Amended Help? What's all this foam?

Oops!!!   I'm so sorry my first post here makes me look like a clueless idiot, but...had to happen sooner or later, LOL.  Sorry for any confusion or if I offended anybody with my clueless-ness.  

If you saw this yesterday & thought, "boy, what a bonehead!!" well, you're right.  And as a draftee newbie to boot, that makes me the queen of boneheads, LOL.   I inadvertedly posted my unfinished draft by hitting the wrong key (imagine that) at the end of 2 paragraphs, then got a message saying my post wasn't long enough & to try again. I thought the post was gone forever, but today I see I was wrong.  Pretty embarassing.  Now I'll try & modify gracefully and pray you guys won't think too badly of me.   :-  

It's now Monday, 12/20 at around 5:40 pm PST.  The following 2 paragraphs are the original from yesterday.

Hi everybody. I've tried to research a foam issue, but in lieu of not finding the answer, am turning to you. I would really appreciate your help since I have no idea what I'm doing. The fish shouldn't have to pay for that.

My roommate bought a used, live rock 80 gal saltwater reef tank a week or so ago. Immediately after it was set up and running again, he left town on a family emergency, leaving me in charge. What an experience!

That's what got posted Sunday. Now it's Monday night 12/20. I've always enjoyed aquariums, but never thought about having one myself.  Gee, that makes me a great person to leave in charge of an 80 gallon reef tank, huh? I've been so thankful for this site. Have read some extremely helpful info here and feel lucky to find you guys.  Be glad I didn't have any of your phone numbers, heh-heh.  2 separate nights, (1am and 3am) of tank water overflowing, flooded living room, pumps may or may not work, water levels going down fast, and it's me and my cat. He's no help. Have no idea what to do to except pray real hard and try not to panic. I'm sure many of you would have loved talking to me just about then. LOL.
       
I know next to nothing about fish, tanks, chemistry, water, feeding, worms, algae, etc. It's definitely become a learning experience, though. That foam was scary, as in BAD. Came out of nowhere & covered sump tank, refugium and main tank surfaces. Started to go over the tank sides. I was so scared for the fish.  :'  For all I knew, foam is a fish's worst nightmare.  Now under control.  Causes (?): 1. too much salt, and 2. basic mismatch in strength of 2 pumps I replaced. Major tiny air bubbles. Got new hydrometer (?), which showed high salt level.  Replaced about 20 gal. of too salty H2O w/ fresh H2O over last 3 hours. Looks pretty stable now at 77-78 degrees and 1.022 specific gravity(?).  Fish (10 or so) look lively, w/ good appetites.  pH looks good, as do nitite and nitrate levels. Ammonia at about 1 ppm but added AmQuel Plus 5 hous ago, and will measure levels in a few.

My ineptitude's not lethal, not yet anyhow. My gag factor, however, was lethal to all those gross worms that came out when I unplugged the lights on Sunday. Seemed like a good idea when the power surge strips were lying in water on floor, smoking. Got 6 or 7 fun little reminders that voltage and H20 aren't friends, even if they are bathing together.  Seems like these bristley worms aren't good either, so I scooped out as many as possible. Man oh man. Talk about disgusting. They, like Elvis, have 'left the building'.                                                

Hey, thank you for indulging me. I promise not to post any more, as I've probably violated every rule except profanity, etc. Thought about it a couple of times though, LOL.  Seriously, I'd be most  grateful for any & all suggestions from such a knowledgeable bunch of folks as you all, so thank you in advance. Merry Christmas to you and your families and friends!   alyxx                                                                                                                                                                                            

 

Re: Help!! What's all this foam about?

OK Were is the Foam?

Could you give use a little more Detail of the tank. Try and describe everything in the tank and were the foam is coming from?

Thanks
Jason