Oily Film on Tank Water Surface - How to Remove?

[DTs]

Any suggestions on how to remove the oily film that collects on the tank water surface without degassing CO2?

I have an open tank top so the film is very visible. Thanks.

Darin

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

I had that when i first started up my 33 gal. i had african cichlid gravel that i think was the culprit.

at first i just had an aquaclear running. for a week at least and the stuff was not going away. then i added a powerhead with a quickfilter attatched and the film was gone within days. Maybe just need a really fine filter and something that will push the oily stuff into the water so it goes into the filter and doesn't just stay on the top?


I really don't know, thats just what i suspect.

[DTs]

I think you're right. But, I don't think there's really anything I can do about it since I can't use a filter that agitates the surface, as I don't want to degass CO2 that is being injected.

I thought maybe someone might have a creative solution for it.

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

Ohhh i see. I have no experience whatsoever with co2 injectors. my bad. good luck!

[Tempest]

I have an open top tank that used to have the same thing happen. It doesn't do it anymore but I'm not sure what got rid of it. I did add one black male molly per a suggestion from this forum but I sincerely doubt he could disappear all that film like that. I use DIY CO2 and maybe my levels have been better lately. :D I have seen suggestions that this may help also.

There are also skimmers that will fit on some filters to get this top layer off.

[Matak]

Try just laying a sheet (or few) of paper towel gently on the surface and discarding it. Worked for me.

[DTs]

Since my tank's only been set-up for a month, possibly the film is due to some biological process that hasn't evened-out yet. Who knows. But, it definitely isn't due to lack of CO2 because I have an automated and controlled high pressure CO2 system that uses a dupla reactor to dissolve the CO2. It works really well and my plants grow like nothing I've seen before. The plants pearl like crazy.

I guess I'll wait it out. I don't want to use any type of surface extractor because it'll agitate the water and I'll lose CO2.

Matak - that's an excellent idea, and it makes sense. Thanks.

[Matak]

Originally posted by DTs
Matak - that's an excellent idea, and it makes sense. Thanks. Thanks. That's what I thought when I was told that on our Aquaria Central live chat page. Wish I could remember who told me.

[DTs]

Here's a recent picture of my tank

[Slappy*McFish]

Your tank is beautiful, DTs. Do you have any surface movement at all? A slight rippling effect across the surface will not cause excessive CO2 gas-off. Surface movement will clear up the 'biofilm/protein' that you see. Actually, a slight ripple is preferrable over a 'motionless' water surface. What you would want to do, is to place a spraybar or powerhead about an inch below the surface to create the movement without actually breaking the surface(like airstones and HOB filters do).

[Starry]

Very nice DTs, I like it a lot! How big is the tank?

[DTs]

Slappy -- Thanks. This is my first try at a planted tank so I've been very thorough at trying to set-up everything as best as possible for long-term success. I've received excellent advice from Roger Vitko of Tunze, as well as Cal at Hawaiian Marine, both in Texas (and of course AquariaCentral!). Probably the best thing I could've done to help the process is to tell myself, "Money? Who cares what it costs!". But then again, my 90 gallon reef system (all SPS) has thoroughly conditioned me in the spending department.

I do have surface movement, as it looks very beautiful with the halides (glitter lines and reflected glitter lines on my ceiling). I have an Eheim 2028 filter with the output a few inches below the waterline. I wish it was a bit more powerful, as I use this to run the Dupla S reactor as well, so it robs some of the flow. Maybe I'll stick a small powerhead behind the plants for added surface rippling. I just hate having the extra cords.

Starry - the tank is about 90g (36x24x24).

So far the most challenging part of the process has been figuring out how much fertilizer I need to add in the water. I bought the additives separately so I can dose according to the plants' growth patterns (e.g, nitrate, potassium, iron, phosphate, magnesium). Interestingly enough, my tank seems to have about 2-5 ppm of nitrate, but no phosphate registers using a Salifert kit. So, I added a bit more phosphate. I know to be really careful with phosphate as a little goes a long way. So, I figure I'll back off dosing nitrate for now. I don't have an iron test, but think this was what the plants needed most.