# Whats with the bubbles? also Brita water?



## greenween (Apr 8, 2006)

I recently began treating my dwarf puffers for ick(salt) and Internal parasites(metronidazole). At the same time, I added my bubble stone and changed from bullseye to Aquasafe. Does anyone know which of these things would cause half of the surface of my 10 gallon to be covered in bubbles? They pop instantly when you touch them with a spoon and when they reach the agitation of the filter. (the carbon filter cartridge is removed.) I just got the master test kit yesterday and perameters are: ph-8.0, nitrate5.0, nitrite-0, ammonia-0. I probably shouldn't have done so many things at once, and now I don't know what is causing this.
I've been wondering too, if anyone knows if brita filters some of the hardness out of water. It lowered the ph from 7.8 to 7.0. I haven't been able to find a hardness test, other than the strips. I was hoping to get away from the bottled water if I can. Anyone? :mrgreen:


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## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

All I know is that Brita does not do anything to the hardness of water.....


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## northfacehiker (May 31, 2006)

I have been looking for a liquid KH/GH test myself. I haven't found one locally, so I may end up having to look for one online.

I use tap water which is pretty hard here (and the pH is a sky high 8.5 out of my tap). If I kept a cichlid tank it would be perfect! I use a good dechlorinator, aerate my water for 24 hours and add one other chemical to bring the pH down to around 6.6 so I can put it in my tank. Even though I keep fish that are supposedly "soft water" fish (German Blue Rams and Panda Cories), they don't seem to mind the hard water. As a matter of fact my rams like their home so much they've spawned 2x's in the past 2 months.

Unless you know of something specific in your tap that would be extremely detrimental to your fish, I'd say stick with that. Just make sure the pH and the temperature of the new water is pretty close to what's already in the tank and you should be good.


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## komodbeam (Aug 21, 2006)

its most likely the salt. usually when i treat any tank with salt and put an airstone on it looks like i have a betta breeding project underway.


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## Puffer Pita (Jun 16, 2006)

Aquasafe will cause bubbles.


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## Dr_House (Aug 15, 2006)

I had the same issue when I switched water conditioners. I notice they bubble more when I treat at a higher dosage than recommended.

Out of curiosity, is there something wrong with your tap water?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Some water condintioners have EDTA in them. It causes bubbles, but it also detoxifies heavy metals (kelates them). Are the bubbles causing a problem?


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## harif87 (Jun 5, 2006)

EDTA!! I know that stuff! Its name is too long to spell out so they made it an abbrv. lol.
Like komodbeam said. It could very well be the salt. Due to the ionic nature of dissolved salt in water it causes bubbles to arise. This is why Protein Skimmers dont work on FW as they would on SW.

I just realized, the EDTA in water is also ionic (has a negative charge) so there is another culprit


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## flamingo (Nov 5, 2005)

Aquasafe is known to make water "foamy" etc. When you use them in brine shrimp containers it makes almost like a froth, coats the eggs, and prevents most from hatching.

It also just could of been the amount of meds and water conditioners used. It might coat the bubbles and prevent bursting, etc. When I use parasite or fungus meds and leave an airstone on, the bubbles take about an hour to go away.


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## Mr Aquarium (Jan 18, 2005)

I don;t recall having a problem with aqua safe and i used it for a couple years before i moved to place with well water.
I would not use one of them water purifier things though, heard they take out to much stuff in the water.
Here is a good read that should be able to answer some of the things you need to know,
http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-chem.html


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