oily film on water surface

[chipstahoy]

what could be the sources? is it bad? how do i get rid of it? it just looks like oily stuff or something...but my fish look/act fine. thanks

-chip

[valerie]

I get this too but it has never caused any problems. I think it mainly comes from the oil that may be in the foods you feed or since i feed frozen foods i think it comes from this.

Not really sure but it has never really been a problem.

[Gunnie]

Try an airstone or sponge filter. You probably need more agitation at the top of the water.

[wigglejaggles]

hey now,

what type of water conditioner do you use? If its the kind with aloe gel it could be the aloe making things oily at the top.

take care,
jared

[sumoschro]

its not the conditioner....i use that stuff too and i dont have oily film. Its probably the foods you are feeding it.
if you are feeding them oily foods like bloodworms or liver, stuff like that will make the surface oily

[yashinfan]

I have an oily surface on one of my tanks and I think it's because of the food. I feed frozen brine shrimp to my fish, and you can see where the oil is broken is where the fish streak across. Pretty gross but harmless.

[Dragon_Lord_Tia]

that would be it then the brine shrimp. i get that but it seems to go away after.

[yhbae]

I too use stress coat in all of my tanks and I never see this oily layer either...

[shewlett]

I get this oily film too, but only when I use frozen brine shrimp or freeze dried brine shrimp or bloodworms. I'm pretty sure it is the food. A paper towel will grab this film if laid gently on the surface.

[caz]

could it be protein build up?

[shewlett]

Could be protein buildup but I've noticed that even a small amount of Hikari freeze dried bloodworms (four or five) or San Francisco frozen brine shrimp or Hikari freeze dried brine shrimp will lead to this oily film within a day ... and the fish are eating all the food fairly rapidly. This happens most notably on my 5 gallon betta tank or is at least most noticeable there. I use paper towels to remove the film and if I refrain from using the frozen or freeze dried food the film doesn't come back. I just ordered an AC surface skimmer from Big Als which I will attach to an AC Mini to see if it will deal with the problem. Right now I have a Whisper 5-15 HOB filter on the 5 gallon tank and I keep the water level high and the charcoal bag stuffed full to minimize turbulence for the betta so the oily film is left pretty much undisturbed unless I do the paper towel thing. I worry that it will coat and harm the betta's labyrinth organ.

I don't use Stress Coat, I use Amquel and AquaNova as a conditioner if I'm using tap water.

[x1vicious281x]

I have the oily layer at the top too. I don't feed anything but flakes though...

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

Could it be from your hands?



*remembers the hand washing thread*

[Raf]

ewwww :p maybe

i have it from the frozen food i feed.

[jeffro426]

I have it too...i find that if i point my powerhead up more to where it breaks the surface a bit, it goes away...its never caused a problem though.