. It will go away.

 

[Nem0]

Hi,

Is there any surface agitation? My guess with the bubbles I saw and it getting bigger, I guess bacteria since the surface may be stagnant.

#reefsquad.

yes there is. 450gph return and a 30oish powerhead. I didnt want that much agitation because there's nothing in the tank atm and didn't want to run my jebao full blast over the entire summer lol.

What type of salt are you using?

Using IO reef crystals. been using this for about 6 months no problems like this before.

That is protein surface scum. Your tank is a bit too full of water. The water is not flowing through the back channels, and the scum is not being filtered out. Lower the water level a bit and have the water flow through a filter sock and some carbon media or a protein skimmer. It will go away.

I was actually thinking this. it looks like scum/bacteria or some dirty stuff. i had the water level pretty low over the weekend (the tank is in my college house, I'm at home right now) and it seemed to get worse either with lower water level or just over the weekend. Its an IM 30L, how low should my level be? i'll get a pic of what its at now and edit the post

Also- I used caribsea reef sand. no aragonite

 

[ghostman]

I had an IM40, so I’m not sure if the configuration is different or not. Water flows down the outer surface skimmer chambers. You can have a filter sock or media in there. Water winds through the chambers to the center chamber to the return pump. The water level there should be a few inches less than the outer chambers. The higher it is, the less noise it makes, if it’s too high like yours, water can bypass all the media and the scum is not removed.

 

[Nem0]

Water leve

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

Looks like an IM Nuvo 20?

If so, the water level is high to me as well. On my Nuvo 20, the middle chamber is the return chamber which is the only chamber that gets low as water evaporates. I have that 2 inch below the line. I’ll take a pic in a sec

 

[Captain Quint]

That is protein surface scum. Your tank is a bit too full of water. The water is not flowing through the back channels, and the scum is not being filtered out. Lower the water level a bit and have the water flow through a filter sock and some carbon media or a protein skimmer. It will go away.

My first thought as well.

 

[Brett S]

Water leve

This is definitely too high. The water level in the overflow should be lower than the water level in the tank. That will cause a little waterfall effect as the water goes over the weir and it will take the gunk that builds up on the surface and mix it in to the water column so it can be filtered out.

It doesn’t have to be much lower than the water level in the tank. Half an inch is plenty. If it’s too much lower then you’ll get noIse and splashing from the water falling.

It was a bit hard to get a good picture, but this is how it looks on mine...