Possible soap in new tank?

[ibob991]

Hello guys, I am currently in crisis mode as the new fowlr tank I setup looks to have soap in it. I don't use soap anywhere near the tank or on anything that goes into it. Skimmer today had a bunch of bubbles with a rainbow sheen to them (this is why i believe its soap) and there is an oil slick ontop of the water in the display tank.

Tank was curing live rock with live sand and everything appeared normal. Added a bottle of bio-spira to help seed the live rock last night and this morning i find foam and the oil slick in the tank. Is it possible this is just bio-spira doing its thing or does the rainbow sheen in the bubbles confirm that it is in fact soap? If it is soap (only thing i can think of is maybe it was still on my hands in which case this is dawn dish soap), is the live rock/tank doomed or can this be fixed?

 

[Diesel]

Skimmers suppose to make bubbles............ tons of them!
Can you post some pics of the foam in your tank and do you have a overflow?

[HASHTAG]#reefsquad[/HASHTAG]

 

[Shep]

Oil slick and shiny bubbles are from the organic compounds in the water, increase surface agitation to help get rid of it. I do not think it is soap but keep an eye on it

 

[melypr1985]

To get rid of the oil slick on the surface of the water in the DT, point a powerhead up toward the surface and in the direction of your overflow. This will help with oxygenation in the water, breaking up those organic compounds shep mentioned, and push them to the overflow and down to where your skimmer can get rid of them.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

I feed out a lot of oily fish, to the point it looks like the Exxon Valdez is nearby.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Possibly an oil-filled pump that has crapped out and dumped it's oil? What pumps do you have in the tank. I've never had this problem with an aquarium pump, but when my robotic pool cleaner died (Aquabot), it left an oil slick on the surface of the water.

 

[ibob991]

Skimmers suppose to make bubbles............ tons of them!
Can you post some pics of the foam in your tank and do you have a overflow?
[HASHTAG]#reefsquad[/HASHTAG]

Here are some pics and you will see in the picture that I do infact have an overflow.

Possibly an oil-filled pump that has crapped out and dumped it's oil? What pumps do you have in the tank. I've never had this problem with an aquarium pump, but when my robotic pool cleaner died (Aquabot), it left an oil slick on the surface of the water.

Only pump in the tank is the return pump ( hydor 740) and seems to be functioning properly so I doubt it's actual oil.

 

[Diesel]

Don't worry.
That's normal.
Did you test your Po4 and No3?

 

[ibob991]

Right now the tank is curing the fresh live rock i have, not really monitoring the levels. Wasn't even going to worry about the no3 until another week as today only marks 1 week of cure/cycle.

 

[Diesel]

If you cycle the tank do it with out the skimmer.
Your skimmer will take out beneficial bacteria and you need those to cycle through.

 

[ibob991]

If you cycle the tank do it with out the skimmer.
Your skimmer will take out beneficial bacteria and you need those to cycle through.

is this a fact or opinion? just trying to know if I got bad information because I was told either way was fine.

 

[Diesel]

is this a fact or opinion? just trying to know if I got bad information because I was told either way was fine.

you can do either way but it just make your skimmer going crazy.
Skimmers remove a lot more than just Po4 and No3, Po4 and No3 is just a small fraction of it.