Water flow/movement and oil on top of water

[oyashare]

Hi Guys. I was just wondering couple of things. First, how important is water movment/flow in a planted tank. Besides my reactor and filter that is. Should I turn on my powerhead for water movement, or is that bad? Also, recently (since I turned off my power head) there has been oil building up on the surface of the water. Should I worry about this? anyway to get rid of it. I read somewhere that this happens when leaves die. I remove all the leaves I find that are dying. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Omid

[oyashare]

Hahahah. Ya, i dont want to go that path though.

Omid

[Skittyfish]

I skim the top of my tank off with the Python when I do partial water changes. Clears it right up.

[125gJoe]

You can run an airline for bubbles at night for a few hours...
This dissapates the surface matter so filtration can get it. Don't worry about CO2 loss at night, just run bubbles for a few hours - not all night. :)

[Fishiebusiness]

I bought a ten dollar surface extractor from the LFS. It makes the filter input draw in some surface water and completely eliminates the surface scum in 10 minutes. It works with canisters and HOB filters. It is larger than the standard filter intake, but since its all black and many backgrounds are black, it is often less visible than say.. my bright green Eheim intake.

[125gJoe]

Originally posted by Fishiebusiness
I bought a ten dollar surface extractor from the LFS. ....bright green Eheim intake. AaaaHahahah - Bight green Eheim! :D
..Just Kidding...

What company sells the surface extractor gadget?

[Fishiebusiness]

:D

Hagen makes them, they are repackaged as Aquaclear or Fluval. There are some on bigalsonline.

Just do a search for surface

There's a 36 dollar Eheim one that is as bright green as the standard intake and most likely works no better than the 7 dollar AC.

[125gJoe]

Thanks!

I'm going to check them out on BiGal's Online..

:)

[RTR]

I cannot say it is better or worse that the cheaper alternative, but I've been using the Eheim surface extractors for years with complete success. They don't even seem to waste any CO2.

[Fishiebusiness]

Is it bright green? I don't understand why eheim uses that color. It doesnt really blend in with the plants or the background.

[Tyler718]

Originally posted by 80gJoe
AaaaHahahah - Bight green Eheim! :D
..Just Kidding...

What company sells the surface extractor gadget?

It's the same one that we talked about in the DYI forum. I used it in my 150g with much success. It has adapters for all AC models. There is even made for the Fluaval filters.

With all the adapters that come with them I'm sure you can use it with a Filstar. If you are interested I'll try it on my Filstar xp-3. Just let me know.

[RTR]

Of course it is the Eheim green, what else? But those greens do disappear pretty well in planted tanks.

[somefinnfishy]

I had a slime coat till the tank grew in nice after a 12 day shop vac regiment one quart a day off the top and it was gone extractors and bubblers just diffuse the situation its been months since Ive seen the scum:D

[oyashare]

Thanks everyone. Now can anyone tell me if i need a powerhead or not? how important is water movement?

Thanks,

Omid

[Ger]

I use a powerhead 24-7 on my 15 gal. I feel that water movement is important to keep the leaves clean, esp. for my foxtail and diandra. My amano shrimp sit on the hygro in front of the output. It's an Aquaclear 201, kept on the second to the lowest setting. I have surface movement, but not agitation (I might need to start, my DIY CO2 got me up to 50ppm yesterday :eek: ). But I digress.

Is it important? To me, yes -- it is my only source of water movement (no other filtration). It keeps the plants clean and evenly distributes the temperature of the water.

[RTR]

Current also distributes the nutrients (including CO2) that the plants require.