Aquarium Water Viscosity

Hey guys,


What other than the bio load contributes to the viscosity of water in an aquarium? I had my 3 deacons with sand substrate and a single rock, and the water was perfect. Crystal clear, algae free and bubbles popped as soon as they reached the surface i.e. the viscosity was perfect.

Then, as I got the eel, I chucked in a few more rocks as well as a nice driftwood that had been thoroughly soaked and cleaned for about 2-3 weeks. Suddenly, the viscosity is way off i.e. the bubbles are trapped below the surface of the water, unable to break through. A new form of algae also started forming. It's not dense, but grassy and evenly distributed accross the rear panel of the tank.

Is this normal? Is the wood the cause? How do I go about getting the viscosity right again?

---------- Post added at 08:01 ---------- Previous post was at 08:01 ----------

Ps: Viscosity - A measure of the resistance of a fluid which is being deformed by either shear stress or tensile stress (from WikiPedia.org)

 

Bit 'o a weird one here Shibs... Here's my take on it...

2-3 weeks of soaking driftwood might help to reduce the tannin discoloration,but that piece of wood will still leach organic compounds into the water for a while...
You added another "biggish?" fish,the eel,to your tank that is still "newish"

Your filter is playing "catch-up",increasing its population of bacteria,to be able to cope with the heavier bio load... Now it's not as simple as Amonia to nitrate - there are other processes involved as well - these create what is known as DOG - dissolved organic compounds..anacumilation of these can lead to an increase of the water surface tension,creating the phenomena you are seeing at your water surface...They just love sticking to any form of air surface...

A good waterchange or two gets rid of it and the tank's filter should kick in properly soon..

As for the algea - Far as I know,your tank has no rooted plants or anything innit - this leads to a slow but steady buildup of nitrate thats not getting used up... try introducing some plants(Know this is difficult in a tank containing Severums,but big Amozon swords or Java fern esp. should work) - Maybe also reduce the time your lights are on + some big water changes...
+ there is always Crystal Algea Go to use if this does not work...

G'luck mate

 

Well, the Fire Eel (dubbed "Eelie" by my girlfirend) is only around 20cm at the moment which is not too rough, and I did a big water change yesterday and added BioVital which should boost the sump a bit, so I'll just do another water change today and see how it goes. Bubbles were already trapped under the surface when I got up this morning.

I only turn on half the canopy lights (white & pink) during the day (between 07h00 in the morning and 16h00 in the afternoon. Over weekends I'll usually power up the Hopar T5 hoods as well.

I think I need a bigger sump... I've got a 300L tank and only 25L sump, so it's working overtime to get the contaminants stable. Other than that, an air pump could probably sort out the surface tension issue, but that just looks unnatural. Then I might as well get a blue silica substrate and add a few plastic palm trees and a bubble volcano and/or diver..!

---------- Post added at 09:01 ---------- Previous post was at 09:01 ----------

Will Java Moss suffice as a plant?

 

Dont worry Shibs - it usualy sorts itself out pretty soon...

Given time and a coupla waterchanges will do the trick...

 

Well, I'll be doing a waterchange every day after work till Friday. hopefull that works!

---------- Post added at 09:01 ---------- Previous post was at 09:01 ----------

My UV Steriliser should arrive before Friday so in a perfect world that'll help tackle any algae that happens to drift around.

 

You do get "anti-foam" products for ponds that reduces levels of DOC"s(not DOG's as I wrote earlier..lol) and messes with the tension of the water surface,but to me they are a waste of time and money - coupla good water changes and your problems solved...

 

The SPCA is a very effective reducer of the levels of DOGs in our neighbourhood. LOL.

Yes, it does seem like a waste of money. That term however becomes less and less meaningful to me as the weather worsens. I like shopping on the internet when it's raining outside...

I wish I could get a proper picture of my eel to post on the forum, but he's such a shy bugger! I never see him. I got up in the middle of the night for some water, and had a look at my tank and saw his little head poking out from behind a rock, so I dropped a cube of bloodworms in front of him and he sniffed it for a while before taking a bite. I had to be super careful not to wake up the Golden Severum (appropriately named "Botter") as he chows a whole cube in one bite! He's very greedy...