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I am starting to get a film on my tanks its visible from under the water looking up but not from the top and it reacts to the oil in my finger by spreading away from it. I was thinking I need to skim it and was hoping that there was a quick and easy way of skimming that isnt gonna cost me a fortune. Any ideas?

This happened to me when i was setting up my multis tank with sand as substrate, i was relating it to the sand i put a power head with a filter in it a cheap one i think 25 bucks or so and in 2 days it was gone, i think what u need is agitation on the surface, someone may correct me though.

it is a film of organics. forms primarily in waters with a
high hardness, and not found in soft water aquariums. Water
conditioners can often cause a film.

easiest method to remove is take paper towel and lay it on top
of the water then quickly pull it away and discard. surface
agitation can eliminate or reduce the film as it keeps the
organics from conglomerating. there are surface skimming
attachments for most canister filters that you can use.
Protein skimmers are an option but are really overkill for FW
since there are cheaper and more efficient ways to deal with
the film.

HTH,
Megil.

I would be more concerned on how it got there in the first place. What else is in the tank and what have you added in the last few months. It could even be a fatty food you are using.

Extra filtration and airation will remove it but it will still be coming back unless you find out what is causing it.

It also could be in you water supply now or has been in there previously.


Have a look in [link=My Profile]http://
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Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
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Well I am feeding blood worms at night to all my tanks so maybe that is what it is, i will try the paper towel method and put more air into the fluval. This just confirms that I am going to need a power head for this tank. I am actually looking into getting a smaller canister filter fluval makes one for 40g that is reasonably priced at around 80 so maybe I should get that one and call it good.

I've got a MAJOR problem with it, and I've tried every trick in the book (except using an RO/DI unit to treat the water... dad won't let me )...bleh...

You can see my big thread on it [link=here]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/Water%20Quality/66552.html" style="COLOR: #66FF33[/link]

Some things that I've found that help to reduce the film (scum, as I've started calling it, due to the crap it leaves on the sides of the tank if you let some of the water evaporate, etc) are -
- Skimming the surface of the water with a cup by submerging it right up to the rim and letting the scum go into the cup... dump it in a bucket, repeat, repeat, etc...
- Paper towel trick (mentioned above) works surprisingly well, but ya gotta pull off the hood of the tank to get to it an' watnot, so I just use the paper towels for pulling it out of buckets and open tanks
- Use water conditioner that isn't labeled to 'promote fishs' slime coating' or contain aloe
- Increase surface agitation (after doing everything listed above) to keep it down

Are you getting it in all of your tanks? Could it be linked to water coming out of a specific faucet in the house?

If none of the above help, you might want to try getting your water from a different source (read: different faucet... possibly somebody else's faucet in a different house)... the problem may lie in your water line (possible bacterial thing, or some sort of corrosion or something, possibly)...

Another possible source is the foods you're feeding. What do you feed? Generally, high quality (Hikari, Omega One, etc) brands have less crap in them that would cause a film on the surface. If you're feeding live/frozen foods, that may also be a cause...

Your film on the surface could be linked to your water chemistry... what are your water parameters? Temp, pH, KH, GH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate... everything ya got a test kit for

What kind of fish are in the tank? What kind of substrate do you have? How big is the tank? Is the tank planted? Is there driftwood or rockwork in the tank?

I think I have also racked my brains with PW in Chat many times about his problem. I sure he has practically tried every thing to fix this problem but it still persists.

Have a look in [link=My Profile]http://
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Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

Indeed...everything but RO/DI water

I'm still lost

And thanks again for all your help, Keith

For me i was tryin to buffer the ph for cichlids into a higher range

Wellin the tank i monitor m osat he ph is 8 kh 15 gh is untestable for some reason i think it has to do with the film contaminating the water sample the nitrites and nitrates are all less than one my test reg. at none but the one at the store is showing .1-.2 on both.nitrates sit around 20-40. I have increased serface aggitation so... also the sg is 1.008 or 10ppt so I may need to buy a skimmer cause I am having brackish water fish.

Edit: It is showing in other tanks just not as bad. I have a feeling it MAY be the blood worms but not sure, i am going to decrease4 the time my blood worm cone is in the water.


Last edited by mrwizerd at 08-Jan-2006 19:27

Hi,
In general the film on the surface is due to the proteins
and oils in the fish foods. In addition, cooking, smoke,
and just plain dust, all contribute to the film build up.

A good cover on the tank, and perhaps a change of foods
should solve the problem. Laying a paper towel on the
surface and letting it just turn damp and then removing
it will take much of the film away. Another possibility
is to increase surface agitation (air stones). The increased
agitation causes the film to clump and then it becomes
heavier than water, and settles to the bottom where it can
be siphoned off during regular tank maintenance.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

One problem with letting it sink, tho, Frank... it ROTS ]:|

Dunno if that's normal or not, but mine rots and turns reddish brownish and stinks and...eww

So if ya do let it sink, clean it up before it rots...*gag*