Cloudy water with a film on surface???

[vealboy]

I noticed this morning before I left for work that my tank water appears kind of cloudy and there looks to be a translucent/oily looking film on the surface of the water. Also noticed a small collection of what appear to be foamy bubbles. The water did not smelly funky bad, but does look bad.

Any thoughts on what might cause the water to look like this? Could it be a bacteria bloom?

Some notes about my set up:
55 gal tank
19 Neon Tetra
20 Red Eye Tetra
5 Clowns (small)
1 Pleco
1 Red Wag Swordtail (male)

Penguin 350 w biowheel, last changed filter 05/22/09
Fusion 600 air pump w airstone
power head (cant recall brand name) to add water current

Live plants - some arachnis (sp?) and anubias nana on driftwood and a small moss ball. I have full spectrum lights (unsure of total wattage right now)

Decorative stones I got from the store, and some that I inheirited w the tank in February.

The most recent events leading up to today:
added 4 red wag swordtails (males) on 05/28/09 - only 1 survived
did a 20% water change on 06/01/09
added a small piece of driftwood that I previously had soaking in a small bucket before placing it in the tank. 06/01/09

I last fed the fish on 06/03/09 - was a little freeze dried bloodworm, a little pinch of flake.

I cant tell you the ammonia and nitrate levels now because I am at work, but will post them later after I get home. So thanks for reading this and sharing your thoughts with me.

[PASoracco]

the parts that catch my eye are the dying fish and the added drift wood.

were the swordtails added from quarantine or straight from the shop? if you had them in QT, did they look alright before the move? do your water parameters match up? Did the fish show any symptoms (flashing, heavy breathing, loss of color, etc) before dying or just belly up?

you said you soaked the driftwood; how did the water you pulled it out of look? how long did it soak and did you boil it before you let it soak?

[chefkeith]

What kind of driftwood is it? Driftwoods leach tannins. The tannins would dye the water and drop the pH some. Tannins also act as an antibacterial agent, which in this case would cause a bacterial die off, and cloud up the water. Those bacteria that are more resistant to the tannic acids may even bloom causing the water to cloud up even more.

Tannins are not a bad thing. Commercial fish breeders actually add tannic acid to the water as a way to prevent mold, fungus, and bacteria from growing on the fish eggs.

[vealboy]

the parts that catch my eye are the dying fish and the added drift wood.

were the swordtails added from quarantine or straight from the shop? if you had them in QT, did they look alright before the move? do your water parameters match up? Did the fish show any symptoms (flashing, heavy breathing, loss of color, etc) before dying or just belly up?

you said you soaked the driftwood; how did the water you pulled it out of look? how long did it soak and did you boil it before you let it soak?

Swords were in a short quarantine, probably only a few days (which i know is not long enough) which has been my standard practice. The swords looked pretty good, and I did not pay much attention to their behavior before dying. When I was down to just 2, I did observe one (who later died) taking refuge from the water current and would stay near the bottom of the tank. Occasionally it would swim with the other, but then it would take a break and rest near the bottom. The next day the behavior continued, and I notice then when it was swimming it would tend to go sideways, and it did get flipped belly up when it swam over the airstone. The fish later got near the powerhead, and was blown around before it came to rest on its side on the substrate. I netted it into a separate container after that to observe. Less than an hour later it expired. The last remaining sword is still very active and appears healthy.

The driftwood soaked in hot water (steamy) for about a day and a half. I changed the water three times, and the water was fairly clear with the last change, so into the tank it went.

I also just took some measurements:
NO3: 40
NO2: 0
HARDNESS: 120
ALK: 0
PH: 6.4 (The PH of my tap water is 7:5)

[vealboy]

What kind of driftwood is it? Driftwoods leach tannins. The tannins would dye the water and drop the pH some. Tannins also act as an antibacterial agent, which in this case would cause a bacterial die off, and cloud up the water. Those bacteria that are more resistant to the tannic acids may even bloom causing the water to cloud up even more.

Tannins are not a bad thing. Commercial fish breeders actually add tannic acid to the water as a way to prevent mold, fungus, and bacteria from growing on the fish eggs.

small piece of Mopani hardwood that i bought from Petco. The water is considerably more cloudy now than it was this morning.

[chefkeith]

Oil on the water's surface would be normal also for new driftwood, such as Mopane.

Here's an interesting read from the Skeptical Aquarist-

"Mopane wood. The "bogwood" most generally on the market is mopane (Colophospermum mopane). Call it "mo-PAHN-eh" rather than "mo' pain" The "Welaby wood" with a tag attached that's been showing up at your LFS in recent years is also mopane, exported from South Africa: designer bogwood!

