sump foam/bubbles

[PufferGuy]

I looked in my sump today and theres like foam or i dont know how else to explain it in there... i checked my water parameters and ammonia, nitrite, nitrate are all 0. Last addition to the sump/tank was just adding some chaeto to the sump that i got on ebay. Anyone know what this is or why this is going on?? Theres a pic below.

 

[AdeptMrSniffles]

Where does it seem to be originating from? Is your skimmer still producing bubbles? Your pump may have come a little loose.

 

[Kazarko]

Did you use a new tap water conditioner today, or add other chemicals? Sometimes my water conditioner creates a lot of foam that builds up and makes my skimmer go crazy.

 

[PufferGuy]

i dont ever add conditioners and i dont think its my skimmer pump... what should i check for?

 

[Kazarko]

did anything die off recently in your tank? Did you clean off a lot of algae? foam could be from excess organic waste.

 

[PufferGuy]

no on basically all those accounts... besides anything dying and i havent seen anything die off

 

[AdeptMrSniffles]

So the connection from your skimmer pump to the chamber is secure?

 

[PufferGuy]

i have a HOB skimmer im using, but when i looked in there i did notice it wasnt making bubbles into the collection cup.. i dont see how that can happen though..

also, my water looks a little "milky" or translucent

 

[Kazarko]

some skimmers are not very good and need constant tweaking to produce foam

 

[bjohanson1234]

It could be that the seal on your pump is leaking and it is spitting bubbles out of the leak.

Might need to look into that. I had a maxi jet 1200 that leaked like that, I had to take it off and seal it with silicone.

 

[PufferGuy]

so do i need to take the pump out? how to i check for the leak?

 

[yote]

With using a HOB skimmer,if its not producing bubble in the chamber,then its probably alright.
The foam could be coming from the cheato producing oxygen.At least thats my guess.

 

[PufferGuy]

well i stirred up the cheato in the fuge a little and it seems to have helped a little... but what causes water to have a milk-ish look? its not too bad and all the fish/corals/inverts are all doing fine but i just wanna prevent it if its gonna be a problem.

 

[yote]

Do you have cheato or caulerpa?

 

[PufferGuy]

i got some caulerpa a while ago but it died off im assuming because my light wasnt strong enough, so i got a bag of cheato which is doing pretty well in my fuge now

 

[yote]

Could there have been any caulerpa left?
Usually,when caulerpa goes asexual,it'll give the water a milky look.

 

[project5k]

yea dead clurpa will milk up the water... and if there is enough of it, i have heard of it killing other things in the tank

 

[PufferGuy]

theres definitely not a lot of it left.. should i just wait it out to go away with water changes then?

 

[yote]

I'd definitely be doing water changes.

 

[project5k]

yea, if your not gonna keep the calurpa super lit 24x7 then i'd get all i could out by hand and then i'd be doing as many water changes as i dared...