Green things on surface of water and bubbling?

[Tavy]

Recently I have been trying to cycle my tank for my 5 opae ula shrimps. Today marks the 5th day. And I found some weird stuff.

1. After leaving my lid off my tank ( to encourage algae growth) , the water evaporated a lot. So, I topped it up with DS water. It then proceeds to make rings of bubble…and I tried to pop it but to no avail. However, I did manage to separate it as shown in the pic.

2. I noticed some greenish spot floating on the Surface of water. The whole tank has clear water and no visible algae growth. Is it a toxin? Do I need to do water changes? Am I doing it wrongly?

I have a picture shown below but idk if you are able to see it. I have tried my very best to capture it.


Okay now some background:

Initially, I started cycling my tank at 21 July but I restarted the whole process because I found this page. Why? Because I was uneducated about opae ula shrimps and thought that putting in algae wafer will help kick start the cycling process! Which might cause more harm to the shrimps? (Correct me if I’m wrong).

Thus, I restarted my cycling process. I throw all the water away, wash my substrates, plant and lava rock. I then put all of them back but without any food source. My plan was it wait for 4 weeks, see algae and move them in. Hoping that this will help my shrimps now stuck in a ~300ml container. I know it is bad for them so I am trying my best to provide them a better environment.

If it helps, this tank is a 1g,
Substrate is gravel lava rock,
Rock in the pic is lava rock,
Shells and moss ball is from the 300ml tank (to transfer beneficiary bacterial will take out after cycling),
Plant brought from a person that keeps opae ula shrimps.



I’m really confuse by the state of my tank. I need help / advise.


Thank you!!!

[SuperProofer]

Firstly, the bubbles are normal. I'm sure some science-type person can give a proper explanation, but I always figured if they occur when you add water, then they were created because of the water being disturbed and since brackish water is "thicker" than regular water, they hang around longer (which is also why they are more difficult to pop). Alternatively, you may also see bubbles float up from your gravel or other decor which I always attributed to some kind of off gassing event. They'll go away eventually. Nothing to worry about.

As for the green, I can't make anything out in the pictures so I can't say if it's harmful. Most likely not. It could be your biofilm starting to form (mine always looked like a rainbow oil slick or a hazy cloud floating on the surface). Or, maybe try looking at it from different angles to see if you can consistently see it - maybe it's just a reflection from the green moss ball you have in there? But I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you don't like it, maybe just try to skim it off.

[sliphorn]

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Surface biofilm, harmless, and eventually the shrimp and snails eat it. Is the shell your calcium source? I would add another calcium source such as a small piece or two of cuttlefish bone. The stuff used for birds.
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