What is mopane? Throughout southern Africa, mopane is the predominant large tree that forms dense stands of woodland in low-lying river valley bottoms of the Zambezi and its tributaries. Mopane is a tree of the dry sub-tropical savanna rather than a rain forest tree. It's an important part of the savanna ecosystem, for its leaves are unusually high in proteins and the wood is hard and tough, the first choice for slow-burning firewood (according to Niles Eldridge, Life in the Balance pp 10ff). We want it in our aquaria for similar reasons: its density makes mopane sink even before it's become waterlogged, and it decays especially slowly. You might suspect that some protective oils are responsible for mopane's rot-resistance, like the oils that famously protect teak and mahogany. In 1995, students at the University of Zimbabwe's Department of Pharmacy working on an honors project found that oil steam-distilled from Colophospermum mopane had some antifungal and antibacterial properties in the laboratory. Scope the abstract. Similar oils may make mopane unpalatable to Lory cats, like Panaque, that usually ingest wood fiber but leave mopane alone, as Robert T. Ricketts has recently noticed. "

[PASoracco]

The driftwood soaked in hot water (steamy) for about a day and a half. I changed the water three times, and the water was fairly clear with the last change, so into the tank it went.

How was the water after the first change? Similar in quality to your tank water now? The longer soak period in the tank along with being picked at by fish and having moving water churning around it might have brought some yucky stuff up out of the wood.

i just saw your post where you said its from petco. i'd like to say i trust it because its from a large chain store, but i've had so much terrible experience with them that i wouldn't put it past them to sell some funkified drift wood.

[vealboy]

Wheeeew! Thanks Chef. I am assuming that the appearance of the water is due to the driftwood then.

[vealboy]

The driftwood soaked in hot water (steamy) for about a day and a half. I changed the water three times, and the water was fairly clear with the last change, so into the tank it went.

How was the water after the first change? Similar in quality to your tank water now? The longer soak period in the tank along with being picked at by fish and having moving water churning around it might have brought some yucky stuff up out of the wood.

i just saw your post where you said its from petco. i'd like to say i trust it because its from a large chain store, but i've had so much terrible experience with them that i wouldn't put it past them to sell some funkified drift wood.

The wood in question is from ZooMed (www.zoomed.com) that I got at Petco. I felt pretty good about it.

Separately, I did add a second anubias nana on driftwood to the tank recently too. I bought this at the store where it was in a planted tank. I assumed that since the plant was growing on the wood (of unknown origin) that this wood was sufficiently cured.

[chefkeith]

Like Soracco mentioned, you probably should of boiled it in water for about 8 hours first. It's still not too late to boil it. It will leach much less after doing so.

[vealboy]

Like Soracco mentioned, you probably should of boiled it in water for about 8 hours first. It's still not too late to boil it. It will leach much less after doing so.

OK, cool. I was really, really worried that the appearance of the water was something unhealthy for the fish. I am relieved that it is only the leaching driftwood and is not something harmful.

[chefkeith]

You probably should of at least quarantined that other piece of driftwood with the anubias nana also. Never know what organisms it could be harboring. Hitchhikers can sometimes be good, but other times can be real bad.

[chefkeith]

OK, cool. I was really, really worried that the appearance of the water was something unhealthy for the fish. I am relieved that it is only the leaching driftwood and is not something harmful.

It might not be very harmful to the fish, but dead bacteria is still a pollutant. You probably should do some 20% water changes until it clears up just to be on the safe side. Try to get the oil off the surface too. Paper towels should soak it up.

[vealboy]

Thanks Chef. I removed the driftwood and boiled it for about 15 minutes today. The water was dark like tea, I assume that is the leached tannins. I have kept the wood out of the tank for now, but in a pitcher of water too keep it waterlogged.

I did a 20% water change yesterday and again today. The water is still quite cloudy, and a big foamy mass develops where the filter spills into the tank. I am periodically skimming the foam off the top. The water smells a bit funky today too. I cant really tell if the color is any less cloudy/milky in appearance.

This has been a very painful learning experience for me. I pulled out an old 10gal tank that I once kept when I was a child. I cleaned it up, and filled it with water, the seals are in good shape, so now I will have a dedicated q-tank, and a place where I can grow my own plants. It needs a heater, a thermometer, a new light, and a filter.

I am going to re-read the article from Diana about a fishless cycle and get this tank going.

[Diana]

Check the ammonia levels.
I have occasionally seen high ammonia associated with foam (long lasting bubbles) and cloudy water.