Film or slick on surface of water

OgreMkV

OgreMkV

Father of Earth's Next Emperor
Apr 26, 2007
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Port Arthur, TX
ogremkv.wordpress.com
I have afilm or a slick of some kind on the surface of my tank. It seems like a very thin layer of oil (it's not oil, it just looks like oil would). sometimes it's almost hard enough to take out with a net.

This is a 10 gallon tank... lightly planted with 4 Neon Tetras and 3 Zebra Danios (there was a fourth, but he's missing).

Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0
Hardness 120ppm
Alkalinity - 60-80ppm
pH - 6.8
temp 77

I do have an algae problem because my tank doesn't have enough light. I have two ten watt flourecents.

I also have a wisper 10 internal filter


Could this be a form of algae?
 
This is pretty common. A lot of people deal with film. I had it and have eliminated it by using a simple airstone for a few hours during the morning or night.
 
you may want to add a HOB filter to help keep the water moving. whisper internal filters arent the best at doing what they are ment to do, for they allow alot of bypass and the media clogs pretty quickly. a penguin 100 will be a good choice for a filter in your tank.

also, what are you feeding them, and how often are you changing water?
 
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Feeding them Tetra flakes and the occasional shrimp pellet. I don't have a way to give them live of frozen food (at this time). My principle still isn't convinced the tank is a good idea (Yet, she want's me to teach oceanography). Weird.

Anyway, water changes are a weekly class project. The students prep and condition the water, siphon the gravel, scrape the sides, etc. They've gotten real good at it. They even run the water tests each week.

Threadjack (wait it's my thread): That's why I've been trying to find me a tank. So I can bring these guys home for the summer.
 
For the missing fish: Look under the decorations. I accidentally killed a Neon one day when I moved a plant. I checked to make sure it was clear and when I went to place it, ... well, I had one less Neon in the tank. :(

For the internal filter: You have to get your water moving. It will help with the water conditions. Use any of the Whisper filter that are powered, they're pretty quiet. I haven't used the Penguin ones, but I hear that they're great as well.

For the HOB: What's an HOB?
 
Haha, thanks...man I should have figured that one out.
 
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