Micro Bubbles?

Question
Hi!  I have a 50 gallon aquarium that has been up and running for several years.
I do regular water changes (25% every week or two), fairly regular vacuumings
and don't think I overfeed (once a day and everything seems to get eaten).  The
fish in the tank seem healthy and content and aren't overcrowded.  I have an
AquaClear 500 filter.  I change the carbon every month or so... I usually just
rinse the sponge thoroughly and keep reusing it until it gets really old. For
the last months the water has been clouded with hundreds of thousands of 'micro
bubbles'.  It's driving me crazy!  Although it doesn't seem to affect the fish,
I think it looks awful!  Is it possible that I'm over-filtering the water?  I've
tried slowing down the flow coming out of the tank but i guess it's still a big
filter for my tank.  Do you have any ideas what could be causing this?  Any
suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Answer
Hello,

I don't think you are over filtering your tank. It is possible you have a bacterial bloom in your tank, and not good but bad bacteria.

Do you syphon your gravel? If not, it may be a good idea to start doing that weekly. It will help get rid of excess waste, and therefore decrease the amount of bad bacteria. Also, if you have not changed your filters sponge recently I recommend changing it. Changing your carbon once a month is fine though, it should not need more then that.

You may also want to use a combination of Waste Control and Cycle (both Nutrafin products I believe). These may help get rid of bad bacteria.

Sometimes when you have bad bacteria in your tank like this, it is a good idea to use a little bit of an antibacterial. I recommend Melafix, because it is natural and will not affect your filtration. Just use one dose of it. You can do this weekly if you would like to.

I hope something here helps.

Regards,
Stephanie