Film On Air Pump Line

[gabbagabbahey38]

Hi, quick question...
I just purchased an air stone/air pump for my new 20 gal tank. Within about 4 days of installing it, a think white film has formed on the part of the line that's submerged in the water. Is this normal, or should I wipe it off?

Thanks

 

[waterdrop]

Hi there, yes that is totally normal and harmless. You can either clean it off in some way or just leave it to eventually go away after you finish your fishless cycling of the filter. It can be biofilms from the various species of bacteria in the tank or it may be other fungi or microorganisms (but usually its a type of biofilm that is not from the beneficial bacteria that all beginners are hoping for as its so important to grow them!)

Let us know if you need help with your fishless cycle. Its the most important core skill to learn at the beginning of the hobby. Gravel-clean-water-changing maintenance is also a very important skill as is the art of creating stocking plans.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[gabbagabbahey38]

Hi there, yes that is totally normal and harmless. You can either clean it off in some way or just leave it to eventually go away after you finish your fishless cycling of the filter. It can be biofilms from the various species of bacteria in the tank or it may be other fungi or microorganisms (but usually its a type of biofilm that is not from the beneficial bacteria that all beginners are hoping for as its so important to grow them!)

Let us know if you need help with your fishless cycle. Its the most important core skill to learn at the beginning of the hobby. Gravel-clean-water-changing maintenance is also a very important skill as is the art of creating stocking plans.

~~waterdrop~~

I'm actually in the process of a fish-in cycle. I bought fish without really knowing what goes in with the water, or how they live. After losing two fish I made some adjustments and now I'm doing well. Water changes (about 15%) and gravel vacuum every other day, along with reduced feeding, and water testing. The fish are doing better each day.

 

[waterdrop]

Great, glad to hear it. So you've read some of our things about trying to keep your ammonia and nitrite(NO2) within the narrow range of zero ppm to 0.25ppm by adjusting the percentage and frequency of your water changes? (We're always going on about that, it'd be hard to miss if you read other's threads ) WD

 

[gabbagabbahey38]

Great, glad to hear it. So you've read some of our things about trying to keep your ammonia and nitrite(NO2) within the narrow range of zero ppm to 0.25ppm by adjusting the percentage and frequency of your water changes? (We're always going on about that, it'd be hard to miss if you read other's threads ) WD

I'm not exactly sure what you're referring to. I read about how water changes during fish-in cycle. How should I adjust water changes?

 

[waterdrop]

Both ammonia and nitrite(NO2) are quite deadly to fish, even in tiny amounts. What we've learned over time is that its better to base the allowable concentration of these poisons on the results of testing using a good liquid-reagent based test kit (most of us like and use the API Freshwater Master Test Kit.) The gill or nerve damage likely to be sustained varies by species but a safe general guideline we use is 0.25ppm as the upper limit.

This is much better to use (at least at first) than a fixed percentage water change. It could well be that the fixed percentage you are using does indeed take care of the proper dilution but its not good to assume that. The concentrations can vary considerably over time and the smaller the tank is the more wildly they will vary. Every situation is different with different sizes and species of fish, tanks and water chemistry.

So what we recommend in a fish-in cycling situation is to test twice a day on the 12hour marks and then have the goal to be figuring out what percentage and frequency of changes will indeed keep you from going over the 0.25ppm max before you can be home again to change water. It usually takes about a month or a little more before you stop seeing traces of ammonia or nitrite showing up.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[gabbagabbahey38]

Thank you, that's very helpful. Can you recommend any place to get the testing kit cheap, I've looked around, they're all super pricey. Also, back to my original post, my black molly is eating the film off of the line, that's okay right?

 

[waterdrop]

I think a lot of UK people find the lowest price on ebay somewhere - are you UK?

 

[gabbagabbahey38]

No, I'm in the US. I'm looking ebay, definitely need to pick up a kit.