Foam

[Reef69]

Well, I got back from a week trip to mexio last night so my tanks were looking like crap since they were only being fed and not taken care of..I decided i was going to do water changes in all 3 of them today, so i got to it.. I bought 15 gallons of water..10 for my 90 and 5 for my 25...I started mixing the 10 gallons with the salt when i noticed a white layer on the water surface that i had never seen before, anyways, i mixed it and it went away..when i added the 10 freshly made gallons of salt water to the tank, foam started coming out everywhere in my sump..all over the surface, the skimmer started pulling out stuff like crazy!!!..I was in the verge of crying..thinking it would be sopa left in the container where I mixed the water and the salt..i called My good friend Joey, who used to work at aquatic warehouse and asked him what the hell it was?..he said it could have been soap..so i freaked out..i ran up..got my whisper and 4 cardriges of carbon and pluged it in the 90..turned off the skimmer and waited...5 minutes later the foam was ALL gone and the water clearning up...does anybody know what that foam was???..thks!

[Reef69]

I used RO water..everything looks good, fish are eating..corals look good..the foam goes back on when i turn they skimmer on..but the strange thing was..the foam didnt smell like soap..at all..

[Reef69]

Oceanic..its weid..i turn on my skimmer and it goes nuts pulling foam out..

[GaryP]

Some algaes can produce a soap type compound. Was there any foaming before you did the water change, or only after? Do you have any sort of nuisance algae problem like hair algae?

If it was only after was the water change then it was probably soap or some other type of surface active compound contaminating your water change equipement. The carbon and skimmer will remove it. Keep changing the carbon and run the skimmer if at all possible.

Most soaps will work at very low concentrations. You could have had an amount so small that you would have never been able to smell it. Check with anyone one that might have been doing upkeep on your tank while you were gone to see if they "washed out" anything they used for top off or anything else.

Just keep doing what you are doing. It should go away eventually.

Gary

[Reef69]

Thanks Gary,,right after I saw the foam..i said Gary!!!..but then i freaked out at how much foam there was...but when i turn the skimmer on, it fill up with foam and the water gets cloudy, i dont have or ever had algea problems..should i clean my skimmer?

[GaryP]

Nope, if it is soap, its doing it for you.


i noticed a white layer on the water surface that i had never seen before

Was the white layer on the surface of your tank or in the container you were making up the salt?

Gary

[Reef69]

in the container..all fish are eating normal and eating good..

[GaryP]

That's a good thing. Some soaps can effect the ability of gills to work properly.

Gary

[Reef69]

Im going to let the carbon run through the night, if anything bad is going to happen, it will over night..hopefully everything will be ok in the morning..will keep my fingers crossed..thanks Brian and Gary

[Instar]

Ionic concentrations of different elements will foam when new water is added. When there is a shift in the alkalinity and calcium content, trace elements and calcium that are not disolved will make a layer on the surface of the water container at first. Some elements take some time disolve and to balance out to achieve their equilibriums in newly mixed salt water. When doing a large water change or a significant water change, I always cut my skimmer back for this reason. Let the new salt oxidize organics in the tank water naturally, then turn the skimmer back on the next day. The new balanced salt mixing with the old water causes the cloudy look in the tank. Some organics are getting oxidized and some elements are precipitating due to the change in alkalinity/calcium content difference and the oxidizing capability in the new water. If I don't get a little cloudy and a little extra foam, then I know I either didn't change enough water or I'm doing really good at keeping the maintenance and balance going.
Yes clean your skimmer on a very regular basis and keep the collection cup and neck very clean. Thats the only way for it to work most efficiently. Brown solids in the neck collection area of your skimmer will kill a lot of the foam and go back into solution after a while. That will contribute to such things as you just experienced as well.

[Reef69]

Thanks alot Instar..funny thing..i turned my skimmer back on today..and it didnt pull anything out but brown stuff..skimmate..i was really scared it was soap..makes alot of sense now..Thats a Million all..

[Reef69]

yeah..makes alot of sense what Larry said..

[GaryP]

I'm just confused as to what is causing the oxidation that Larry is referring to. Larry are you adding permanganate or something to your salt? I don't think so. Saltwater shouldn't have anything that can act as an oxidizer in it. Oxidizers are things like chlorine, iodine, and potassium permanganate.

Larry, you lost me on this one. Its not often someone can stump me on a chemistry issue but you got me here.

Gary