Bubbles not popping on surface

[feinhorn]

Does anyone know what it means when there are a whole bunch of bubbles on the surface of the water that do not pop right away? I thought I heard something about this but I can't remember. I have a lot of movment at the surface (air stone and two power filter). Hope this is not a problem.

[vjvl51]

Usually this is a sign of organics dissolved in the water. When was your last partial water change? What are your ammonia and nitrite readings? The answer to these questions will help us give you a better answer.

Vickie

[feinhorn]

I am still cycling then tank but I am in the end stages. Its been about four of five weeks. The ammonia is 0 ppm and the nitrites are high, don't know the exact ppm. I did a partial water change yesterday. I have noticed that it is taking a very long time for the nitrites to drop.

[vjvl51]

From your profile, I see that you have 13 inches of fish in a 30 gallon tank - about 50% of maximum bio-load. Normally we recommend only a 25% bio-load for cycling (http://www.aquariumpros.com/articles/fishcyclefw.shtml and http://www.aquariumpros.com/articles/stockguide.shtml). This could be one reason for the nitrites staying high. The bacteria that break the nitrites down into nitrates take longer to get established (IMO) than the bacteria that break down the ammonia. While a cycle is normally over in 4 to 6 weeks, a tank's bacteria doesn't really become stable until about 4 to 6 months.

Air movement is not a problem with Oscars.

How big was your partial water change? On a 30 gallon tank, I would be looking at 3 to 6 gallons. Oscars are known to be messy eaters, so the water needs to be changed on a regular basis. The other option would be to add an underground filter (not recommended with a digger which I think Oscars are) or upgrade your filter to a canister to control the wastes.

I would note here that Oscars will grow to be 12 inches long and it is recommended that your tank be a minimum of 78 inches long for one adult Oscar. This is more than the "rule of thumb" of one inch of fish per gallon of water because of the territory and swimming requirements of the Oscars (and they do produce a very heavy bio-load). Your pleco will also grow to 12 inches.

I would suggest a couple of partial water changes in the next week and see if that helps.

Vickie

[Nooboon]

Vickie.
If I remeber correctly from a prevoius thred, Feinhorn has moved these fish to a bigger 75 gal tank now. I guess the profile needs updating.

[vjvl51]

Thanks Nooboon. I guess this is why our profiles need to updated when we do a major change - myself included.

Vickie