Bubbles In Pre-cycling..?

[SteveC]

Hi, total newbie, getting to grips with things aquatic.

I have a 3' x 1' x 1.5'(high) tank (130l fact fans). I bought it second hand, and apparently it's been unused for a year.

I have:

• an undergravel filter with two risers
• an Eheim 2313 heater/filter combo unit
• an immersed heater that's off because it's keeping temperature fine with the eheim
• four small plants
• 12kg (I think?!) of gravel
• 25w tube lighting above

Now, I'm having two problems getting it generally running before I worry about cycling.

1. The surface is totally covering in tiny bubbles, eventually piling into foam. It's glass covered, and when I open it, immediate ones burst instantly, a quick stir removes the rest
2. I'm having problems stopping the various pipes from kinking and restricting/cutting off the filter flow

The water is pretty clear, just tiny air bubbles, but from a few meters it looks pretty crystal (no carbon filter, just little cylinders, "cotton wool", fine plastic spaghetti, "cotton wool").

Is the first a problem, and any hints to avoid the second?

I've just solved the second problem by sellotaping the tube in a couple of places so that it's not trying to collapse itself.

 

[beux]

What plants have you got?

 

[SteveC]

What plants have you got?

Haven't the foggiest, the ones that looked pretty and interesting in the aquatic shop OK, that's not helpful, how about a picture? Better way of describing the setup, you can even see the mat of bubbles..

(hope that works, if not, let me know)

 

[SteveC]

Just decided to run a set of tests to see if that suggested anything odd about the chemistry... As per a lot of people on the boards, I'm picking up levels of ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. I've put a bit of the ever trashed Stress Zyme into the tank, but other than a bit of plant decomposition (does that count as ammonia source?), just the conditioner and tapwater.

They are as follows, mean anything?

PH 8.5
Ammonia: 0.1mg/l
Nitrites: 0.1mg/l
Nitrates: <12.5mg/l

Looks unlikely to mean anything, certainly not regarding my foam/bubbles, but thought I'd mention it...
Concerned about oxygen levels as these bubbles are reducing the cycled surface water to zero (it's under a protective bubble!

Oh, regarding plants, I doubt that, I've cleared the bubbles and they've re carpetted in 30-40mins